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Inside the Controversial World of Slum Tourism

People have toured the world’s most marginalized, impoverished districts for over a century.

Hundreds of shanty towns line the riverbanks, train tracks, and garbage dumps in the Filipino capital—the most jammed-packed areas in one of the world’s most densely populated cities. Around a quarter of its 12 million people are considered “informal settlers.”

Manila is starkly representative of a global problem. According to the United Nations , about a quarter of the world’s urban population lives in slums—and this figure is rising fast.

Rich cultural heritage brings visitors to Manila, but some feel compelled to leave the safety of the historic center sites to get a glimpse of the city’s inequality. Tour operators in the Philippines —as well as places like Brazil and India —have responded by offering “slum tours” that take outsiders through their most impoverished, marginalized districts.

Slum tourism sparks considerable debate around an uncomfortable moral dilemma. No matter what you call it—slum tours, reality tours, adventure tourism, poverty tourism—many consider the practice little more than slack-jawed privileged people gawking at those less fortunate. Others argue they raise awareness and provide numerous examples of giving back to the local communities. Should tourists simply keep their eyes shut?

Around a quarter of Manila's 12 million people are considered “informal settlers."

Rich cultural heritage brings visitors to Manila, but some feel compelled to leave the safety of the historic center sites to get a glimpse of the city’s inequality.

Slumming For Centuries

Slum tourism is not a new phenomenon, although much has changed since its beginning. “Slumming” was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in the 1860s, meaning “to go into, or frequent, slums for discreditable purposes; to saunter about, with a suspicion, perhaps, of immoral pursuits.” In September 1884, the New York Times published an article about the latest trend in leisure activities that arrived from across the pond, “‘Slumming’ will become a form of fashionable dissipation this winter among our Belles, as our foreign cousins will always be ready to lead the way.”

Usually under the pretense of charity and sometimes with a police escort, rich Londoners began braving the city’s ill-reputed East End beginning around 1840. This new form of amusement arrived to New York City from wealthy British tourists eager to compare slums abroad to those back home. Spreading across the coast to San Francisco, the practice creeped into city guide books. Groups wandered through neighborhoods like the Bowery or Five Points in New York to peer into brothels, saloons, and opium dens.

Visitors could hardly believe their eyes, and justifiably so. “I don’t think an opium den would have welcomed, or allowed access to, slummers to come through if they weren’t there to smoke themselves,” Chad Heap writes in his book Slumming: Sexual and Racial Encounters in American Nightlife , 1885–1940 . Recognizing the business opportunity, outsiders cashed in on the curiosity by hiring actors to play the part of addicts or gang members to stage shoot-’em-ups in the streets. After all, no one wanted the slum tourists to demand a refund or go home disappointed.

Smokey Tours does not allow participants to take photos, but this policy proves difficult to enforce.

The city of San Francisco eventually banned such mockery of the poor, the New York Times reported in 1909: “This is a heavy blow to Chinatown guides, who have collected a fee of two dollars each. The opium smokers, gamblers, blind paupers, singing children, and other curiosities were all hired.”

Tours also brought positive results, as Professor of History Seth Koven highlights in his research of slumming in Victorian London. Oxford and Cambridge Universities opened study centers in the late 19th-century to inform social policy, which was only possible by seeing the underprivileged neighborhoods firsthand.

Popularity waned after World War II with the creation of welfare and social housing—then rose again in the 1980s and 1990s as those state provisions declined and labor demands increased.

Presenting Poverty

Plastic arrives from all over India to the dark alleys and corrugated shacks of Dharavi in Mumbai —the second-largest slum on the continent of Asia (after Orangi Town in Pakistan ) and third-largest slum in the world. Ushered around by the company Reality Tour and Travel , tourists see a thriving recycling industry which employs around ten thousand to melt, reshape, and mould discarded plastic. They stop to watch the dhobiwallahs , or washermen, scrub sheets from the city’s hospitals and hotels in an open-air laundry area.

In a TripAdvisor review, one recent participant from Virginia appreciated the focus on community. “It was great to hear about the economy, education and livelihood of the residents,” she writes. “The tour group doesn't allow photography or shopping which I think is really important. It didn't feel exploitative, it felt educational.”

One traveler from London commented on the extremity of the scene. "Had to stop after about 20 minutes into it due to the overbearing nature of the surroundings. The tour is not for the faint hearted. I would've liked a few more disclaimers on the website to warn us about the nature of it." Another guest from the United Kingdom expressed disappointment over the so-called family meal. “This was in the home of one of the guides and, whilst his mum made lunch a delicious meal that we ate in her house, she didn’t eat with us so it wasn’t really what I had expected from a family lunch (or the photos promoting such on the website).”

Smokey Tours enters the Manila North Cemetery, inhabited by some of Manila's poorest people.

Children jump from grave to grave in the city’s largest cemetery.

Reality Tours hopes to challenge the stereotypical perception of slums as despairing places inhabited by hopeless people. The tour presented slum residents as productive and hardworking, but also content and happy. Analyzing more than 230 reviews of Reality Tour and Travel in her study , Dr. Melissa Nisbett of King’s College London realized that for many Dharavi visitors, poverty was practically invisible. “As the reviews show, poverty was ignored, denied, overlooked and romanticized, but moreover, it was depoliticized.” Without discussing the reason the slum existed, the tour decontextualized the plight of the poor and seemed only to empower the wrong people–the privileged, western, middle class visitors.

With good intentions, the company states that 80 percent of the profits benefit the community through the efforts of its NGO that works to provide access to healthcare, organize educational programs, and more. Co-founder Chris Way spoke to National Geographic after his company surged in popularity from the sleeper hit Slumdog Millionaire . “We do try and be as transparent as possible on our website, which does allay many people’s fears.” Way personally refuses a salary for his work.

No Two Cities Alike

The main question should be: Is poverty the central reason to visit?

Other cities take different approaches to slum tourism. In the early 1990s, when black South Africans began offering tours of their townships—the marginalized, racially-segregated areas where they were forced to live—to help raise global awareness of rampant human rights violations. Rather than exploitation inflicted by outsiders, local communities embraced slum tourism as a vehicle to take matters of their traditionally neglected neighborhoods into their own hands.

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Some free tours of favelas in Rio de Janeiro provided an accessible option to the crowds that infiltrated the city during the World Cup and Summer Olympics, while most companies continue to charge. Tour manager Eduardo Marques of Brazilian Expeditions explains how their authenticity stands out, “We work with some local guides or freelancers, and during the tour we stop in local small business plus [offer] capoeira presentations that [support] the locals in the favela. We do not hide any info from our visitors. The real life is presented to the visitors.”

Smokey Tours in Manila connected tourists with the reality facing inhabitants of a city landfill in Tondo (until 2014 when it closed) to tell their stories. Now the company tours around Baseco near the port, located in the same crowded district and known for its grassroots activism. Locally-based photographer Hannah Reyes Morales documented her experience walking with the group on assignment for National Geographic Travel. “I had permission to photograph this tour from both the operator and community officials, but the tour itself had a no photography policy for the tourists.” With the policy difficult to enforce, some guests secretly snapped photos on their phones. “I observed how differently tourists processed what they were seeing in the tour. There were those who were respectful of their surroundings, and those who were less so.”

All About Intention

Despite sincere attempts by tour operators to mitigate offense and give back to locals, the impact of slum tourism stays isolated. Ghettoized communities remain woven into the fabric of major cities around the world, each with their individual political, historical, and economic concerns that cannot be generalized. Similarly, the motivations behind the tourism inside them are as diverse as the tour participants themselves. For all participants involved, operators or guests, individual intentions matter most.

The Baseco neighborhood is located on the Pasig river near the city port, but lacks access to clean drinking water.

Better connections between cities allow more people to travel than ever before, with numbers of international tourists growing quickly every year. While prosperity and quality of life have increased in many cities, so has inequality. As travelers increasingly seek unique experiences that promise authentic experiences in previously off-limits places, access through tours helps put some areas on the map.

Travel connects people that would otherwise not meet, then provides potential to share meaningful stories with others back home. Dr. Fabian Frenzel, who studies tourism of urban poverty at the University of Leicester, points out that one of the key disadvantages of poverty is a lack of recognition and voice. “If you want to tell a story, you need an audience, and tourism provides that audience.” Frenzel argues that even taking the most commodifying tour is better than ignoring that inequality completely.

For the long-term future of these communities, the complex economic, legal, and political issues must be addressed holistically by reorganizing the distribution of resources. While illuminating the issue on a small scale, slum tourism is not a sufficient answer to a growing global problem.

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Slumming it: how tourism is putting the world’s poorest places on the map

Lecturer in the Political Economy of Organisation, University of Leicester

Disclosure statement

From 2012-2014 Fabian Frenzel was a Marie-Curie Fellow and has received funding from the European Union to conduct his research on slum tourism.

University of Leicester provides funding as a member of The Conversation UK.

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Back in Victorian times, wealthier citizens could sometimes be found wandering among London’s poorer, informal neighbourhoods, distributing charity to the needy. “Slumming” – as it was called – was later dismissed as a morally dubious and voyeuristic pastime. Today, it’s making a comeback; wealthy Westerners are once more making forays into slums – and this time, they’re venturing right across the developing world.

According to estimates by tour operators and researchers , over one million tourists visited a township, favela or slum somewhere in the world in 2014. Most of these visits were made as part of three or four-hour tours in the hotspots of global slum tourism; major cities and towns in Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro and Mumbai.

There is reason to think that slum tourism is even more common than these numbers suggest. Consider the thousands of international volunteers, who spend anything from a few days to several months in different slums across the world.

The gap year has become a rite of passage for young adults between school and university and, in the UK, volunteering and travel opportunities are often brokered by commercial tourism operators. In Germany and the US, state sponsored programs exist to funnel young people into volunteering jobs abroad.

International volunteering is no longer restricted to young people at specific points in their lives. Volunteers today are recruited across a wide range of age groups . Other travellers can be considered slum-tourists: from international activists seeking cross-class encounters to advance global justice, to students and researchers of slums and urban development conducting fieldwork in poor neighbourhoods.

Much modern tourism leads richer people to encounter relatively poorer people and places. But in the diverse practices of slum tourism, this is an intentional and explicit goal: poverty becomes the attraction – it is the reason to go.

