War tourism War tourism is recreational travel to war zones for purposes of sightseeing and superficial voyeurism . War tourist is also a pejorative term to describe thrill seeking in dangerous and forbidden places . Early Warfare . Until the 19th century the majority of battles were of short duration , many lasting a part of a day . The first modern war correspondent is said to be Dutch painter Willem van de Velde , who in 1653 took to sea in a small boat to observe a naval battle between the Dutch and the English , of which he made many sketches on the spot , In the mid - 19th century , Thomas Cook organized tours of British travelers to American Civil War battlefields . John Mason Cook led the excursion which included tours of several Civil War battlefields . During the Crimean War a few years later , tourists led by Mark Twain visited the wrecked city of Sebastopol - he even scolded his travel mates for walking off with souvenir shrapnel . Prince Menshikov invited the ladies of Sevastopol to watch the battle of Alma from a nearby hill . Frances Isabella Duberly travelled with her husband to the Crimea in 1854 and stayed with him throughout his time there , despite the protests of commanders such as Lord Lucan . As the only woman at the front - lines , she was of course the center of much attention . She was told of planned attacks ahead of time , giving her the opportunity to be in a good position to witness them . First Battle of Bull Run , also known as First Manassas ( the name used by Confederate forces ) , was fought on July 21 , 1861 , in Prince William County , Virginia , near the city of Manassas . It was the first major land battle of the American Civil War . Expecting an easy Union victory , the wealthy elite of nearby Washington , including congressmen and their families , had come to picnic and watch the battle . When the Union army was driven back in a running disorder , the roads back to Washington were blocked by panicked civilians attempting to flee in their carriages . Modern warfare . Advances in modern warfare such as indirect fire mean fewer pitched battles and more meeting engagement . There has been no proof of war tourism in modern warfare but the idea has gained currency in a number of media reports , none of which have actually interviewed or found a tourist who have visited active combat areas as a tourist . However , the Norwegian semi - autobigraphical novel " Turisten " ( The Tourist ) published in 2007 by the author Erik Bakken Olafsen treats the theme war tourism extensively . ( The book has not been translated into English yet . ) There have been a number of tourists caught up in war torn regions , many who visit active war zones like Israel , Lebanon , Myanmar , Algeria , Colombia and other regions at war . There are many freelance journalists who describe themselves humorously as " war tourists " ( P . J . O ' Rourke is the most famous ) and mercenaries who have pretended to be tourists to avoid discovery as in Michael Hoare ' s attempt to take over the Seychelles disguised as " The Royal Order of Frothblowers " . During the 2006 Israel - Lebanon crisis , for example , Beirut was full of tourists who were forced to leave when fighting with Israel broke out . Tourists have also been targeted in Kenya , the Philippines and other regions due to their media value and damage to the country ' s tourist industry . It could be argued that continued tourism to these regions is war tourism , even though active combat is free from tourist access . The initial myth of modern war tourism was actually started by a collection of stories by P . J . O ' Rourke . His mocking and cynical view of journalism in conflict areas entitled ' Holidays in Hell : In Which Our Intrepid Reporter Travels to the World ' s Worst Places and Asks , " What ' s Funny About This " planted the idea that maybe journalists are after all tourists on an expense account . The PBS TV show Frontline used the phrase war tourism to describe a practice in Iraq of US troops going on daylight patrols and returning in the evening to heavily defended large bases . A book on this topic is Dark Tourism ( Tourism , Leisure & Recreation ) by Malcolm Foley and John Lennon . The authors explore the idea that people are attracted to regions and sites where " inhuman acts " have occurred . They claim that motivation is driven by media coverage and a desire to see for themselves , and that there is a symbiotic relationship between the attraction and the visitor , whether it be a death camp or site of a celebrity ' s death . Much of their focus is on ancient sites where " acts of inhumanity are celebrated as heritage sites in Britain ( for example , the Tower of London , Edinburgh Castle ) and the Berlin Wall " War tourism is also confused with " Battlefield tourism " : the visiting of sites which have a relevance to historic battles no longer active , such as the German WW2 fortification , the Atlantic Wall , the Western Front or the Maginot Line in France .