slum tourism advantages

The Pros And Cons Of Slum Tourism: Crass Voyeurism Or Enlightened Travel?

Let me begin by saying I  have  engaged in slum tourism (a basic definition of slum tourism would be the kind of tourism that takes you to see impoverished communities).

I took  an African slum Soweto tour  during a long-ago visit to South Africa, to see a place that overflowed with meaning. In 1976, during the Soweto Uprising in which unarmed students were stormed and killed by police for refusing to study in Afrikaans, I was a university student in Political Science, engulfed (at a distance) in liberation movements and revolutions. Soweto was part of that, as well as a major chapter in the bigger  South African story of apartheid  and discrimination.

It was a place I wanted to see, but the then  boycott  of South Africa was in full swing and I would have to wait nearly two decades.

Years later as a journalist, I was escorted through some of the most  crowded favelas  in Rio by a young community nurse who worked with drug addicts and knew everyone. He was respected and we were stopped on every corner for a bit of a chat.

The afternoon I spent in Rocinha gave me  a slightly better understanding of the poverty  that fuels much of the addiction and crime, something I certainly would not have learned from the back of a bus.

It also showed me a side that surprised me – the  regular everyday life  of people less fortunate than myself. The streets were dirty and the housing rickety but people came and went, shopped, talked, laughed – and went to work, determined to make things better.

Oddly enough, at least to me,  not everyone was poor . Walking around highlighted differing characteristics of slums. Some dwellings were decidedly middle-class, because here as everywhere else, when people succeed they don’t necessarily want to leave their friends and family. 

Over the years, visits to  poorer urban and slum areas  have left me unsettled. Children sniffing glue under a bridge in Brasilia. Mothers scavenging on the world’s biggest scrap heap in Manila. Begging for food near a Nairobi slum. Homeless children in Malawi.

These are scenes that drive home the accident of humanity, of where I happened to be born, of my race and privilege, and how easily it might have been otherwise.

On the one hand, it showed me what is life like in a slum, but on the other, it left me unsure of whether I was engaging in ethical tourism.

So was slum tourism positive or detrimental, and does it hurt or help a slum economy?  it still begs to question; “Is slum tourism good or bad?” 

WHAT IS A SLUM? AND WHAT IS SLUM TOURISM?

SLUM DEFINITION

•  noun: 1 –  a squalid and overcrowded urban area inhabited by very poor people.  2 –  a house or building unfit for human habitation.

•  verb:  ( slummed ,  slumming ) (often  slum it)  informal voluntarily spend time in uncomfortable conditions or at a lower social level than one’s own.

Source: Compact Oxford English dictionary

Slum tourism has been around  since Victorian times , when wealthy Londoners trudged down to the East End for a view. The end of apartheid in South Africa fueled a more politically-oriented type of ‘township tour’ while Rocinha has been receiving tourists for years – some 50,000 a year now.

In India, the release of the movie  Slumdog Millionnaire  created space for even more slums of India tours. In Nairobi, enterprising Kenyans are guiding tourists on Kibera slum tours, one of the better-known urban slums (and one of the world’s bigger slum areas) with a population of one million inhabitants.

The  voyeur aspect  of slum tourism makes me intensely uneasy.

Imagine a busload of foreign visitors traipsing down your street, peering into your house, taking a selfie in front of your door… Yet that’s exactly what happens on some township tourism slum tours, often labeled poverty tourism, pity tours, ghetto tourism, reality tours or even poorism – there is no dearth of labels.

So is  slum tourism  ethically acceptable or is it exploitative? What are the advantages and disadvantages of slum tourism? Do our tourist dollars actually help these communities or are we simply paying for a peek into lives we have no intention of ever experiencing for more than a few minutes? What are the impacts of slum development?

SLUM TOURISM PROS AND CONS

Negatives of slum tourism: exploitation and voyeurism.

Why slum tourism is bad (or can be):organized slum visits have come under  harsh criticism , particularly as they become more popular.