Many people will instinctively think that this kind of travel is morally problematic, if not downright wrong. But is it really any better to travel to a country such as India and ignore its huge inequalities?

Mapping inequality

It goes without saying that ours is a world of deep and rigid inequalities. Despite some progress in the battles against absolute poverty, inequality is on the rise globally . Few people will openly disagree that something needs to be done about this – but the question is how? Slum tourism should be read as an attempt to address this question. So, rather than dismissing it outright, we should hold this kind of tourism to account and ask; does it help to reduce global inequality?

My investigation into slum tourism provided some surprising answers to this question. We tend to think of tourism primarily as an economic transaction. But slum tourism actually does very little to directly channel money into slums: this is because the overall numbers of slum tourists and the amount of money they end up spending when visiting slums is insignificant compared with with the resources needed to address global inequality.

But in terms of symbolic value, even small numbers of slum tourists can sometimes significantly alter the dominant perceptions of a place. In Mumbai, 20,000 tourists annually visit the informal neighbourhood of Dharavi , which was featured in Slumdog Millionaire. Visitor numbers there now rival Elephanta Island in Mumbai – a world heritage site.

Likewise, in Johannesburg, most locals consider the inner-city neighbourhood of Hillbrow to be off limits. But tourists rate walking tours of the area so highly that the neighbourhood now features as one of the top attractions of the city on platforms such as Trip Advisor . Tourists’ interest in Rio’s favelas has put them on the map; before, they used to be hidden by city authorities and local elites .

Raising visibility

Despite the global anti-poverty rhetoric, it is clear that today’s widespread poverty does benefit some people. From their perspective, the best way of dealing with poverty is to make it invisible. Invisibility means that residents of poor neighbourhoods find it difficult to make political claims for decent housing, urban infrastructure and welfare. They are available as cheap labour, but deprived of full social and political rights.

Slum tourism has the power to increase the visibility of poor neighbourhoods, which can in turn give residents more social and political recognition. Visibility can’t fix everything, of course. It can be highly selective and misleading, dark and voyeuristic or overly positive while glossing over real problems. This isn’t just true of slum tourism; it can also be seen in the domain of “virtual slumming” – the consumption of images, films and books about slums.

Yet slum tourism has a key advantage over “virtual slumming”: it can actually bring people together. If we want tourism to address global inequality, we should look for where it enables cross-class encounters; where it encourages tourists to support local struggles for recognition and build the connections that can help form global grassroots movements. To live up to this potential, we need to reconsider what is meant by tourism, and rethink what it means to be tourists.

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Slumtourism.net

Home of the slum tourism research network, virtual tourism in rio’s favelas, welcome to lockdown stories.

Lockdown Stories emerged as a response to the COVID-19 crisis. The pandemic has impacted communities all around the world and has brought unprecedented challenges. In the favelas of Rio de Janeiro this included the loss of income and visibility from tourism on which community tourism and heritage projects depend.  In that context, Lockdown Stories investigated how community tourism providers responded, and what support they needed to transform their projects in the new circumstances.  In these times of isolation, Lockdown Stores aims to create new digital connections between communities across the world by sharing ‘Lockdown Stories’ through online virtual tours.

We are inviting you to engage in this new virtual tourism platform and to virtually visit six favelas in Rio de Janeiro: Cantagalo, Chapéu Mangueira, Babilônia, Providência, Rocinha and Santa Marta.

The tours are free but booking is required. All live tours are in Portuguese with English translation provided.

Tours happen through November and December, every Tuesday at 7 pm (UK) / 4 pm (Brazil) Please visit  lockdownstories.travel   where you can find out more about the project.

This research project is based on collaboration between the University of Leicester, the University of Rio de Janeiro and Bournemouth University and is funded by the University of Leicester QR Global Challenges with Research Fund (Research England).

Touristification Impossible

Call for Papers – Research Workshop

Touristification Impossible:

Tourism development, over-tourism and anti-tourism sentiments in context.

4 th and 5 th June 2019, Leicester UK

TAPAM – Tourism and Placemaking Research Unit – University of Leicester School of Business

Keynotes by Scott McCabe, Johannes Novy, Jillian Rickly and Julie Wilson

Touristification is a curious phenomenon, feared and desired in almost equal measure by policy makers, businesses and cultural producers, residents, social movements and last but not least, tourists themselves. Much current reflection on over-tourism, particularly urban tourism in Europe, where tourism is experienced as an impossible burden on residents and cities, repeats older debates: tourism can be a blessing or blight, it brings economic benefits but costs in almost all other areas. Anti-tourism social movements, residents and some tourists declare ‘touristification impossible’, asking tourists to stay away or pushing policy makers to use their powers to stop it. Such movements have become evident in the last 10 years in cities like Barcelona and Athens and there is a growing reaction against overtourism in several metropolitan cities internationally.

This workshop sets out to re-consider (the impossibility of) touristification. Frequently, it is understood simplistically as a process in which a place, city, region, landscape, heritage or experience becomes an object of tourist consumption.  This, of course, assumes an implicit or explicit transformation of a resource into a commodity and carries an inherent notion of decline of value, from ‘authentic’ in its original state to ‘commodified’ after touristification. In other words, touristification is often seen as a process of ‘selling out’. But a change of perspective reveals the complexities involved. While some may hope to make touristification possible, it is sometimes actually very difficult and seemingly impossible: When places are unattractive, repulsive, controversial, difficult and contested, how do they become tourist attractions? Arguably in such cases value is added rather than lost in the process of touristification. These situations require a rethink not just of the meaning of touristification, but the underlying processes in which it occurs. How do places become touristically attractive, how is attractiveness maintained and how is it lost? Which actors initiate, guide and manipulate the process of touristification and what resources are mobilised?

The aim of this two-day workshop is to provide an opportunity to challenge the simplistic and biased understanding of tourism as a force of good and touristification as desirable, so common among destination marketing consulting and mainstream scholarly literature. But it will equally question a simplistic but frequent criticism of touristification as ‘sell-out’ and ‘loss of authenticity’.

We invite scholars, researchers, practitioners and PhD students to submit conceptual and/or empirical work on this important theme. We welcome submissions around all aspects and manifestations of touristification (social, economic, spatial, environmental etc.) and, particularly, explorations of anti-tourism protests and the effects of over-tourism. The workshop is open to all theoretical and methodological approaches. We are delighted to confirm keynote presentations by Scott McCabe, Jillian Rickly, Johannes Novy and Julie Wilson.

The workshop is organised by the Tourism and Placemaking Research Unit (TAPAM) of the School of Business and builds on our first research workshop last year on ‘Troubled Attractions’, which brought together over 30 academics from the UK and beyond.

The workshop format

The research workshop will take place in the University of Leicester School of Business. It will combine invited presentations by established experts with panel discussions and research papers. Participants will have the chance to network and socialize during a social event in the evening of Tuesday 4 th June. There is small fee of £20 for participation. Registration includes workshop materials; lunch on 4 th and 5 th June 2019 and social event on 4 th June.

Guidelines for submissions

We invite submissions of abstracts (about 500 words) by 31 st April 2019 . Abstracts should be sent by email to: Fatos Ozkan Erciyas ( foe2 (at) le.ac.uk ).

Digital Technology, Tourism and Geographies of Inequality at AAG April 2019 in DC

Digital technology, tourism and geographies of inequality.

Tourism is undergoing major changes in the advent of social media networks and other forms of digital technology. This has affected a number of tourism related processes including marketing, destination making, travel experiences and visitor feedback but also various tourism subsectors, like hospitality, transportation and tour operators. Largely overlooked, however, are the effects of these changes on questions concerning inequality. Therefore, the aim of this session is to chart this relatively unexplored territory concerning the influence of technologically enhanced travel and tourism on development and inequality.

In the wake of the digital revolution and its emerging possibilities, early debates in tourism studies have been dominated by a belief that new technologies are able to overcome or at least reduce inequality. These technologies, arguably, have emancipatory potential, inter alia, by increasing the visibility of neglected groups, neighborhoods or areas, by lowering barriers of entry into tourism service provision for low-income groups or by democratizing the designation what is considered valuable heritage. They also, however, may have homogenizing effects, for example by subjecting formerly excluded spaces to global regimes of real estate speculation or by undermining existing labour market regimes and standards in the transport and hospitality industries. These latter effects have played a part in triggering anti-tourism protests in a range of cities across the world.

In this session we aim, specifically, to interrogate these phenomena along two vectors: mobility and inequality.

Sponsor Groups : Recreation, Tourism, and Sport Specialty Group, Digital Geographies Specialty Group, Media and Communication Geography Specialty Group Day: 03.04.2019 Start / End Time: 12:40 / 16:15 Room: Calvert Room, Omni, Lobby Level

All abstracts here:

New Paper: Tourist agency as valorisation: Making Dharavi into a tourist attraction

The full paper is available for free download until mid September 2017

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016073831730110X

Tourist agency is an area of renewed interest in tourism studies. Reflecting on existing scholarship the paper identifies, develops and critically examines three main approaches to tourism agency, namely the Service-dominant logic, the performative turn, and tourist valorisation. Tourist valorisation is proposed as a useful approach to theorise the role of tourists in the making of destinations and more broadly to conceptualise the intentions, modalities and outcomes of tourist agency. The paper contributes to the structuring of current scholarship on tourist agency. Empirically it addresses a knowledge gap concerning the role of tourists in the development of Dharavi, Mumbai into a tourist destination.

Touristified everyday life – mundane tourism

Touristified everyday life – mundane tourism: Current perspectives on urban tourism (Berlin 11/12 May 2017) conference program announced / call for registration

Tourism and other forms of mobility have a stronger influence on the urban everyday life than ever before. Current debates indicate that this development inevitably entails conflicts between the various city users. The diverse discussions basically evolve around the intermingling of two categories traditionally treated as opposing in scientific research: ‘the everyday’ and ‘tourism’. The international conference Touristified everyday life – mundane tourism: Current perspectives on urban tourism addresses the complex and changing entanglement of the city, the everyday and tourism. It is organized by the Urban Research Group ‘New Urban Tourism’ and will be held at the Georg Simmel-Center for Metropolitan Studies in Berlin. May 11, 2017, 4:15 – 5:00pm KEYNOTE – Prof. Dr. Jonas Larsen (Roskilde University): ‚Tourism and the Everyday Practices‘ (KOSMOS-dialog series, admission is free).

