Tornado Tourism: Joplin Offers Maps To Tell Story of Deadly Twister

There is a new kind of vacation business cropping up in the Midwest: tornado tourism.  Joplin, Missouri – the town devastated by a deadly tornado last May – is now offering maps and information for visitors wanting to tour the destruction the twister left behind.

Darrin Wright with FOX News Radio affiliate KZRG reports from Joplin:

The Joplin Convention & Visitors Bureau is offering what they’re calling “Tornado Tourism Maps” of the disaster zone left behind by the May 22nd tornado, a move some are calling heartless, as residents are afraid it’s a move to cash in on the disaster.  Bureau Director Patrick Tuttle disagrees.

(Tuttle) “It’s not about promoting tourism.  We’re not actively trying to get bus tours in here.  These are groups that are already coming.  These are tools to help us tell the story.”

There’s even word of a guided bus tour of the disaster zone coming this spring.