Much of the criticism revolves around these slum tourism cons:

• Slum tours treat people like  animals in a zoo  – you stare from the outside but don’t dare get too close.
• Visitors aren’t interested in meaningful interaction; they just want their  photo op . Contact with locals is minimal.
• Money rarely trickles down. Instead,  operators fill their pockets  but the vaunted ‘benefits to the community’ don’t materialize. Slum tourism profits from poverty, which is why it is often called “poverty tourism”.
• People feel degraded  by being stared at doing mundane things – washing, cleaning up, preparing food, things that are private. Their rights to privacy may be violated. Imagine yourself at the receiving end: how would you feel?
• Even when they participate as hosts, local people are often  underpaid and exploited .
• The  image of a country  may be tarnished by publicizing slums (this is an actual concern among certain segments of certain populations – usually the more wealthy).
• The  tours make poverty exotic , otherworldly, almost glamorizing what to inhabitants is a harsh reality which will remain once the tourists are long gone, which is one of the main slum tourism disadvantages.

How true is this picture?

UN-HABITAT  defines a slum household as a group of individuals living under the same roof in an urban area who lack one or more of the following: 1. Durable housing of a permanent nature that protects against extreme climate conditions. 2. Sufficient living space which means not more than three people sharing the same room. 3. Easy access to safe water in sufficient amounts at an affordable price. 4. Access to adequate sanitation in the form of a private or public toilet shared by a reasonable number of people. 5. Security of tenure that prevents forced evictions.

Slum tourism benefits: improving local lives

So are there slum tourism advantages? There may be a flip side. Slum tourism has supporters, many of whom believe  tourism will ultimately benefit  the favela or the township and help improve the lives of people who live there.

Visitors who take these tours may  genuinely care  and are interested in knowing more about the people they meet and the places they see.

Here are some of the potential benefits of slum tourism:

• Even if it’s only a little,  some money does enter the community , whether through meals at home or the purchase of art or souvenirs. Many say this tourism boosts the local economy. This trickle-down economy is bound to be better for local residents than picking trash off a stinking garbage heap.
• The tours  change our perceptions of poverty  by putting a face to it and showing visitors that however poor, people are the same everywhere and share similar thoughts and emotions.
• Tourists will visit areas they would never go to otherwise.
• Some operators have made sure part of their profits are recycled into local hands, for example by  starting local charities .
• A spotlight on poor areas by foreigners may help governments move more quickly to  improve conditions by using tourism as an economic developement tool.
• Even in the poorest areas  development and innovation  can take place: slum tours can showcase the economic and cultural energies of a neighborhood.
• They can  improve our understanding  of poverty and of one another – and of the world at large.
• Local people may support them. Locally-run  slum tourism examples  include Zezinho da Rocinha’s own favela tour (a slum-dweller himself, see below what he has to say on the effects of tourism in his community).
• They can  bring us closer  and demystify and  debunk some of our stereotypes . This excellent video (below) by one of my favorite authors, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, highlights the dangers of what she calls a ‘single story’, or what happens when a single point of view is hammered home, in this case, the ‘single story’ of poverty and pity.

THE SLUM TOURISM DEBATE: SO, IS IT A GOOD THING OR A BAD THING?

There is no such thing as a star system for slum tours, an ethical rating that will tell you how well an operator is performing or what the real economic benefits of tourism in the community really are. So, it’s up to us to find out before booking.

Here are some of the things we should look for:

• Size matters . A huge tour rumbling through a neighborhood in an air-conditioned bus is probably not going to promote much interchange with local residents.  Ask how many people will be on your tour.
• Look at the highlights and figure  how long you’ll be  in each place. If you’re expected to eat in a home, visit a local shebeen and walk through several streets in the space of an hour, chances are you won’t be getting to know your hosts in any significant way. Visitors need and have asked for more time for real exchanges with local people, as real as such unequal exchanges can be.  Make sure you have enough time to interact.
• Explore how the tour was  designed . Who put it together? Who came up with the itinerary? Why are you visiting one place and not another?  Ask the organizers if local people were involved, and double-check once you’re in the community.
• Follow the money.  Find out where the profits go and if the tourism economics are more beneficial than harmful. Are some profits returned to the community? What has been achieved – are there more schools, projects, education or jobs as a result?  Ask the operators, and double check their answers.

Granted, much of this information will not be easy to find, especially before you book.

But you have the ethical obligation to find out: what are the disadvantages of slum tourism in the area you are visiting? But by asking the right questions, you are showing you care, and are forcing tour operators to  tackle these issues .

Once you’re on the tour, you’ll have a better sense of its ethics and if you don’t like what you see, there’s always social media. If a tour is exploitative – well, word gets around fast.

There are many signs  slum tourism is changing the future of tourism.

More charities are being set up to spread profits around, local people are becoming increasingly involved, negative stereotypes are being challenged, local artisans are being encouraged to sell their work to tourists at fair prices, and tour operators themselves are beginning to understand that slum tourism is not like mass tourism: they don’t have to cram every possible attraction into the shortest possible time.