May 12, 2017, 9:00am – 6:00pm PANELS – The Extraordinary Mundane, Encounters & Contact Zones, Urban (Tourism) Development (registration required).

See full conference program HERE (pdf)

REGISTRATION

If you are interested in the panels you need to register. An attendance fee of 40 € will be charged to cover the expenses for the event. For students, trainees, unemployed, and the handicapped there is a reduced fee of 20 €.

For registration please fill out the registration form (pdf) and send it back until April 20, 2017 to:

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Georg-Simmel-Zentrum für Metropolenforschung Urban Research Group ’New Urban Tourism’ Natalie Stors & Christoph Sommer Unter den Linden 6 10099 Berlin You can also send us the form by email.

https://newurbantourism.files.wordpress.com/2017/03/conference-program.pdf

AAG Boston Programm

The slum tourism network presents two sessions at the Association of American Geographer Annual Meeting in Boston on Friday 7 April 2017 :

3230 The complex geographies of inequality in contemporary slum tourism

is scheduled on Friday, 4/7/2017, from 10:00 AM – 11:40 AM in Room 310, Hynes, Third Level

3419 The complex geographies of inequality in contemporary slum tourism

is scheduled on Friday, 4/7/2017, from 1:20 PM – 3:00 PM in Room 210, Hynes, Second Level

Stigma to Brand Conference Programme announced

From Stigma to Brand: Commodifying and Aestheticizing Urban Poverty and Violence

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, February 16-18, 2017

The preliminary programme has now been published and can be downloaded  here .

For attendance, please register at stigma2brand (at) ethnologie.lmu.d e

Posters presenting on-going research projects related to the conference theme are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Eveline Dürr (LMU Munich, Germany) Prof. Dr. Rivke Jaffe (University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands) Prof. Dr. Gareth Jones (London School of Economics and Politics, UK)

This conference investigates the motives, processes and effects of the commodification and global representation of urban poverty and violence. Cities have often hidden from view those urban areas and populations stigmatized as poor, dirty and dangerous. However, a growing range of actors actively seek to highlight the existence and appeal of “ghettos”, “slums” and “no-go areas”, in attempts to attract visitors, investors, cultural producers, media and civil society organisations. In cities across the world, processes of place-making and place-marketing increasingly resignify urban poverty and violence to indicate authenticity and creativity. From “slum tourism” to “favela chic” parties and “ghetto fabulous” fashion, these economic and representational practices often approach urban deprivation as a viable brand rather than a mark of shame.

The conference explores how urban misery is transformed into a consumable product. It seeks to understand how the commodification and aestheticization of violent, impoverished urban spaces and their residents affects urban imaginaries, the built environment, local economies and social relations.

What are the consequences for cities and their residents when poverty and violence are turned into fashionable consumer experiences? How is urban space transformed by these processes and how are social relationships reconfigured in these encounters? Who actually benefits when social inequality becomes part of the city’s spatial perception and place promotion? We welcome papers from a range of disciplinary perspectives including anthropology, geography, sociology, and urban studies.

Key note speakers:

• Lisa Ann Richey (Roskilde University)
• Kevin Fox Gotham (Tulane University)

Touring Katutura – New Publication on township tourism in Namibia

A new study on township tourism in Namibia has been published by a team of researchers from Osnabrück University including Malte Steinbrink, Michael Buning, Martin Legant, Berenike Schauwinhold and Tore Süßenguth.

Guided sightseeing tours of the former township of Katutura have been offered in Windhoek since the mid-1990s. City tourism in the Namibian capital had thus become, at quite an early point in time, part of the trend towards utilising poor urban areas for purposes of tourism – a trend that set in at the beginning of the same decade. Frequently referred to as “slum tourism” or “poverty tourism”, the phenomenon of guided tours around places of poverty has not only been causing some media sensation and much public outrage since its emergence; in the past few years, it has developed into a vital field of scientific research, too. “Global Slumming” provides the grounds for a rethinking of the relationship between poverty and tourism in world society. This book is the outcome of a study project of the Institute of Geography at the School of Cultural Studies and Social Science of the University of Osnabrueck, Germany. It represents the first empirical case study on township tourism in Namibia.

It focuses on four aspects: 1. Emergence, development and (market) structure of township tourism in Windhoek 2. Expectations/imaginations, representations as well as perceptions of the township and its inhabitants from the tourist’s perspective 3. Perception and assessment of township tourism from the residents’ perspective 4. Local economic effects and the poverty-alleviating impact of township tourism The aim is to make an empirical contribution to the discussion around the tourism-poverty nexus and to an understanding of the global phenomenon of urban poverty tourism.

Free download of the study from here:

https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/9591

CfP Touristified everyday life – mundane tourism : Current perspectives on urban tourism

Touristified everyday life – mundane tourism : Current perspectives on urban tourism

11 and 12 of May 2017 in Berlin

Deadline for proposals: 1st December 2016

Find the f ull call here

Touristifizierter Alltag – Alltäglicher Tourismus: Neue Perspektiven auf das Stadttouristische

CfP AAG 2017

Cfp association of american geographers, boston 5th to 9th april 2017, the complex geographies of inequality in contemporary slum tourism.

The visitation of areas of urban poverty is a growing phenomenon in global tourism (Burgold & Rolfes, 2013; Dürr & Jaffe, 2012; Freire-Medeiros, 2013; Frenzel, Koens, Steinbrink, & Rogerson, 2015). While it can be considered a standard tourism practise in some destinations, it remains a deeply controversial form of tourism that is greeted with much suspicion and scepticism (Freire-Medeiros, 2009). In the emerging research field of slum tourism, the practices are no longer only seen as a specific niche of tourism, but as empirical phenomena that bridge a number of interdisciplinary concerns, ranging from international development, political activism, mobility studies to urban regeneration (Frenzel, 2016).

Slum tourism is sometimes cast as a laboratory where the relationships and interactions between the global North and South appear as micro-sociological encounters framed by the apparent concern over inequality. Beyond questioning the ways in which participants shape the encounters in slum tourism, structural implications and conditions come to the fore. Thus spatial inequality influences opportunities and hinders governance solutions to manage slum tourism operations (Koens and Thomas, 2016). Slum tourism is found to be embedded into post-colonial patterns of discourse, in which ‘North’ and ‘South’ are specifically reproduced in practices of ‘Othering’ (Steinbrink, 2012) . Evidence has been found for the use of slum tourism in urban development (Frenzel, 2014; Steinbrink, 2014) and more widely in the commodification of global care and humanitarian regimes (Becklake, 2014; Holst, 2015). Research has also pointed to the ethical implications of aestheticizing poverty in humanitarian aid performances and the troubles of on-the-ground political engagement in a seemingly post-ideological era (Holst 2016).

More recently a geographical shift has been observed regarding the occurrence of slum tourism. No longer a phenomenon restricted to the Global South, slum tourism now appears increasingly in the global North. Refugee camps such as Calais in the north of France have received high numbers of visitors who engage in charitable action and political interventions. Homeless tent cities have become the subject of a concerned tourist gaze in the several cities of the global north (Burgold, 2014). A broad range of stigmatised neighbourhoods in cities of the global North today show up on tourist maps as visitors venture to ‘off the beaten track’ areas. The resurfacing of slum tourism to the global North furthers reinforces the need to get a deeper, critical understanding of this global phenomena.

Mobility patterns of slum tourists also destabilise notions of what it means to be a tourist, as migrants from the Global North increasingly enter areas of urban poverty in the South beyond temporal leisurely visits, but as low level entry points into cities they intent to make their (temporal) home. Such new phenomena destabilise strict post-colonial framings of slum tourism, pointing to highly complex geographies of inequality.

In this session we aim to bring together research that casts the recent developments in slum tourism research. We aim specifically in advancing geographical research while retaining a broad interdisciplinary outlook.

Please sent your abstract or expressions of interest of now more than 300 words to Tore E.H.M Holst ( tehh (at) ruc.dk ) and Thomas Frisch ( Thomas.Frisch (at) wiso.uni-hamburg.de ) by October 15 th 2016

Becklake, S. (2014). NGOs and the making of “development tourism destinations.” Zeitschrift Für Tourismuswissenschaft , 6 (2), 223–243.

Burgold, J. (2014). Slumming in the Global North. Zeitschrift Für Tourismuswissenschaft , 6 (2), 273–280.

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Urban Informal Settlements pp 119–135 Cite as

Slum Tourism: Towards Inclusive Urbanism?

• Yannan Ding 2  
• First Online: 10 February 2022

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This chapter takes slum tourism as niche tourism and relates it to two cases of art-led chengzhongcun tourism in Guangzhou and Shenzhen. Instead of retrieving moral critiques, it is argued that slum tourism is a niche tourism that actively engages the slum community. Slum tourism has the right to exploit this market niche as long as consent is gained from local communities. The Chinese case takes a trajectory that is different from some renowned cases in other countries. The situation and strategy could vary greatly and yet they share similar effects. In the search for able agencies in community development, the potentialities of slum tourists as the agents of inclusive development should not be overlooked. It offer a democratic approach complimentary to conventional power apparatuses. More comparative studies between China and other countries in the Global South are needed.

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Savvy Travel Advice

Slum Tourism: 17 Responsible Travel Guidelines for Travelers

Last updated: July 12, 2022 - Written by Jessica Norah 10 Comments

Slum tourism is defined as the practice of travelers visiting poor urban areas, typically in the Global South, to view the impoverished conditions and understand more of the lifestyles of local inhabitants. It is also known as poverty tourism, township tourism, community tourism, and other terms.

Tourism is often used to help alleviate poverty, but in this case, poverty is also the attraction. It is a controversial tourism practice but one that has become increasingly popular. Slum tours are particularly popular in South Africa, Brazil, and India. It was estimated by Frezel et al. (2015) that over 1 million tourists take a slum tour each year.

The goal of this article is to provide information that will be useful to both those interested in learning about the practice of slum tourism as well as those travelers who are considering taking a slum tour.

We begin with providing information on the history of slums and slum tourism, the current state of slum tourism, the potential pros and cons of the practice, and the ethical debates around slum tourism. We also provide information for those looking for further resources about the practice. We encourage everyone to do their own research and come up with their own informed opinions on slum tourism.

