ABSTRACT
This chapter covers one of the specific cases of the role of simulacra in tourist experience. The following research seeks to explore the relationship between growing popularity of visits to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ) and its image as “a post-apocalyptic site”. The architecture of the abandoned city of Pripyat’ and Chernobyl, as well as the power plant itself, serves as an exquisite tool for creating different media narratives that become a source of inspiration for the tourist industry. Among them are the video games “S.T.A.L.K.E.R.” and “Call of Duty 4”. They have gained a spectacular interest of game players worldwide, thereby contributing to the development of tourism in the CEZ. This chapter aims at showing how the Zone space is subjected to a simulation and what implications for tourist experience it brings. The research seeks to depict how the games reflect the real architecture of the CEZ, and consequently stimulate motivations and experience of people who visit or wish to visit the site. The analysis is based on the online survey among game players who have visited or plan to visit the Zone.