While some feel much good can come from  properly thought-out slum tours , others believe slum tourism has done more harm than good, with insensitive itineraries pulled together purely for gain.

So which is it: Would visitors be better off staying in a  luxury downtown hotel  while pretending not to see the slum next door? Or is knowledge and awareness the first step towards understanding?

For more information on slum tourism, these resources may help:

• Slum Dwellers International  is a is a network of community-based organizations of the urban poor in 33 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
• Slumtourism.net  brings together academics and practitioners working on tourism in slums and poor rural areas. 
• The  world’s five largest slums .

Both For And Against Slum Tourism

By Zezinho Da Rocinha, Proud Favela Resident In Rio De Janeiro

I certainly understand the  controversy about slum tours . I am both FOR and AGAINST them. Let me explain this.

I was born, grew up and still live in Brazil’s largest slum, or  favela . Life is dificult yes, but not impossible. I am proud to live here in Rocinha. I will never leave here, I do not want to leave here. This is my home. This is my feeling about this issue of  slum/favela tourism .

What I like about the tours is the contact I get from foreigns who come here. This interaction helps me to educate people about my life here in the favela. When foreigners come here I feel like my home or favela has value and is worth to be seen. The Brazilian government mostly ignores us and helps us very little.  We want our voice to be heard . I want to feel that somebody on the outside cares about us and recognizes that we exist. Up until about a few years ago favelas did not exist on maps. Why was this?

Many foreigners come to learn how we create and live in our comunity with little or no goverment involvement. Others come because of the art and culture that exist here.

I do not judge why people come, they confirm that we exist. 

I started in tourism because I saw the opportunity to show my favela and help create jobs for others here.

We live here, and should be making the tours here. I have heard outsider tour companies exaggerate things or  tell outright lies  about my favela. They do this because they do not know and do not live here. I am here to share a social experience, not provide some adrenalin tour.

With my work, many visitors return to volunteer with social projects or to start their own programs in the favela. Recently people have contacted me wanting to make projects like a rooftop garden class. Another person wants to help bring solar energy here. These are people who came on visits here in the favela. Is this bad? What I do NOT like about the tours …tours that use jeeps or trucks are the worst because they present us like a zoo. The tourists have no contact with the locals and this reinforces a sense of possible danger. Tours or visits where the guests walk in the favela are more welcome. There is one company that tells their guests not to interact with the locals if they are approached. This is wrong.

The glamorization of violence is another thing that we do not like here. It is as if these companies are trying to capitalize on some kind of excitement. Favelas are not war zones, and people need understand that real, honest hardworking people live there, we just make less money. There are tour companies here who use the community to make money but they give very little or nothing back to the community. This is not right. They should contribute something for the betterment of the favela. There are plenty of social projects here that could use help.  I am not ashamed to live in the favela and people should not feel shame to come and visit. All we ask is please do not take photos of us like we are animals, and do not have fear if we say hello to you on the street.  If we want to stop or reduce poverty, we need to stop pretending it does not exist. I call it socially responsible tourism. If you chose to tour this type of community, try to give something back, however big or small. I work with an art school and encourage people to bring art supplies, not money. Slums, favelas and shanties are where 1/3 of the population live in all major cities, serving the needs of mostly the rich. Visiting these places may increase your knowledge and awareness at a much deeper level than visiting a museum or art exhibition.  Ignoring poverty is not going to make it go away  and those who have more, should not feel guilt. Unfortunately, this world will always have this unbalance of wealth. Sad but true. Read more about Zezinho on his blog,  Life in Rocinha  or  book a favela walking tour .

— Originally published on 06 February 2011

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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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What Is Slum Tourism

Published: December 12, 2023

Modified: December 28, 2023

by Allsun Shanahan

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Introduction

Slum tourism, also known as poverty tourism or ghetto tourism, is a relatively new form of travel that involves visiting impoverished or marginalized areas in various parts of the world. This type of tourism has gained significant attention in recent years and has sparked intense debates among travelers, academics, and local communities.

Unlike conventional tourism, where the focus is on exploring popular tourist destinations and experiencing luxury, slum tourism offers a stark contrast. It brings travelers face-to-face with the harsh realities of poverty, inequality, and social issues that exist within these communities.