For those travelers who want to take a slum tour, we propose a set of responsible slum tour guidelines for travelers which were developed based on the research literature, policy papers, and tourism ethic codes. These guidelines are designed for those tourists who plan to take a slum tour and want to do so in the most responsible way possible.

We provide lots of tips and advice for travelers in choosing a responsible tour operator, engaging in behaviors that minimize potential harm and maximize potential benefits to the visited community, and visiting in a safe and responsible manner.

Table of Contents:

Overview of Slum Tourism 

This first section gives a brief overview of the history of slums, the evolution of slum tours, the ethical debate on slum tourism, and the research on the topic of slum tourism. We also provide links to further resources for those wanting to explore these topics further.

What are Slums?

The word slum is often used to refer to urban low-income settlements that are characterized by substandard housing and poor human living conditions. They are usually in crowded urban areas, although they can also sometimes be found in suburban areas. There are a lot of different definitions of the term slum, but one of the most recognized by policymakers is the one used by the United Nations.

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) came up with a formal and operational definition for slums to aid in their reporting. They define a slum household as a group of individuals living under the same roof lacking one or more of the following: access to an improved water source, access to improved sanitation facilities, sufficient living area, housing durability, and security of tenure.

The term informal settlement is often used interchangeably, but specifically is defined by the UN-Habitat to mean that the inhabitants have no security of tenure (e.g., don’t have rights to the land, can be easily evicted), may lack basic services and infrastructure, and the housing may not comply with local regulations.

It should be noted that many people, such as the Australian writer Alan Mayne , consider the word slum to be a pejorative and offensive term and argue against its use. He similarly argues against the use of similar foreign terms like favela , ghetto , and bustee which often have the same negative connotations. He doesn’t suggest an alternative term though and notes that “there is no one term that can describe the diversity of disadvantaged low-income settlement types.”

It should also be noted that many residents living in these areas refer to them as a “slum” (or a similar word in their own local language) themselves, and the UN notes that in many developing countries, “the word lacks the pejorative and divisive original connotation, and simply refers to lower quality or informal housing.” However, in general, the word slum has a negative connotation and is not considered a politically correct term in everyday conversation.

Slum is the main term used by organizations, policymakers, and researchers and it is therefore the one used in this article. This is done for the sake of consistency and for the lack of a better term. But one should be aware that it can often be perceived as an offensive term, and travelers should be aware of the language used in the area in which they are visiting.

Although crowded impoverished areas have existed for hundreds of years, modern urban slums are generally said to date from the beginning of the nineteenth century. The first use of the term “slum” comes from Victorian England in reference to the crowded living conditions of the poor who lived in the alleys of London’s East End.

The first slums began to appear in the early nineteenth century due to rapid industrialization and urbanization, as well as increasing populations, poor urban planning, and discrimination. The first slums occurred in big cities in Europe and North America like London, New York City, Dublin, Boston, and Paris. However, while slum areas can still be found in the Global North, the largest slums of today primarily exist in the developing countries of the Global South.

According to a 2021 report by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, about 24% of the world’s urban population resided in slums in 2018. It is estimated that over 1 billion people are currently living in slums or informal settlements. Unfortunately, the number of people residing in slums has been increasing over time in many parts of the world.

The UN notes a number of reasons for the creation and continuation of slums which include rapid rural-to-urban migration, poor policy and city planning, increasing urban poverty and inequality, insecure tenure, and the global economic cycle.

What are Slum Tours?

Slum tours are guided visits to a slum area. Slum tours are generally walking tours led by a local guide, and most take place in cities in the Global South.

Slum tours are called different things in different parts of the world. They may also be called favela tours, township tours, ghetto tours, poverty tours, community tours, cultural tours, etc.

Although many people think that slum tours are a very recent phenomenon, the practice actually dates back to the nineteenth century. According to Frenzel et al. , upper-class British people in the mid-1800s started to take an interest in visiting the slums of London and that this was the beginning of informal slum tourism.

Londoners then began to visit slums when traveling in the cities of the United States and Europe, causing more interest in this behavior. It is believed that the first commercial guided tours of slums began in the early 20th century in the cities of New York City, Chicago, and San Francisco.

Later slums began to develop in the Global South as industrialization and urbanization took place in those countries. However, there was relatively little slum tourism in the Global South for many decades, likely due to safety concerns from travelers and the lack of formal tours.

According to Frenzel (1992 ), the first commercial slum tours in the Global South are believed to date from the early 1990s, taking place in South Africa and Brazil. The first tours in both of these countries surprisingly have political and social justice roots.

Township tours in South Africa were first organized and promoted by the local governments during apartheid (which lasted from approximately 1948 to the early 1990s). These official propaganda township tours (along with cultural villages, museums, etc.) were designed to show government officials and visitors that apartheid policies were working. However, informal township tours also sprung up that were designed to show the social injustices of apartheid.

After apartheid legislation was repealed in 1991 and the first multiracial election took place in 1994, tourism increased in South Africa. The informal township tours that had sprung up during apartheid started to become less political over time and began to focus more on heritage, cultural diversity, and local life.

Today, township tours are popular in several cities in South Africa, including Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Durban. These tours are not only popular with foreign tourists but also attract a significant number of South Africans.

The year of the first commercial favela tours in Rio de Janeiro is unclear but the interest in slum tourism in Brazil was really sparked in 1992. During the Rio Summit in 1992 (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development), some of the conference delegates wanted to visit the favela areas instead of just seeing the popular tourist attractions. So, a tour operator arranged a tour for them to visit Rocinha. Some of the journalists and policymakers wrote about these visits; this made people aware of favelas and caused others to want to visit.

The early visitors to the favelas in Rio were mainly “political tourists” and journalists, but soon regular leisure tourists were also coming. Today, Rocinha is one of the most visited slums in the world and favela tours are one of the popular tourist things to do in Rio de Janeiro.

Where do Slum Tours Take Place?

Slum tours take place in dozens of countries, primarily in the Global South. Three countries that attract the most slum tourism are Brazil, South Africa, and India.

A group of researchers on slum tourism estimated in a 2015 paper that approximately 1 million tourists were taking part in slum tours each year. They noted that about 80% of those tourists are doing so in just two countries: Brazil and South Africa. In Brazil, tourists are mainly visiting the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. In South Africa, tourists are taking township tours in several cities.

As noted in the prior section, the first commercial slum tours in the Global South are believed to have started in the early 1990s in South Africa and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. These early tours sprung from political and social justice roots. Today these remain two of the most popular slum tourism destinations.

The influence of media and promotion by the local tourism industry have also had a huge effect on where slum tourism is popular. The films Slumdog Millionaire , District 9 , and City of God depicted the slums of Dharavi, District Six, and Cidade de Deus, respectively. These films are often credited with making slum tourism popular in Mumbai, Johannesburg, and Rio de Janeiro.

There are often multiple tour operators offering tours in the most popular slum tourism cities. For example, you’ll find a number of tours options to visit the slums of Soweto in Johannesburg (South Africa), Rocinha in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Manshiyat Nasser (“Garbage City”) in Cairo (Egypt), Kibera in Nairobi (Kenya), Dharavi in Mumbai (India), and Langa in Cape Town (South Africa).

However, it should be pointed out that most slum areas around the world receive relatively little tourist interest. For example, although Orangi in Karachi, Pakistan is twice the size of Dharavi and is believed to be Asia’s largest slum area (perhaps the world’s largest), it is not a popular tourist destination. Similarly, although there are hundreds of favelas in Brazil, there are only a handful of them that attract tourist visits.

What are Slum Tours Like?

Every slum tour is different, but in general, they are often walking tours led by a tour leader through a particular neighborhood or slum area.

Slum tours are organized and run by a variety of different types of operators, including private tour companies, charities, and non-governmental organizations. The size of the operators ranges from solo tour guides running their own business to fairly large tour operators that employ a number of guides.

Most slum tours take place mainly outdoors and view the explored neighborhood on foot from the streets. Most include at least a couple of planned stops at local businesses, cultural sites, homes, schools, humanitarian projects, markets, or other points of interest.

Slum areas are all very different. Even slums in the same city can be very different in terms of infrastructure, history, cultural diversity, and level of affluence.

Slums like Soweto and Rocinha, which are two of the most visited slum areas in the world, have more developed tourist services than many other slums around the world. For instance, they offer museums, restaurants, bars, clubs, cultural centers, gift shops, and overnight lodging options for guests. Some evening tours include going to clubs for music, drinks, and entertainment. Soweto even has a 4-star hotel and conference center!

However, most slum areas offer few, if any, tourist services. It is important to remember that many people living in these areas lack access to basic necessities and resources like safe drinking water, electricity, and good sanitation services.

Is Slum Tourism Ethical?

Despite a lot of writings on the subject, there does not appear to be any agreed-upon consensus as to whether slum tourism is ethical or not. Determining whether an activity is morally right or wrong is often more of a philosophical debate than a scientific one.

It is difficult to argue that a walking tour through any neighborhood is inherently unethical. So the ethical arguments are often around tourists’ motivations for taking slum tours, tourists’ behaviors while on tours, the impact of the “tourist gaze” , the feelings of local residents about slum tourism, and the costs and benefits of such tourism on the local community.

It is a complex issue and has been discussed by many researchers, journalists, and others. Just note that many of these opinions, especially those of journalists and bloggers, are coming from people living in developed Western countries, not those actually living in slum communities themselves. We encourage you to read the debates and discussions pertaining to the ethics of slum tourism to make up your own beliefs. You can find some articles online here to get started.

In order to examine whether slum tours are responsible or not, many people look at the potential positive and negative impacts of slum tourism in a particular local community.

Those who support slum tourism often note potential benefits such as reducing stigmatization, increasing awareness, employing local residents, generating revenue for community projects, increasing profits of local businesses, and improving local services, infrastructure, and security.

Those opposed to slum tourism typically note the negative impacts that include the voyeuristic and intrusive nature of the practice, the potential exploitation of local people (particularly children), the problematic practice of using poverty as an attraction, and the limited economic benefits to locals,

A small number of studies have looked at residents’ thoughts and feelings, indicating that most slum residents believe that there are both negative and positive potential impacts of slum tourism. But the attitudes, concerns, and perceptions of residents seem to vary across slum areas.

