Look at the Graves!: Cemeteries as Guided Tourism Destinations in Latvia

The article aims to discuss guided tourism practices in cemeteries in Latvia as being either observational or participatory. The research is based on qualitative approaches: desk studies and semi-structured interviews with guides. The findings show that guided tourism practices in cemeteries in Latvia tend to be more observational than participatory, as visitors are more interested in guides’ stories about local cultural history and famous people and in viewing the visual layouts of cemeteries. The participatory tourism practices are related to touristic activities such as searching for specific graves and performing guided imitations of the activities of members of local cemetery communities. They allow tourists to explore the cemeteries deeper, or as lived spaces (see Lefebvre, The Production of Space, Blackwell, Oxford, 1991).