Slum tourism provides a unique opportunity for travelers to gain a deeper understanding of the socio-economic challenges faced by marginalized populations. It aims to create awareness, challenge stereotypes, and foster empathy towards the lives of people living in underprivileged areas. However, the practice of slum tourism is not without its controversies, as there are ethical considerations and questions about the potential exploitation of vulnerable communities.

In this article, we will explore the concept of slum tourism, its origins, motivations, controversies, positive impacts, and responsible approaches. By understanding the complexities surrounding slum tourism, we can make informed decisions about our own travel choices and engage in a meaningful dialogue about responsible tourism practices.

Definition of Slum Tourism

Slum tourism can be defined as the practice of visiting disadvantaged or impoverished areas, often in urban settings, with the purpose of witnessing and experiencing the living conditions of marginalized communities. It involves guided tours or visits to informal settlements, shanty towns, or areas affected by poverty.

The primary goal of slum tourism is to provide travelers with an unfiltered glimpse into the realities of life for those living in extreme poverty. It aims to challenge preconceived notions, break down stereotypes, and foster a greater understanding of the social and economic issues faced by marginalized communities.

Slum tourism can take various forms, ranging from organized tours led by local guides to self-guided exploration. These tours often involve interaction with local residents, visits to community projects, and opportunities to learn about the history and culture of the area. Through these experiences, travelers can gain insights into the daily struggles, resilience, and strengths of the communities they visit.

It is important to note that slum tourism should not be seen as a form of poverty voyeurism or sensationalism. Responsible slum tourism strives to approach these visits with empathy, respect, and a desire to learn. It aims to create a bridge between different social classes and promote dialogue and understanding.

While slum tourism is often associated with visits to urban areas, it is not limited to cities. It can also include tours or visits to rural communities that face similar social and economic challenges, such as lack of access to basic services, limited educational opportunities, and inadequate healthcare.

It is essential to differentiate slum tourism from voluntourism, where travelers visit disadvantaged areas with the intention of actively participating in community development projects or volunteering their skills. Although there may be some overlap between the two, slum tourism primarily focuses on experiential learning and raising awareness, rather than direct involvement in community development initiatives.

Understanding the definition of slum tourism is crucial for both travelers and local communities to navigate the complexities and ethical considerations associated with this form of travel. By approaching slum tourism with sensitivity and respect, it can become a platform for genuine cross-cultural exchange and a catalyst for positive change.

Origin and History of Slum Tourism

The origins of slum tourism can be traced back to the late 19th century when early forms of poverty tourism emerged. During this time, travelers, mostly from affluent backgrounds, started to venture into the slums of urban areas to witness the stark contrasts between their own lives and the lives of the underprivileged. These early visitors were often motivated by a desire to understand the social and economic inequality that prevailed in their societies.

One notable example of early slum tourism is the famous ‘Five Points’ neighborhood in New York City, which attracted curious visitors interested in exploring the living conditions of poor immigrant communities. This fascination with urban poverty continued to gain attention throughout the 20th century, with journalistic works like Jacob Riis’ “How the Other Half Lives” shedding light on the harsh realities faced by marginalized populations.

However, it was in the late 20th and early 21st centuries that slum tourism gained momentum and became more structured. The increase in international travel, advancements in communication technology, and a growing interest in experiential and alternative forms of tourism all contributed to its rise in popularity.

One of the notable catalysts for the growth of slum tourism was the establishment of the “Mumbai Reality Tours” in India in 2006. This tour company offered visitors the opportunity to explore the Dharavi slum, one of Asia’s largest informal settlements. The tours aimed to provide a balanced and respectful perspective of life in the slum, offering insights into the residents’ daily activities, small-scale industries, and community initiatives.

Following the success of Mumbai Reality Tours, similar initiatives emerged in other parts of the world. In South Africa, the township of Soweto became a popular destination for slum tourism, allowing visitors to gain a deeper understanding of the apartheid era and the ongoing challenges faced by the residents. Similarly, the favelas of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil also attracted tourists interested in exploring the vibrant culture and complex social issues present in these communities.

Moreover, the advent of social media and online travel platforms has enabled slum tourism to reach a wider audience. Travelers can now easily find information and book tours to impoverished areas, contributing to the growth and commercialization of this form of tourism.

Overall, the history of slum tourism reflects an evolving curiosity and desire among travelers to engage with the realities of poverty and inequality. While motivations may vary, the increasing popularity of slum tourism highlights the need for responsible approaches that prioritize the well-being and dignity of the communities being visited.