For example, a study of residents in a Cairo slum area , noted a number of both positive (e.g., donations, employment, improved infrastructure) and negative aspects (e.g., rights and assets being used for tourism, voyeuristic nature of some tours, concerns about human trafficking) related to slum tourism. Although most residents generally had positive attitudes towards slum tourism, they reported there are a lot of barriers to benefiting from slum tourism. The most common barrier they reported to benefiting from slum tourism was actually the high-density population of the slum itself.

The biggest concern many residents have is that slum tourism does not directly benefit them and only benefits a limited number of people in the slum. This is a particular concern for slum areas like Kibera in Nairobi ( Kieti & Magio, 2013 ) where there are few tourism-focused businesses due to limited capacity and investment. So locals can’t benefit from ventures such as selling crafts, meals, and souvenirs to visitors or offering overnight accommodation as residents of other slum areas do. Many residents in Kibera had more negative overall attitudes toward slum tourism and believe that most of the profits go to outsiders.

To learn more about ethics in tourism, you can check out this code of ethics developed by The World Tourism Agency called the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism. They also provide this set of tips for being a responsible tourist to help people make more responsible choices when traveling.

Further Resources on Slum Tourism

We highly encourage you to do your own research on slums, informal settlements, and slum tourism.

One of the best sources for information and research about slums is the United Nations Habitat (UN-Habitat) website. One of the major goals of UN-Habitat is to improve the conditions of slum dwellers around the world. They regularly release data, reports, and information related to slums and their projects.

Cities Alliance is a global partnership fighting urban poverty and promoting the role of cities. One of the main goals is to improve living conditions in existing slums and prevent new slums from forming.

Another organization that provides information on slums and their work on slum rehabilitation is Habitat for Humanity. Other international organizations that do research and work on improving slum conditions are Oxfam and Save the Children.

• United Nations Habitat (UN-Habitat): https://unhabitat.org/topic/slum-upgrading
• Cities Alliance Cities Without Slums: https://www.citiesalliance.org/cities-without-slums-action-plan
• Habitat for Humanity: https://www.habitatforhumanity.org.uk/what-we-do/slum-rehabilitation/

To get a good overview of slum tourism history and research, we recommend the book and literature review by Fabian Frenzel. Frenzel’s work focuses on the intersection of tourism and urban poverty, and he has written several articles and edited a few books on the topic of slum tourism.

• Frenzel, F., Koens, K., & Steinbrink, M. (Eds.) (2012) Slum tourism :  Poverty, power and ethics. New York: Routeldge.
• Frenzel, F., Koens, K., Steinbrink, M., & Rogerson, C. (2015). Slum tourism: State of the art. Tourism Review International , 18 , 237-252. doi: 10.3727/154427215X14230549904017

Just note that there are a lot of limitations to the studies on slum tourism. As someone who has published psychological and health services research and has read dozens of these research studies, I find that there is a lack of strong empirical studies in the area of slum tourism. Much of the research relies on small samples, non-random sampling, self-reporting, qualitative data, anecdotes, and retrospective data.

Most of the research on slum tourism is published in tourism journals.

• Google Scholar is a good place to go and search if you don’t have access to a paid research database like Scopus, PsycINFO, or PubMed. Many of the articles listed in Google Scholar are available online for free.

There are studies that examine different issues in specific slums, so if you are interested in a specific slum (e.g., Rocinha, Kibera, Soweto, Dharavi) or geographical region, you can search for that in the research literature.

17 Responsible Traveler Slum Tour Guidelines

If you are planning to take a slum tour, we have come up with a proposed set of guidelines and tips for travelers who want to do so in the most responsible way possible.

Ultimately, we believe the main responsibility in regulating slum tourism and conducting responsible tours lies with the local governments and tour operators. They should strive to ensure that tours are responsible and are designed in a way to maximize the positive impact on local communities while minimizing any negative effects.

However, realistically, we also know that most tour operators respond to the demands and behaviors of the traveler and that government regulations are often lax. The communities themselves often have minimal power. So travelers often have to vote with their wallets in determining what tourist products are available and how they are structured.

Our tips are based on research in the area of slum tourism, the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, and our personal experience. A strong influence was the proposed guidelines for township tour operators in Cape Town, South Africa that were developed in 2013 by tourism researcher Jeanett Søderstrøm. While those guidelines were specifically proposed for the slum tour operators, we have written a set of proposed guidelines for responsible travelers.

1. Choose a Responsible Tour Operator

The first step is to choose a responsible tour operator. However, this is much easier said than done as it can be hard to identify whether a tour is operated in a responsible, ethical, and sustainable way.

There is no third-party international regulation of slum tours, although there may be local regulations of such tours. So, the best you can do is to read the company’s policies, tour descriptions, and past reviews by travelers who have taken the tour.

There are lots of things to look out for (many are covered in more detail in this post) but here are some things that may indicate a more responsible company:

• The company is locally based and employs local resident guides
• The company focuses on small group walking tours
• The company pays fair wages to guides and compensates any visited households
• The company uses tours to benefit the local community (e.g., profits support a local community project)
• The company provides guidance on tourist behaviors concerning photography, dress, safety, tipping, and home visits
• The company promotes its tours with a focus on learning and the local community rather than on the more voyeuristic aspects of visiting slums
• The company allows tourists the opportunity to support local businesses and projects if they wish
• The company doesn’t promote tour activities that are likely to exploit or cause harm to children, animals, or vulnerable people
• The company consults with local residents to get feedback and inform their tours
• The company has a responsible travel or sustainable tourism policy
• The company provides evidence of its responsible or sustainable claims

Now, the chances of realistically being able to know and confirm all the above is pretty low with most companies that lead slum tours. Many are very small companies and some may just be a single person leading tours, and there may not be a ton of information available.

You can of course contact them in advance if you have questions. But for many claims, you often have to take their word for it and trust that the information provided is truthful. However, the above can be a good set of criteria for comparing tours.

Probably the best way to learn more about a specific tour is to read reviews from recent guests who did that tour. We find the best source is often the third-party websites that sell tours such as Viator and GetYourGuide as these websites generally only allow people who have booked the tour to post, and the published reviews are not controlled by the tour operator.

Other potential sources for reviews are Trustpilot , public travel forums, and other public review platforms like Google and TripAdvisor. Just note that many of these websites are often unregulated in terms of who can post. A tour company’s own website reviews can be useful but they are typically only going to share posts that are positive.

2. Visit with a Local Guide

It is best to choose a local guide and preferably someone who grew up and lives in the community. A resident of the community is going to be more likely to know more about the area, be able to share personal stories, and be more likely to be invested in ensuring that the tour visits the area in a responsible way.

One of the things that many residents of slums complain most about is that many tours are not led by local residents. The employment of local guides is one of the most direct ways for slum tourism to benefit a local community.

3. Visit on Foot

There is nothing that seems to make residents feel more like zoo animals than a bus or car full of tourists watching, pointing, and snapping photos of them. This creates a barrier between the visitor and the residents.

I think today most slum tours are done on foot, but there are tours, particularly in South Africa, that are done as a driving tour on a bus or in a private car. You should avoid these drive-by tours.

Walking tours also tend to be longer and spend more time actually seeing the area than bus or Jeep tours.

4. Don’t be in a Rush

If you are visiting a slum area to learn more about it, then you want to make sure you have the time to do so. It is going to depend on the particular slum area, but most are very large areas and it is hard to see much on a short tour.

The more time you have, the more opportunities you will have to see more, interact more with the local people, support local businesses, and learn more from your visit. We’d recommend setting aside at least half a day (about 4 hours) if you want to do a slum tour.

Most slum tours are 3 to 4 hours in length and some are even full-day experiences of 8 hours or more. Be cautious of shorter tours that are only 1 or 2 hours in length as they may rush you through the area and may be less likely to visit the area in a responsible way.

5. Visit as Part of a Small Group

Similar to the above tip about not visiting as part of a bus or driving tour, we also recommend going as part of a smaller group. Many walking tours are done as private tours or with small groups of 10 people or less.

Joining others as part of a small group tour is fine, but going as a giant group of 20 people is going to be very overwhelming when walking through narrow streets or visiting a shop or a home. Touring as part of a larger group is also going to make it harder to hear and talk to the guide, create more safety concerns, and make it more overwhelming for local people trying to go about their business.

If you want more control over your tour, a private tour may be the way to go. This will allow you to go more at your own pace, adjust the tour itinerary, and give you a chance to ask more questions.

6. Do a Little Bit of Research

One of the reasons to take a tour is to learn more about a local community, but it is also a good idea to come into the tour knowing at least a little about the area you are visiting and its history. This will help you better understand what you are seeing and ask more informed questions.

For instance, if you are visiting South Africa and plan to go on a township tour, knowing at least a little bit about the colonial history of South Africa, apartheid, and the activism of Nelson Mandela is going to be very helpful.

It is also a good idea to know what to expect on the tour by reading the tour description and recent reviews. This can help you be better prepared for the tour.

7. Dress Respectfully and Appropriately

Every area is going to be a bit different, of course, but you want to keep the local culture and customs in mind when it comes to how to dress and behave. Many slum areas are in places where most people dress modestly for cultural and/or religious reasons. So you want to be respectful of those customs.

If unsure of what would be appropriate as a visitor, it is best to err on the side of more modest and conservative clothing. Just make sure it is something that is also comfortable to wear for a lot of walking. You also want to keep sun protection in mind as you’ll likely be outside for much of the tour.

You also want to wear practical clothes and shoes that you don’t mind if they get a little dirty. For instance, when we did a walking tour of Kibera in Nairobi, we walked through a number of dirt streets and alleys and across areas that were muddy and had rubbish and open sewage.

8. Keep Safety in Mind

Many government agencies advise tourists against visiting a number of slum areas and informal settlements around the world due to safety concerns. So, it is important if you plan to visit to have a local guide, visit during daylight hours, pay attention to relevant security alerts, and take safety precautions.

Remember your guide can give you advice and try to keep an eye on you, but he or she is not your bodyguard. A guide may make it less likely you’ll be targeted, but it is not going to guarantee you won’t be pickpocketed or robbed.

Guides can provide invaluable advice but it is up to you to take it. For instance, we were talking to a guide who said he had a lady in his group who he advised twice to carry her backpack on her front rather than her back when going through a crowded market. She didn’t and by the end of the tour, she realized her pocketbook containing her money and credit cards had been stolen from her backpack.

