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Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Daily Mirror
Horrifying cult massacre site where 900 people died becomes dark tourist hotspot
The site of the Jonestown cult massacre, where more than 900 people died, has opened to tourists in the latest dark tourism trend - but it has been met with backlash The location of a harrowing cult massacre, where over 900 lives were lost, has now been unveiled as a tourist spot. Wanderlust Adventures GY is offering tours to the Jonestown massacre site within a $750 (£550) package deal, asserting their goal is to enlighten visitors about "the dangers of manipulation, unchecked authority". Survivors have slammed the venture as "a money grab", while some locals are distancing themselves from the dark past, choosing to leave it out of their history. The infamous site in Guyana was the scene of one of the most lethal cult disasters on November 18, 1978. After years of deliberation over how to address the Jonestown legacy, Guyana has begun welcoming tourists to the site where the cult tragedy unfolded. Abandoned Spanish village near Madrid is now a haven for dark tourists However, this decision has sparked controversy, reports the Daily Star. Kit Nascimento, 93, who served as a government spokesman for Guyana during the time of the massacre, has voiced his disapproval. He remarked that reopening the sites merely revives an image that had been diminishing and referred to the massacre as an American calamity that just happened to take place on Guyanese land. "It's of no consequence whatsoever to the current population," he commented. "And I don't think we have a particular responsibility to teach the world about cults." John Cobb, a survivor of the appalling event, has condemned the tourist attraction as "a money grab to capitalise on a tragedy." The 66-year-old tragically lost a staggering 11 family members to the cult, including his mother and five siblings. In 1977, Mr Jones, along with hundreds of followers, relocated to Guyana to establish what he touted as a self-sustaining, interracial community. Cult entrants were obliged to surrender their life savings, passports, and belongings, and worked gruelling 12-hour days. Following allegations of physical abuse and financial fraud by relatives of cult members, the US launched a legal probe into Mr Jones and his cult, known as the Peoples Temple. In 1978, after several members tried to defect, Mr Jones orchestrated a shooting that claimed the lives of three journalists, a Peoples Temple member, and Mr Ryan, a California congressman who was investigating Jonestown following reports of abuse from relatives of cult members. Anticipating the downfall of Jonestown after the congressman's death, Mr Jones arranged a mass suicide. Under the watchful eyes of armed guards, Mr Jones commanded his followers to drink spiked punch. Some cult members were even forcibly injected. Roselyn Sewcharran, the company's owner, insists that the aim of the tourist attraction is not to sensationalise but to educate visitors about "the dangers of manipulation, unchecked authority and the circumstances that led to this devastating event." She said: "I've always been curious about social issues and their impact. "There genuinely was a desire to learn more about this significant chapter of our past." Despite facing criticism, some contend there's a double standard in our view of "dark tourist locations", pointing out that tourists regularly visit sites like Auschwitz and the Colosseum.
Boston Globe
3 days ago
- Boston Globe
The site of the Jonestown massacre opens to tourists. Some ask why.
After decades of hesitation over how to handle Jonestown's legacy, which many Guyanese see as a stain on their small South American nation, a new tour allows visitors to confront the traumatic event. Advertisement The Jonestown Memorial Tour, operated by a Guyanese company called Wanderlust Adventures GY, offers a $750 trip that includes a flight from the capital, Georgetown, a bumpy hourlong van ride, and a night in the nearby mining town of Port Kaituma. The tour has provoked backlash from Guyanese eager to shed any association with Jonestown, named for Jones, and from survivors who say commodifying what happened there is lurid. One survivor, John Cobb, 65, called it 'a money grab to capitalize on a tragedy.' He happened to be in the Guyanese capital during the mass deaths, but 11 relatives, including his mother and five siblings, died. The company's owner, Roselyn Sewcharran, said the goal was not sensationalism but education about 'the dangers of manipulation, unchecked authority, and the circumstances that led to this devastating event.' Advertisement Sewcharran, who was born and raised in Guyana, studied sociology and founded her tour company five years ago. Repeated requests from foreign travelers interested in visiting Jonestown led to the idea for a tour. 'I've always been curious about social issues and their impact,' she said. 'There genuinely was a desire to learn more about this significant chapter of our past.' She soon brought Chris Persaud on as a guide. Persaud, who works as an information technology consultant, said his grandfather, a Guyanese journalist, had been invited to Jonestown by the team of a visiting lawmaker, Representative Leo Ryan, a California Democrat, but he declined, sensing danger. Persaud said he sees his role as continuing his grandfather's legacy of storytelling. On a sweltering Saturday earlier this year, Sewcharran led an inaugural tour. As leaves crunched underfoot, she paused at the entrance, where a replica of the original 'Welcome to Jonestown' sign stands. 