Motivations for Slum Tourism

Slum tourism attracts a diverse range of travelers, each driven by different motivations to explore impoverished areas. Understanding these motivations is key to gaining insights into why individuals choose to engage in this unique form of travel. Here are some common motivations for participating in slum tourism:

• Cultural Exchange and Learning: Many travelers are drawn to slum tourism as a means of cultural immersion and education. They seek to learn about the customs, traditions, and ways of life of marginalized communities. By engaging with local residents, participating in community activities, and supporting local businesses, they aim to foster cross-cultural understanding and appreciation.
• Social Justice and Advocacy: Some tourists are motivated by a desire to raise awareness about social inequalities and advocate for change. They use their firsthand experiences in slums to challenge stereotypes, promote dialogue, and advocate for policy reforms that address poverty, access to education, healthcare, and other social issues.
• Curiosity and Authenticity: For some travelers, slum tourism offers an opportunity to step outside the conventional tourist trail and delve into the authentic and less explored aspects of a destination. They are curious to witness the realities of life in impoverished areas that are often overlooked by mainstream tourism and media.
• Empathy and Solidarity: Many participants in slum tourism are driven by a sense of empathy and a desire to show solidarity with marginalized communities. They aim to connect on a human level, understand the challenges faced by the residents, and offer support through responsible tourism practices or by contributing to community-based initiatives.
• Education and Research: Slum tourism is also embraced by academics, researchers, and students who are interested in studying the social, economic, and environmental aspects of disadvantaged communities. They may conduct fieldwork, gather data, and engage in academic discussions to gain a deeper understanding of the complex dynamics within these communities.

It is important to note that while these motivations may be well-intentioned, there is a fine line between ethical engagement and voyeurism. Responsible slum tourism requires travelers to approach these visits with sensitivity, respect, and a commitment to not exploit vulnerable communities. It is essential to prioritize the voices and agency of the residents and ensure that tourism activities contribute to their well-being and empowerment.

Understanding the motivations behind slum tourism allows us to engage in meaningful discussions about responsible travel practices and explore ways to create positive impacts in the lives of marginalized communities.

Controversies and Criticisms of Slum Tourism

While slum tourism has gained popularity as a form of alternative travel, it is not without its controversies and criticisms. The practice often sparks debates surrounding ethics, exploitation, and the potential negative impact on the communities being visited. Here are some of the main controversies and criticisms associated with slum tourism:

• Exploitation of Vulnerable Communities: One of the primary concerns raised by critics is the potential for slum tourism to exploit marginalized communities for financial gain. There is a risk of turning poverty and suffering into a form of entertainment, reducing the residents’ lived experiences to mere spectacles for tourist consumption.
• Ethical Dilemmas: Slum tourism raises ethical dilemmas in terms of consent and privacy. Some argue that these tours invade the privacy of individuals and communities, as travelers may intrude upon personal spaces, take intrusive photographs, or engage in insensitive behavior.
• Stereotyping and Stigma Reinforcement: Critics argue that slum tourism can contribute to reinforcing negative stereotypes and perpetuating stigmas associated with poverty. This can further marginalize and dehumanize the residents, rather than fostering understanding and empathy.
• Unequal Distribution of Profits: Another criticism is that the financial benefits of slum tourism often go to tour operators and businesses, rather than directly benefiting the local communities. There is a need for transparent and fair distribution of profits to ensure that the communities receive their share of economic benefits.
• Invasion of Footprints: The influx of tourists visiting slum areas can disrupt the everyday lives and social fabric of the community, altering the dynamics that existed prior to the arrival of tourists. This can lead to gentrification, displacement of residents, and loss of cultural heritage.
• Superficial Engagement: Critics argue that slum tourism may result in superficial engagement and a lack of genuine understanding or lasting impact. Some tourists may treat the experiences as mere photo opportunities or tick-box experiences without fully comprehending the complex issues.

It is essential to acknowledge these controversies and criticisms surrounding slum tourism responsibly. While slum tourism can offer opportunities for empathy, cultural exchange, and raising awareness, it is crucial to approach it with sensitivity, respect, and a commitment to ethical practices. Responsible slum tourism initiatives strive to prioritize the well-being and agency of the communities involved, fostering meaningful and respectful engagement that goes beyond voyeurism and superficial experiences.

