Social Media at Tourism Destinations
A study in the Journal of Travel Medicine published a study shows 379 tourists have died during a 13-month study period in the pursuit of a selfie, falling off cliffs, being hit by trains or cars, or by trying to capture their encounters with wild animals. But aside from the physical dangers, social media photos have resulted in people climbing on the historic features to pose. Visitors have disrespected the tone and intention of sites by shockingly inappropriate behavior, like visitors to Auschwitz posing for beauty shots in front of the gates or smiling in front of crematorium. While some sites, like those cited above, have closed off to visitors to protect the site and tourists to preserve its integrity and protect tourists from their own behavior, some sites are simply throttling back the number of tourists to a more manageable level.