You want to take normal safety precautions to try to prevent pickpocketing and theft. This includes leaving valuables at your hotel (or at home), not carrying a lot of money, being aware of your surroundings, not wearing flashing clothes or accessories, and storing things like your passport and a spare credit card in a hidden place like a money belt .

If you are carrying a purse or bag, we recommend a cross-body one, a sling, or fanny pack that is harder for someone to grab and one you aren’t likely to accidentally set down and leave behind. If you choose a backpack, we recommend one with lockable zippers like those by PacSafe and to consider carrying it on your front in crowded areas.

You also want to keep your surroundings in mind as many informal settlements have open sewers, rubbish tips, and animals wandering around. So staying aware as you walk around is important as you don’t want to accidentally step on a sharp object or fall into an open sewer. Wearing practical shoes and watching where you step is a good idea.

And of course, if you decide to eat while on your tour, you want to keep food and water safety in mind. Unless provided as part of the tour, you’ll want to bring along enough water for the duration of the tour. Most slum communities around the world lack access to clean drinking water.

Most slum communities are located in countries that do not have good access to clean drinking water. We have an article about finding or getting safe drinking water when traveling that may be helpful if you are traveling for the first time to a country where you can’t safely drink the tap water.

9. Bring Local Currency

You’ll want to bring local currency with you as it is likely that guides and small businesses are not going to be able to take credit cards for payment.

It is also best to leave any tips or donations in the local currency as otherwise, it costs the person money to exchange an international currency. Most slum residents lack access to banks and financial institutions, making it difficult for them to exchange foreign currency.

Of course, you do not want to carry a lot of money on you for safety reasons. So I would recommend just bringing enough to pay for the tour (if not paid for in advance), leave tips, buy souvenirs, etc.

10. Treat Everyone you Meet with Dignity and Respect

This is a fairly obvious one, but you want to treat everyone you meet with dignity and respect. People want to be treated the same way you would want others to treat you.

Impoverished people are often stigmatized, ignored, and disregarded. Not just by foreign travelers, but by more privileged people in their own communities. While visitors’ attention can help combat stigma and stereotypes, it can also have the opposite effect.

Lots of residents complain about some slum tourists making them feel like an “attraction” rather than as people. This is often due to behaviors from tourists such as pointing, staring, and photos being taken of them.

No one wants to be stared at, talked about, talked down to, or have photos taken of them without their explicit permission. Many residents, however, welcome respectful interactions with tourists.

It can also be embarrassing or hurtful to residents if tourists react in a disgusted or repulsed manner, especially if visiting someone’s home or business. If you are coming from a life of privilege, this may be the first time you have encountered true poverty. This often comes along with unfamiliar and unpleasant sights, sounds, and smells. While it is natural to be shocked and surprised, it is important to remember that this is someone’s home and community.

While the people you meet on a slum tour might all seem friendly and happy, it is important to keep in mind that most people’s lives are difficult. Many tourists leave with the impression of people who are “poor but happy” and this attitude can trivialize the lives of the residents. Many people living in slum areas struggle to obtain basic daily necessities like food, shelter, and clean water, and worry about crime, unemployment, diseases, and how to educate and protect their children. So while residents might be smiling and welcoming to visitors, most wish for an easier and more secure life.

11. Don’t Take Photos or Videos without Permission

Your guide will likely talk to you about taking photos and videos at the beginning of the tour. If you are unsure, you should ask about photography guidelines before taking any photos. Photography can make residents feel uncomfortable and like they are in a zoo so it is often discouraged when visiting slums.

Imagine if people came to your own neighborhood and started taking photos of you, your family, and your home. This is obviously not something most of us would enjoy and in some places, this behavior would be illegal.

On many slum tours, photos and videos are not allowed out of respect for the residents. Or photography may only be permitted in certain areas.

For instance, when Laurence was in Rio de Janeiro, he was advised by the guide not to take any photos in the favela areas. This policy was put into place both out of respect for the residents and the presence of gangs. So the guide took them to a viewpoint overlooking the favela areas where they were told they could take photos, but then Laurence put away his camera and took no photos while walking around in the community itself.

If photography is permitted, you want to be sure to be respectful if you do choose to take photos. As you would anywhere, if you want to take photos, particularly of people’s faces or inside their homes, you should ask permission first. Your guide should be able to help you ask permission, especially if you don’t speak the local language.

Be cautious about taking photos of children. Many residents have reported feeling particularly exploited by tourists taking photos of their children without their permission. You should have the permission of both the child and the parent before taking a photo. However, we generally recommend against taking photos of children, particularly those living in vulnerable areas.

Just understand that the power dynamics in the relationship between tourists and residents often mean that locals may agree to photos even if they would prefer not to. Some may feel it is impolite to refuse a visitor or say they feel pressured to do so by the tour guides.

We generally err on the side of not taking identifiable photos of anyone, unless they are our guides or people who are part of the tour.

If you do take photos on your tour, you also want to be respectful if you decide to share those photos publicly. You want to think about which photos you share and what you say about your experience. You don’t want to glamorize, trivialize, or romanticize these types of settings.

12. Be Respectful of People’s Private Spaces

Unless invited inside, you should respect people’s privacy in terms of people’s private living and work spaces. People may also share outdoor toilets, latrines, or bathing areas that may offer little privacy.

We have read of people gawking in windows, taking photos of people in their homes, and even wandering into people’s homes uninvited. These are not things you would do in your own town or city, and are definitely not things you should do in someone else’s neighborhood.

Some tours may include stops to visit people’s homes. It is important to be respectful of your host and their home when visiting. It is generally expected on many such tours that you will give a small donation to the hosts (e.g., money or food) at the end of the visit.

13. Be Cautious about Visiting Schools, Clinics, or Orphanages

You want to be cautious about any tour which mentions visiting schools, nurseries, clinics, or orphanages. You want to be sure to not be doing anything that is going to disrupt the care or education of children, put vulnerable people at risk, or have children involuntarily participate in tourism activities.

We personally don’t support tourists visiting or volunteering at orphanages, and you can read more about the problems with orphanages, orphanage donations, and orphanage tourism here .

Learning about a school or children’s project may be part of a tour if a tour’s profits are benefiting that school or project and the guide wants to show you actual proof of its existence. But it is best if it doesn’t involve disrupting the children’s studies. Imagine if you were a kid and every hour, some group of strangers showed up in your classroom. This is going to make it very hard to focus and learn.

Basically, you just want to think about if your visit may be doing any harm to anyone involved, especially to children and other vulnerable people.

If you feel that a tour you took could be improved, it is good to give that feedback to the tour leader (and in reviews) and suggest helpful alternatives. Tours will only change if the company thinks that is what tourists want. For example, rather than going into a classroom and talking to children in the middle of the day, it could be better to just talk to an adult volunteer at the school and/or watch a video made with the children and teachers.

14. Consider Ways to Support the Local Community

One of the things that slum residents tend to cite as one of the biggest negative things about slum tourism is that it often does not benefit the local community.

The main thing you can do is to choose a responsible tour operator that uses local resident guides and benefits the community (e.g., contributes part of profits to community-based projects). For example, in the Bwaise district of Kampala, Uganda, slum tours are used to benefit the local non-profit organization AFFCAD . The organization helps support clean water projects, local schools, and various health projects.

But there are a lot of other ways you might support the local community. You can also give direct monetary support via tips to your guides and any households you visit. You can support local businesses by buying handmade crafts and souvenirs, buying produce at the market, eating in a local eatery, and staying in local accommodation. You can support local charities and community projects by making donations.

If you are worried about giving money directly to an unknown charity or project, you might consider in-kind donations instead of cash. So you might want to donate useful and relevant goods to a local school, hospital, or community project. It is a good idea to do a bit of research first though to make sure you are able to give something that is both practical and needed.

For example, if you want to support a local school, you might consider donating some needed school supplies. This might include things like pencils, chalk, notebook paper, calculators, or solar lights.

15. Avoid Giving Money to Children

Most organizations and tour operators will advise you not to give money or candy to children who may ask or beg you for money during your tour. While many tourists give money to children with good intentions, the money often discourages the child from going to school.

As Nelson Mandela said in a speech in 1990: “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Education is the best tool in fighting poverty and can help children grow up to have a better life. If children (or their families) learn that they can make money by begging, it can be difficult to get them to attend school.

If you are interested in helping local children, consider donating money or goods to a local school, children’s charity, or public hospital instead. For example, many families and schools are in need of school supplies, school uniforms, textbooks, shoes, hygiene items, and light sources (children in many informal settlements can’t read or study after dark because of a lack of reliable electricity).

16. Use the Visit as a Learning Opportunity

One of the main reasons people want to do a slum tour is to learn more about the people, the community, and the local culture. Be open to learning and listening to the tour guide and those who you encounter as part of the tour.

For many visitors, this is their first time seeing poverty up close. As someone who is financially privileged, you want to endeavor to use this as a chance to learn and try to understand rather than as just a chance to look at poverty.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions on the tour. Tour guides and residents you meet are generally very happy to answer any questions you may have. Just be sure to do so in a respectful way.

17. Leave Feedback

After the tour, we recommend leaving private feedback for the guide and tour company and a public review for future travelers. Things that can be particularly important to note is any issues around safety, if the tour was conducted in a responsible manner, and if the tour was as advertised.

If you feel that a tour you took could be improved (particularly in the issues of being more safe or responsible), it is good to give that feedback. It is also helpful to provide constructive advice that would be practical for the tour company to implement to encourage change.

Public reviews can help future travelers know more about the tour, the tour company, and your personal experience. This can help them decide if it is an appropriate tour for them or not.

So that is our overview of slum tourism and our proposed guidelines and tips on how to choose and take a slum tour in the most responsible way possible. We hope you have found it helpful.

What do you think about slum tourism? Do you think it can be done in a more responsible manner? Have you taken a slum tour? If so, we’d love to hear about your experience.

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There are 10 comments on this post.

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Daniel E. Post author

February 1, 2024 at 3:07 am

Informative blog on slum tourism and lots of cited research and personal experience, exactly what i was searching for, thanks so much!

Jessica & Laurence Norah Post author

February 1, 2024 at 12:41 pm

Glad your found our information on slum tourism and slum tours helpful, just let us know if you have any questions.

Wishing you safe and happy travels! Jessica

Ravi Post author

October 11, 2022 at 5:06 am

This article enlightened me with a very detailed explanation when searching for information about slum tourism for a research report. thanks for sharing.