'I'd just like us to take a moment of silence for all the lives lost,' she said. Persaud explained how Jones — a preacher described by many of his followers as charismatic and who spoke about racial equality — founded Peoples Temple in Indiana in 1955, before moving to California. In 1977, Jones, along with hundreds of followers, moved to Guyana to build what he portrayed as a self-sufficient, interracial community amid mounting US legal investigations and media scrutiny over accusations against Jones of physical abuse and financial fraud. Adherents handed over their life savings, passports, and possessions and labored 12 hours a day as Jones grew increasingly paranoid. On Nov. 17, 1978, Ryan went to Jonestown after relatives of people in the settlement reported claims of abuse. The next day, as he and several group members attempted to leave, followers of Jones opened fire at the Port Kaituma airstrip, killing Ryan, three journalists, and a Peoples Temple member. Advertisement That afternoon, anticipating that the killing of a US Congress member would mean the end of Jonestown, Jones orchestrated a mass murder-suicide, commanding followers to drink cyanide-laced punch under threat from armed guards. Some were forcibly given poison with syringes. Jones died alongside them. Persaud and Sewcharran spent two years researching the event, traveling to the site and interviewing locals familiar with what happened. Today, the area is largely barren, but they hope to add signs and a small museum. A previous effort to turn Jonestown into a tourism site earlier this century fizzled. 'It's a niche market,' Sewcharran said. 'It's not for everyone.' Guyana, an English-speaking country bordering Venezuela, has a booming oil sector and an influx of foreigners with disposable income, so the country's small tourism industry is trying to expand offerings like ecotourism, said Dee George, president of Guyana's tourism association. Jonestown, she added, 'is part of us, whether we like it or not.' The inaugural tour conducted by Sewcharran included two of her relatives, two journalists and two tourists: a 66-year-old Norwegian executive and Sean Traverse, 48, a full-time traveler from California. Traverse said there was an inconsistency in how 'dark tourism' is perceived, noting that tourists also visit Auschwitz and the Colosseum. He said he had spent years trying to visit Jonestown, even reaching out to bush pilots for price quotes. When he heard about the new tour he was the first to sign up. Advertisement He grew up in California's Ventura County, and said he spent part of his childhood in the Church Universal and Triumphant, a New Age group that sought to build a self-sufficient community to survive an expected nuclear apocalypse and drew criticism for some of its actions. A California court awarded a former member $1.56 million in damages, citing coercion from the group to hand over his life's savings. Traverse said he understood the appeal of the Jonestown community and how groups like Peoples Temple can turn abusive. Being at the site of so much horror and confronting how easily people — including his own family — could be drawn into manipulative movements overwhelmed him, he said. 'I've had experience of people being in groups that were super positive until they weren't,' he said. He said Jonestown remains relevant because he believes many Americans are experiencing a spiritual void that cults claim to fill. 'I don't think it's far-fetched that it could happen again,' Traverse said. In interviews, reactions by residents of the small town to the tour ranged from bemusement to indifference. Some said the area was haunted and most try to avoid it. 'It's a nice idea, but it's not something to remember,' said Tiffany Daniels, 32, who owns a restaurant. 'It's just bad energy. It's a lot of lives.' Her daughter Serena, 11, found it strange that tourists would pay to visit. 'I would not like to go there,' she said. 'At all.' This article originally appeared in
New York Times
3 days ago
- General
- New York Times
The Site of the Jonestown Massacre Opens to Tourists. Some Ask Why.
What makes a tragedy worth revisiting? Nearly 50 years after the mass murder-suicide in the settlement known as Jonestown, all that remains in the remote Guyanese jungle is a small clearing. The wooden and zinc structures that once housed about 1,000 members of Peoples Temple, the religious group founded by Jim Jones, have long ago been scavenged or vanished beneath vines. A single plaque, installed in 2009, marks the site of one of history's deadliest cult tragedies, where more than 900 people died on Nov. 18, 1978, after Mr. Jones ordered his followers to commit suicide — an event that shocked the world. After decades of hesitation over how to handle Jonestown's legacy, which many Guyanese see as a stain on their small South American nation, a new tour allows visitors to confront the traumatic event. The Jonestown Memorial Tour, operated by a Guyanese company called Wanderlust Adventures GY, offers a $750 trip that includes a flight from the capital, Georgetown, a bumpy hourlong van ride and a night in the nearby mining town of Port Kaituma. The tour has provoked backlash from Guyanese eager to shed any association with Jonestown, named for Mr. Jones, and from survivors who say commodifying what happened there is lurid. 100 miles Atlantic Ocean Port Kaituma Venezuela Jonestown Georgetown guyana SURINAME Essequibo R. Brazil By The New York Times Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