Benefits and Positive Impact of Slum Tourism

While slum tourism is not without its controversies, it is important to recognize that it can also have positive impacts on both travelers and the communities being visited. Here are some benefits and positive impacts of slum tourism:

• Increased Awareness and Understanding: Slum tourism provides an opportunity for travelers to witness and understand the everyday realities of marginalized communities. By experiencing firsthand the challenges faced by these communities, travelers gain a deeper empathy and understanding of poverty, inequality, and social issues. This increased awareness can lead to greater advocacy, empathy, and social consciousness.
• Breaking Stereotypes and Challenging Stigma: Slum tourism challenges preconceived notions and stereotypes about poverty and marginalized communities. It offers a chance to see the strength, resilience, and vibrancy of these communities, going beyond the one-dimensional portrayal often seen in mainstream media. By breaking down stereotypes and challenging stigmas, slum tourism contributes to a more nuanced and compassionate understanding of poverty.
• Economic Empowerment: Responsible slum tourism initiatives can have a positive economic impact on the communities being visited. By supporting local businesses, community-based projects, and social enterprises, visitors can contribute directly to the income and livelihoods of residents. This can help create sustainable economic opportunities and alleviate poverty.
• Community Development Initiatives: Slum tourism can support community-led development initiatives and social projects. Travelers may have the opportunity to learn about and contribute to programs focused on education, healthcare, sanitation, and infrastructure improvement. Such interactions can empower local communities and provide them with resources and support to address their pressing needs and challenges.
• Cross-Cultural Exchange: Slum tourism fosters cross-cultural exchange and dialogue between tourists and local residents. It provides a platform for mutual learning, understanding, and appreciation of different cultures, perspectives, and ways of life. This exchange can challenge preconceptions, break down barriers, and promote greater cultural understanding and tolerance.
• Advocacy and Transformation: Engaging in slum tourism can inspire travelers to become advocates for social change. By witnessing the realities of poverty and inequality, individuals may be motivated to take action, support relevant causes, or contribute to initiatives that address systemic issues. This can lead to transformative change within communities and broader society.

It is important to note that the positive impact of slum tourism can only be realized through responsible and ethical practices. By prioritizing the dignity, well-being, and agency of the communities being visited, slum tourism can serve as a powerful tool for fostering empathy, challenging stereotypes, and promoting positive change.

Examples of Slum Tourism Around the World

Slum tourism has gained popularity in various parts of the world, offering travelers the opportunity to engage with marginalized communities and gain a deeper understanding of their realities. Here are some examples of slum tourism initiatives around the world:

• Mumbai, India: The Dharavi slum in Mumbai is one of the most well-known destinations for slum tourism. Tour operators like “Mumbai Reality Tours” offer guided tours that provide insights into the bustling industries, diverse communities, and the entrepreneurial spirit within the slum.
• Cape Town, South Africa: In Cape Town, slum tourism often focuses on townships such as Khayelitsha and Langa. Tours allow visitors to learn about the experiences of residents, explore community projects, and witness the resilience and creativity of these communities.
• Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: The favelas of Rio de Janeiro, such as Rocinha and Vidigal, are popular destinations for slum tourism. Tours provide an opportunity to learn about the vibrant culture, music, and social issues within these urban communities.
• Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya: Kibera, one of Africa’s largest slums, has been a destination for slum tourism for many years. Guided tours offer insights into the local initiatives, such as schools and youth empowerment programs, and allow visitors to engage with residents on a personal level.
• Johannesburg, South Africa: Township tours in Johannesburg, including Soweto, offer a glimpse into the history of apartheid and the ongoing challenges faced by residents. These tours educate visitors about the resilience, activism, and cultural heritage of the communities.
• Phnom Penh, Cambodia: In Phnom Penh, tours of the former Khmer Rouge-controlled areas, such as the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum and the Killing Fields, provide a somber reminder of Cambodia’s dark history. It offers insights into the country’s past and the spirit of resilience among the survivors.

These are just a few examples of slum tourism destinations, but slum tourism exists in many other cities and regions around the world. Each destination offers a unique perspective on the challenges and strengths of marginalized communities, providing travelers with an opportunity for cultural exchange, awareness, and advocacy.

It is crucial to approach these tours with sensitivity, respect, and a commitment to responsible tourism practices. This includes supporting local tour operators, engaging in responsible photography, seeking permission, and prioritizing the well-being and agency of the communities being visited.