October 12, 2022 at 3:00 pm

Glad you found our article on slum tourism helpful for your research. If you have any questions we might be able to help with, just ask!

Best, Jessica

Irene Post author

July 28, 2022 at 9:23 pm

Some great research and tips! What a very interesting history. I would like to pay a visit to slum in Rio in 2024. I’m excited to get to know more about their people, life, and culture.

July 31, 2022 at 12:19 am

Glad you enjoyed our responsible travel tips for visiting slum areas. I hope you enjoy your time in Rio in 2024.

Seana Turner Post author

July 12, 2022 at 7:13 am

Wow, I didn’t even know this was a thing. I love the respectful tone of this post. It is so important to check your heart and motives before embarking on a trip like this. I love the granular advice about using local currency and visiting on foot. No one wants to feel like their misfortune and struggles are someone else’s entertainment. I hope this type of tourism benefits those who need the world’s help. Thanks for posting on this topic!

July 12, 2022 at 8:00 am

Thanks for taking the time to comment, and glad you enjoyed reading the post. I like your comment of checking “your heart and motives”.

I started reading and writing about slum tourism several years ago and avoided taking any slum tours. But I decided to take one earlier this year while in Nairobi (Kibera) to better understand what the tours were like and how to do it in the most responsible way possible. It felt a bit weird to write about something I had never done.

One thing we noticed in Kibera is that it just lacks the infrastructure for large numbers of residents to benefit from tourism. There were very few things a tourist could buy or do unlike in some other slum areas where there are stalls selling local crafts and souvenirs, food markets, a museum talking about local history, places where people can eat, see a performance, or sleep. So it doesn’t appear to currently create much employment or benefit other than for tour guides and those directly involved in the tour itself. We were also the only tourists we saw there during our visit.

Tourism is such a major industry in so many countries and leaving areas like this completely out of being able to benefit from tourism seems wrong. But having tourists going just to gawk and take photos of poverty seems wrong as well. Each country and each community is different and the study in Cairo indicated that different approaches need to be taken in each community.

Individual travelers can only do so much, and ultimately changes need to come from the tour operators and local governments to ensure that offerings are as responsible and ethical as possible. But reviews, complaints, and changes in demand over time by travelers can help.

Marge D Post author

July 10, 2022 at 11:25 am

Some great research and tips as always, very interesting history. I actually did a slum tour, called a favella tour as you mention in Rio. When in Brazil, it was just part of full day walking tour we did. I have to admit I didn’t consider most of these issues or potential probelms and never heard the term slum tourism. But I do remember they asked us not to take photos. Back then, around 2002 or 2003, most people didn’t have cameras on their phones so I think that part was less of an issue. This definitely gives me some food for thought!!

I wonder if rural tours of poor villages and disaster tourism is sort of the same thing?

July 10, 2022 at 1:38 pm

Thanks for taking the time to comment and share your experience of the favela tour you did in Rio. I am glad you enjoyed the article.

Yes, I think that any kind of tour to more impoverished areas, whether rural villages or urban ones, can have very similar issues. Disaster tourism is a bit different but has many of the same potential issues of being voyeruristic and potentially exploiting vulnerable people. I know there has been discussion about the ethics of tours to areas devastated by recent floods or hurricanes (including after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans). All tourism can have negative effects. I think people just have to consider the potential harms of their travel decisions, make an informed decision, and try to minimize any harm.

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Elisa Spampinato is a travel writer and a Community Storyteller who has lived and worked in Italy, Brazil, and the UK where she is currently located. Practitioner, researcher, speaker, and consultant for sustainable tourism with years of experience in local development and social projects, and a passionate advocate for ethical and responsible tourism. As a writer, she has collaborated with Tourism Concern , Equality in Tourism, Gender Responsible Tourism – GRT, Travindy and Tourism Watch . She has published a book on Slum Tourism in Rio de Janeiro and she continues telling the stories of tourism encounters in local communities, especially the traditional, rural and indigenous ones. Among other things, she is the Community-Based Tourism specialist and Ambassador for the Transformational Travel Council (TTC) Elisa can be followed on her Blog , Facebook , LinkedIN and Instagram .

Slums are complex realities that present hugely varying scenarios, even within the same city. In a similar way, the term ‘Slum Tourism’ does not refer to a homogeneous phenomenon. Therefore, the answers to our question can differ according to the specific context we are considering. Slum Tourism can be an ethical choice, and yet in some cases it is definitely not.

Although several decades have passed since its first global appearance in Brazil in the 1980s, Slum Tourism continues to be a very controversial phenomenon, while it registers an overall rise in demand. Data about this niche form of experiential tourism is intrinsically limited, although we know that the numbers of visitors are significant, and the favela of Rocinha alone receives an average of 50,000 tourists per year. Therefore, it is crucial – and I dare say even necessary – to understand the key factors determining the potentially positive and innovative impacts, nowadays recorded in an increasing number of cases, that follow a trend seemingly in contrast to the image of the early days, when the term ‘human zoos’ was coined.

It is known that the criticisms of this kind of tourism, where they exist, are fierce and poignant, and with good reason.

The most common accusations raised against Slum Tourism, in fact, are serious ones and are mainly linked to:

• exploitation of poverty,
• reinforcement of cultural stigma,
• disrespect of human privacy and, last but not least,
• commodification of social issues and marginalisation.

However, instances do not necessarily lead to such outcomes, and many grassroots examples prove that more nuances and possibilities need to be added to the picture.

Moreover, there is now a greater variety of actors involved, with motivations that go beyond simple financial interest, which opens space for the conscious design of ethical outcomes.

A closer look at the range of local experiences springing up in many locations, shows us that Slum Tourism can be a force for good and it can even provide long-lasting benefits that improve the local people’s quality of life.

Grassroots positive examples

In India , Reality Tours – founded in 2005, and inspired by the work done in some carioca slums –  is active in Mumbai’s biggest slum Dharavi and in Delhi, and has started several educational programmes through its sister organisation Reality Gives , which since 2009 has invested in the future of the local youth by providing training and professional skill-building options. Slum Tourism here is an active tool used towards poverty reduction and social development.

In Brazil , probably due to their longer history, a traditionally more engaged third sector and a consistent level of governmental support during the Olympics in 2016, the slums are sometimes an incredible laboratory of social innovation, and are able to share many positive examples. The MUF – Museu de Favela , for example, an open-air museum that celebrates the history and cultural roots of the community with massive colourful graffiti on the residents’ houses; the Morrinho Project , a twenty-three year old social project that has invested in creativity and imagination as a weapon against the limiting of options open to the local youth; Rocinha Original Tour , the first Community-Based Agency formally created in a Brazilian slum, highly rated on Trip Advisor and with international visibility; Santa Marta collective is a group of twelve certified local tour guides from the same slum – active in local government discussions, it collaborates regularly with academic research centres to strengthen their unity and the rights of the sector and their own community.

Among the positive benefits registered in these and other cases we find the following:

• a rise in self-esteem in the local community members,
• deconstruction of cultural stigma traditionally associated with the favela ,
• a boost to the local economy and potential for sustainable development,
• social inclusion of marginalised segments of society and professional skills building,
• women and youth empowerment.

It seems obvious from these examples that a single narrative story appears to be limiting, partial, and dangerous overall, because it could leave in the shade, and even suppress, experiences that need more visibility to grow and to produce further fruits that are beneficial to the locals in the process.

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Further Reading – Six Books To Help You Understand Slums

Salman Rushdie once wrote that “ to understand just one life you have to swallow the world “. In Dharavi there’s an estimated one million lives. In Sanjay Colony, there’s a not inconsiderable 50,000.

As we try to convey on our educational tours, these communities are incredibly complex. Whilst the word ‘slum’ evokes a negative view (The Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition runs to ‘ an area of a city where poor people live and the buildings are in bad condition ‘) the reality is not so cut and dry. Yes, the challenging conditions show a lack of fairness in our societies and a failure of government  but there are also positive aspects; a strong sense of community, rents which make a rural urban migration possible and the potential for residence to play a part in shaping and moulding their environment.

Slums do not conform to a simplistic Dickensian definition of dirt, squalor and crime; neither should we assuage our sense of guilt at all that we have by romanticising the lives being played out there. The reality is it’s far more nuanced. To that end, here’s a few books straight from the Reality bookshelf which might help shape your understanding of what is an incredibly complex topic.

Arrival City – Doug Saunders

In a nutshell:  The 21st century will see a final rural to urban migration driven by the desire of the rural poor to access a better life, improved job opportunities and social mobility.

Whilst Saunders accepts the challenges of life in a slum, he believes in their importance in facilitating this rural urban migration and argues that rather than seek to obliterate them, they need to be understood, supported and developed, and in doing so, will facilitate personal empowerment, social mobility and economic development.

What our staff say:  “Interwoven with personal encounters from his travels (as far ranging as India, China and Turkey and as close to home as Tower Hamlets in London) this makes for a really engaging and thought provoking read”.

Rediscovering Dharavi – Kalpana Sharma

In a nutshell:  First published in 2000, journalist Kalpana Sharma brings the history of ‘Asia’s Largest Slum’ to life with stories and anecdotes taken from Dharavi residents, and in doing so, captures much of Dharavi’s industry and vibrancy.

What our staff say:  “Sharma says she wrote this book to challenge widely held misconceptions amongst her fellow Mumbaikars, to show the importance of Dharavi and it’s residents in the life of the rest of Mumbai and give a voice to slum dwellers which comprise of half the population of the city – she has certainly done that!”.

Slumming It – Fabian Frenzel

In a nutshell:  ‘Slumming It’ looks at the causes and consequences of slum tourism.

Whilst being at times quite academic in tone, this book charts the history of what is mistakenly taken to be a modern phenomenon all the way back to Victorian England and considers why it has seen a recent resurgence.

In doing so, Frenzel visited my slum tour operators across the world, including ourselves.

What our staff say: “Drawing upon Fabian’s extensive travels and research this book takes a thoughtful, considered look at what can is a very divisive topic. We’re delighted to have been able to have supported him in his researching it!”.

  The Durable Slum – Liza Weinstein

In a nutshell:  Another Dharavi specific book (which is a bit meatier than Kalpana Sharma’s ‘Rediscovering Dharavi’) which looks at how and why Dharavi has endured for over a century whilst other slums across India have been laid to waste by the bulldozers of progress.

