Haunted or dark tourism? Yes, this type of hospitality has always been in existence since time immemorial even though not being fully utilised due to a number of interelated factors most of which are usually 'related' to so called darker world.
Yours Truly, oblivious of entertainment and pastime issues, used to associate horror movies with all sorts of black magic which also includes ghost-like features among other scary stuff beyond human comprehension. The same also applies to haunted tourism, which Yours Truly will try to elucidate courtesy of WorldWide Web.
Before delving into finer and detailed examples of this type of hospitality sector, there is need to try and explain nitty gritties of haunted or dark tourism, which if fully utilised could be the sector's game changer.
Dark tourism is usually defined as a hospitality practice that involve travelling to places historically associated with death and tragedy where various tourists visit for historical information instead of death and other related tidings.
The first port of call for this week's column is looking at one of the neighbouring countries whose haunted tourism industry continues to grow in leaps and bounds, thus in the process bringing much needed revenue.
It could be stranger than fiction, but here we go courtesy of the worldwide web.
Haunted tourism is gathering momentum in South Africa courtesy of innovative travel and touributs industry players who are intent on putting the neighbouring country to dizzy hospitality heights.
Some of the celebrated places include Table Mountain where there is an enduring tale popularly known as The Ghost of Varlatenbosch. It is said that the then governor of Cape Town used to scornfully hate a certain citizen for no apparent reason.
- Haunted tourism: Zim's hanging fruit
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This particular citizen came up with a sinister plan; he gave the governor's son a beautiful flute as a gift and unknown to both father or son, the instrument was once owned by a leper.
Within days of flute playing, the son became ill and was banished into exile at a lonely place by the Table Mountain where he played his newly found instrument until he died. Those who have bothered to visit the place confess of hearing mournful flute sound and this is prevalent even to this day.
Still in Cape Town, there is Leeuwenhof Estate whose history dates back to earliest days of European settlement even though it's now official residence to the premier of Western Cape.
There are numerous tales of lights inexplicably going on after being switched off and with visions of an old woman said to haunt the ground floor.
It is also said there is a ghost of a young woman who died of heartbreak when her family disapproved her lover. On how the current occupants are coping with such weird happenings, this has to be left for another day, but the bottom line is that this place is gradually becoming a favourite pastime with all sorts of tourists.
Cape Town used to be known during yesteryears as the Cape of Storms due to dangerous waves and other related features which somehow ended voyages of many a ship.
Once upon a time there was a ship by the moniker Flying Dutchman plying Far East and beyond on trading missions with products such as silk and spices.
Upon its return from a successful trading mission, the weather, through violent winds, battered the ship as it was heading for Cape Point with waves crashing on its deck. Crew members tried to persuade the captain to turn back but it was to no avail until all aboard the Flying Dutchman met their death.
Those who had the opportunity to visit the particular place bear witness to have encountered the 'cursed' ship and its crew sailing up and down the coast desperately searching for shelter especially during stormy weather periods.
Such type of tourism can be fully utilised in our motherland as there are plenty of similar places whose hanging fruits are yet to be untapped through aggressive marketing.
What comes to Yours Truly's mind is a certain mountain in Hwange where a man of the cloth was said to have fled and left his religious gadgets at this selected so called prayer mountain. He is reported to have seen an animal like feature with various heads menacingly approaching him.
The 'clean' gadgets are still there even to this day despite it have happened several years ago withstanding weather effects.
More on Zimbabwe's potential haunted tourism places in the forthcoming columns.
Till we meet again in the next column.
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