Responsible and Ethical Considerations in Slum Tourism

Engaging in slum tourism requires a thoughtful and responsible approach to ensure that the experience is ethical and beneficial for both travelers and the communities being visited. Here are some key considerations for practicing responsible slum tourism:

• Respect Local Communities: Treat the residents of the slum areas with respect, dignity, and empathy. Understand that their lives are not tourist attractions, and seek to learn from their experiences rather than objectifying them.
• Support Community-led Initiatives: Prioritize tours and activities that are developed and led by members of the local community. This ensures that the economic benefits directly benefit the residents and contribute to their empowerment.
• Avoid Intrusive Behavior: Be mindful of your actions and their impact. Seek consent before taking photographs, respect the privacy of individuals and homes, and refrain from intrusive behaviors that may perpetuate stereotypes or exploit vulnerable communities.
• Engage in Meaningful Interactions: Rather than being a passive observer, actively engage with local residents. Ask questions, listen to their stories, and strive to understand the complex social, economic, and cultural issues they face.
• Manage Expectations: Set realistic expectations for your slum tourism experience. Understand that poverty is not a spectacle and that these communities are diverse with their own strengths, aspirations, and solutions. Avoid perpetuating a narrow and one-sided narrative.
• Responsible Spending: Support local businesses, social enterprises, and initiatives that directly benefit the slum community. Choose tour operators that practice sustainable and equitable business models, ensuring that the economic benefits of tourism are shared amongst the local residents.
• Responsible Photography: When taking photographs, be mindful of the impact it may have on the privacy and dignity of the individuals being photographed. Seek permission, respect cultural norms, and avoid exploiting vulnerable situations for the sake of capturing a striking photo.
• Learn and Educate: Take the opportunity to educate yourself about the context, history, and social issues of the slum areas you visit. Use your experiences as a platform for greater understanding, advocacy, and raising awareness about poverty and social inequality.
• Long-term Support: Consider supporting development initiatives or organizations working in the slum communities even after your visit. This could be through donations, partnerships, or volunteer opportunities, ensuring there is a lasting positive impact beyond your brief encounter.

Responsible slum tourism recognizes the importance of balancing curiosity with empathy, and learning with respect. By following these ethical considerations, travelers can engage with slum communities in a meaningful and responsible way, contributing to positive change and fostering understanding between different social groups.

Slum tourism offers a unique opportunity for travelers to gain a deeper understanding of poverty, inequality, and social issues faced by marginalized communities around the world. It provides a platform for cultural exchange, awareness, and advocacy, challenging stereotypes and fostering empathy.

While slum tourism has its controversies and criticisms, responsible and ethical approaches can help mitigate these concerns. Prioritizing the dignity and well-being of the communities being visited, supporting local initiatives, and engaging in respectful interactions are key to ensuring a positive impact.

By practicing responsible slum tourism, travelers can become advocates for social change, connecting with local communities on a human level, and supporting economic empowerment. This form of travel can challenge preconceived notions, break down barriers, and promote a more nuanced understanding of poverty and inequality.

However, it is important to remember that slum tourism is not a solution to the systemic issues faced by these communities. It is only one piece of a larger puzzle, and sustainable change requires addressing root causes and supporting long-term development initiatives.

As travelers, we have the power to make conscious choices and engage in meaningful travel experiences. By practicing responsible slum tourism, we can promote compassion, understanding, and positive transformations both within ourselves and in the communities we encounter.

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Slumming It At Dharavi: What Are Our Intentions With Slum Tourism?

With cities like Mumbai, Johannesburg, and Rio de Janeiro now becoming bonafide tourist attractions, bringing in hundreds and thousands of curious visitors each year, Slum Tourism has also seen a rise in popularity. It takes outsiders through the most impoverished, marginalised districts of the city to get a glimpse of the city’s inequality. 

Filled with hundreds of shanty towns lined by the riverbanks, train tracks, and garbage dumps, “Slumming” has become the key to capturing the attention of the wanderlust, experiential, thrill-seeking traveller. Spending time at a slum through one’s own curiosity or for the charitable purpose of pro-poor tourism, there are benefits and detriments. 

Slum tourism does spark a considerable debate around an uncomfortable moral dilemma. Is the practice in line with privileged people gawking at those less fortunate or do they raise awareness and provide numerous examples of giving back to the local communities? Yet to further look into this travel practice, we need to set out the basics of the same.