Weinstein considers the role  economic globilisation, urbanisation and India’s fractured politics has played in Dharavi’s fragile survival and looks to the future, with the land Dharavi occupies now representing commanding a vast real estate price and the Dharavi Redevelopment Project perpetually looming on the horizon.

What our staff say:  “Informed by over a decade of research, a year of which was spend in Dharavi itself, this book gives an incredible overview of the factors which have shaped Dharavi’s precarious history, and those which will determine its future”.

Planet of Slums – Mike Davis

In a nutshell: The Guardian’s Ian Sansom describes this book as a ‘horrifying but essential read’ – Davis comes down far and hard on the side of being against slums.

Whilst drawing from a plethora of statistics, Davis employs wild exaggeration and hyperbole to sensationalise the topic. Whilst this has made his work accessible and widely read the book presents an incredibly unbalanced view.

What our staff say: “Davis’ polemic is coloured by anger, indignation and vitriol. Whilst this makes for an engaging read, there’s a complete lack of balance in the dystopian future he projects.”

Poor Little Rich Slum – Rashmi Bansal & Deepak Gandhi

In a nutshell:  ‘Poor Little Rich Slum’ presents a series of snapshots of some of Dharavi’s one million residents, showcasing their dreams, aspirations and passions.

Through these stories Bansal and Gandhi celebrate the industry and enterprise of Dharavi. What’s more, by making these stories so engaging and accessible, they have taken Dharavi to an Indian audience who are amongst those with the most negative perception of this place and those that live there.

What our staff say: “Running to around 200 pages and made up of very short (though rather strangely laid out) chapters, this is a nice introduction to Dharavi, via some stories about the lives lived there.”

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Slum tourism: What is it and how does it work?

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Slum tourism is, believe it or not, a real type of tourism . Yep, you got that right- people go to slums whilst on holiday. But, why? In this article I will introduce you to the concept of slum tourism and tell you what it’s all about. Interested to learn more? Read on…

What is slum tourism?

Slum tourism definitions, what is white saviour syndrome, what does a slum tour involve, positive impacts of slum tourism, negative impacts of slum tourism, the ethics of slum tourism, slum tourism in south africa, slum tourism in brazil, slum tourism in india, slum tourism in indonesia, slum tourism in africa, slum tourism: conclusion, further reading.

Slum tourism is essentially when people visit slums – or, more widely, poverty stricken areas – as a form of tourism. This will generally be in a foreign country, one they are visiting as a tourist on holiday or on a business trip. It has also been referred to as ghetto tourism and poverty tourism.

In ‘ Theorizing Slum Tourism ’, researchers Eveline Dürr and Rivke Jaffe described slum tourism as follows: 

‘ Slum tourism involves transforming poverty, squalor and violence into a tourism product. Drawing on both altruism and voyeurism, this form of tourism is a complex phenomenon that raises various questions concerning power, inequality and subjectivity. ‘

While this describes slum tourism, it doesn’t necessarily define what it actually is. Bob Ma of the University of Pennsylvania says this:

‘ Slum tourism is one of the fastest-growing niche tourism segments in the world, but it is also one of the most controversial. The United Nations defines a slum as, “a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security” (UN, 2007). Slum tourism is the organization of tours in these areas. As a niche segment, slum tourism is distinguished from developmental tourism, which is a broader term that includes tourism in any region that is undergoing development. ‘

Slum tourism as charity tourism

Some people engage in charity tourism – visiting slums or areas of high poverty with the intention of ‘making things better’. This is also sometimes called volunteer tourism . You can see this on Children In Need in the UK, for example, where we see videos of people heading to various underdeveloped areas of Africa to build schools or install wells for fresh water access etc. You can pay (a lot of) money to do this yourself through various organisations.

People do this as it is within human nature to want to help people who have less than we do. But it is also, of course, a chance to see somewhere new and explore a different culture . It can also be a great way to boost your CV. This means that taking part in slum tourism isn’t a purely selfless act, and this is why it can sometimes be frowned upon.

Studies show that slum tourism can have negative impacts on local communities – the use of unskilled labour, for example, and the taking of jobs that could ultimately have gone to local people. There is also usually no long term commitment involved, and of course there is the concept of white saviour syndrome.

The following extract comes from De-constructing the ‘White Saviour Syndrome’: A Manifestation of Neo-Imperialism by Felix Willuweit:

‘With the recent widespread of protests for black civil rights and against racism across the Western world, the topic of white prejudice has risen to the centre of public attention, of which one manifestation is the so-called ‘White Saviour Syndrome’.   Whether it is Ed Sheeran posing for ‘Comic Relief’ with a number of black children (Hinsliff, 2019), Madonna adopting children from Malawi (Hinsliff, 2019), or students going on adventures advertised for ‘young philanthropists’ within a multi-million dollar gap-year industry (Bandyopadhyay, 2019), numerous cases of altruistic acts of ‘White Saviours’ can be found throughout popular culture in the global North.’

Whereas these practices follow an altruistic narrative, they are commonly criticised as serving to satisfy a ‘White Saviour Syndrome’, the phenomenon in which a white person “guides people of colour from the margins to the mainstream with his or her own initiative and benevolence” which tends to render the people of colour “incapable of helping themselves” and disposes them of historical agency (Cammarota, 2011: 243-244).

So what does slum tourism involve? Many tour operators offer literal ‘slum tours’ as part of their packages, and of course you can visit slum areas alone as they are just parts of various areas. AfricanTrails.co.uk, for example, have a page discussing slum tours and they state that some of their packages do offer slum visits in Kenya, Uganda, Namibia and more.

Reality Tours and Travel are another company offering slum tours. As the company name suggests, they hope to offer a ‘realistic’ side to the places tourists visit. Based in India , a country with a lot of poverty, their slogan is ‘USING TOURISM TO CHANGE LIVES’. They say: Our ethical and educational Dharavi slum tours give visitors a unique glimpse into everyday life for many Mumbaikars while breaking down the negative stereotypes associated with slums. 80% of the profits from every tour are invested back into the community through the programs of our NGO, Reality Gives , and most of our guides are from the community.

Slum tourism has some positives to it. It gives people an insight into how poverty can affect people – humans are curious by nature, and if you are not living in poverty yourself, or never have, then it can be hard to imagine what it is really like. Visiting a slum whilst on holiday is like opening a window to another life, however briefly. 

It is also a chance to provide an income to people living in slums, if the tour involves some sort of opportunity to purchase goods or donate money. And with some tours, as you can see from Reality Tours and Travel above, the booking cost goes into improving the community.

Of course, there are negatives impacts associated with slum tourism too. The main one is that it treats those who live in slums as though they are in a zoo, dehumanising them so tourists can see what it’s like before swanning off back to their hotel and other luxuries. Some would go so far as to argue that they are a form of ‘ human zoo ‘. These tours portray poverty as something exotic, rather than a very real danger to the lives of the people impacted by it. It is also questionable how far the money trickles down. With people paying for organised tours, how sure can we be that real people are accessing the money?

Looking at the pros and cons it is clear that there is an ethical question surrounding slum tourism . People who live in poverty and live in slums are real people. We need to ask ourselves whether it is fair for them to be paraded around in front of us as part of an organised tour that we are paying a company to go on.

Some questions we should ask ourselves when looking to engage in slum tourism, courtesy of slumtourism.net, are:

• To what extent does slum tourism provide an income and positive visibility for people in deprived areas? 
• Which stakeholders are involved in slum tourism and who profits most? 
• How are guided tours organised or composed?  
• What are the geographical scopes of slum-tourism and which place does it occupy in the new mobility system? 
• Where does slum tourism fit in a globalised world of tourist consumption?

It is similar to visiting remote tribes, in a way, just as I explain in my article about the long neck tribe in Thailand . Tourists coming in from outside to view life in a slum through a western lens for a few minutes… does this paint a fair picture of slums?

Slum tourism destinations

There are various places around the world where slum tourism is prevalent. Here are some examples-

Slum tourism exists across South Africa . Here it is also known as township tourism – in SA, townships are the underdeveloped urban areas, generally populated by people of colour as a fall out from the Apartheid era. Apparently, around 25% of visitors to Cape Town engage in township tours. This city alone has around 40-50 township tour operators.

Slum tourism in Brazil equates to ‘favela tours’. Favelas are slums or shanty towns built on the outskirts of major cities across Brazil, and many people visit them for tourist purposes while on holiday in this beautiful country. Favelas are known to be dangerous areas. They are rife with crime, violence and drug dealing, but thousands of tourists every month visit these areas with curiosity.

As mentioned above when I spoke about Reality Tours and Travel, India is a prime spot for slum tourism due to the high levels of poverty here. The film Slumdog Millionaire put Indian slums onto the screens of millions of people, many of whom became keen to see it for themselves on a trip to India. There are around 15,000 people visiting the Dharavi slum each year alone.

Jakarta is home to a slum where families of 5 squeeze into ‘houses’ no bigger than the average western bathroom. They survive on pennies, and welcome tourists into their homes to see what it is like. Jakarta Hidden Tours is run by Ronnie. He’s a charity worker who donates half of his profits to the local community in an attempt to improve their lives.

Across Africa there are poor and underdeveloped communities. Slums tend to exist in Kenya and Uganda, for the most part. AfricanTrails say:

Going on an Africa slum tour is a great way to see what life is like for the majority of residents in a specific African town or city. Visitors can see how people live and the work they carry out in order to provide for their families. Slum tours are not purely filled with misery, the towns often have vibrant communities with shops, schools and market stalls.

I t is easy to forget that there are people living in these conditions, as it is not something you see every day, so for many, Africa slum tours are a real eye-opening experience. Visitors leave the area with the intention of donating to charities, helping those living in these places. Slum tours give the chance for tourists to interact with others from different backgrounds and see the true beauty of Africa and its people.

To conclude, slum tourism occurs around the world, and has done since Victorian times in England. Back then, the aristocracy would visit the capital’s poorest areas for voyeuristic and/or philanthropic purposes. And still it continues. People are, of course, eager to see another way of life. Often they believe that they are helping, and visiting people at their lowest can be a great way to remind you that really, you don’t have it all that bad. The ethics are questionable, but there are definitely ways you can visit a slum without it being a negative thing.

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