A moment in time:Commemorating the Armistice on the Somme in 2018

The Great War of 1914-1918 has been commemorated during a four-year centenary period, with large commemorative events, organized by the governments of nations which fought the war, particularly Belgium, France and Britain. The final ceremonies for the centenary were conducted almost simultaneously at 11.00am on November 11 2018, at sites spread across the old trench lines of France and Belgium. How then, did tourists decide which event, and in which place they would spend this brief ‘moment in time’? Data collected from a sample of tourists in the village of Pozières on the Somme, France, on 10-11 November, 2018, indicate that large national commemorations were given the highest priorities. Afterwards however, people had made plans to visit other sites such as family graves and memorial sites, some extending to the Ieper area in Belgium. The study suggests the importance of large state based events in motivating tourist travel to the battlefields