Slum Tourism, Poverty Tourism, Ghetto Tourism or Reality Tours Defined:

Slum Tourism also known as Poverty tourism or ghetto tourism is a type of city tourism that involves visiting impoverished areas. Originally focused on the slums and ghettos of London and Manhattan in the 19th Century, Slum tourism is now prominent in South Africa, India, Brazil, Poland, Kenya, Philippines and the United States. Whether called a township, favela, a barrio, a slum, a shantytown, or a ghetto, outsiders recreationally visiting these typically impoverished places is nothing new.  

What began in the mid-80s, ‘Slumming’ was first used in the Oxford English Dictionary, as people in London visited slum neighbourhoods such as Whitechapel or Shoreditch in order to observe life in this situation. In the 1980s, South African communities organised township tours to educate the whites in local governments on how the black population lived. Similarly, in the mid-1990s, international tours were organised with destinations in the most disadvantaged areas of developing nations, thus starting the trend of slum tourism, attracting thousands across the globe.  

Motivated by the ‘out of the ordinary’ experience , tourism is in itself the exploration and experience of the reality of a particular place. Therefore slum tourism actually returns to this practice, it allows the tourists to get a sense of real-life for the poorest communities, creating a path to development and poverty alleviation- funnelling tourists dollars into slums, or installing exploitative practices that enhance the western travellers need to ‘feel good’. 

Reality Check with Slum Tour and Travel.

A study in 2012 by the University of Pennsylvania showed that tourists in Mumbai’s Dharavi slum were motivated primarily by curiosity, as opposed to several competing push factors such as social comparison, entertainment, education, or self-actualization. The study also found that most slum residents were ambivalent about the tour, with interest and intrigue as the most commonly cited feelings. Take Reality Tour and Travel of Mumbai, India. Often ushered by this slum tour operator, tourists get to see a thriving recycling industry which employs around ten thousand people, to melt, reshape, and mould discarded plastic.

Also, followed by dhobi wallahs, or washermen in open-air laundry areas, tourists get to connect with locals for memorable cooking experiences, presenting the residents as productive and hardworking yet content and happy with their lifestyle and socio-economic status. However, Dr, Melissa Nisbett in her study of Slum Tourism found that the concept of poverty to these Dharavi visitors was practically invisible. She added:

“As the reviews show, poverty was ignored, denied, overlooked and romanticized, but moreover, it is depoliticized. The tours decontextualized the plight of the poor and seem only to empower the wrong people- the privileged, western, middle-class visitors”. 

The primary accusation here is that slum tourism takes away the poverty from poverty tours, often turning hardship into entertainment- something that can be momentarily experienced and then escaped from. Yet the tours do provide employment and income for guides from the slum and an opportunity for craft-workers to sell souvenirs, allowing them to re-invest in the community and motivating tourists to help such economies. 

View this post on Instagram Join us in Kumbharwada and get hands-on with pottery making! Last week we had our inaugural Pottery Tour. Here's a sneak peek. #mumbai #bombay #kumbharwada #dharavi #slum #pottery #workshop #travel #travellove #travelworld #traveller #travelling #explore #wanderlust #neverstopexploring #incredibleindia #adventure #adventuretravel #indiatravel #passionpassport #exploreindia #travelbug #neverstoptravelling #india Picture @bunny_mayur A post shared by Reality Tours (@realityindia) on Jan 8, 2018 at 1:35am PST

Now Let Us Talk Numbers:

Considered to be one of the world’s largest slum, Dharavi in Mumbai, India is spread over 2.1 square kilometres (520 acres) with a population of somewhere between 700,000 to a million. With an active informal economy in which numerous household enterprises employ many of the slum residents- leather, textiles and pottery products are among the goods made inside Dharavi. The estimated total annual turnover for this informal economy is over USD 1 billion . 

An estimated 5000 businesses and 15,000 single-room factories operate in the area. The per capita income of the residents, depending on estimated population range of 300,000 to about 1 million , ranges somewhere between USD 500 to USD 2000 per year. The slums were also named by travel website TripAdvisor.com as the 2019 top visited experiences in India and also one of the 10 most favourite tourist sites in Asia. 

After being featured in award-winning films like Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire and much-appreciated Gully Boy, Dharavi has gained a lot of popularity, growing footfall in the area. Due to lack of data, one cannot determine the actual tread of visitors to the area. However, Reality has reportedly had about 15,000 visitors annually for the year 2016, with an expectation of the same growing further in the next 5 years. 

View this post on Instagram From #oxford to the slums of #slumdogmillionaire #dharavi #mumbai #india … only 9 of us were brave enough to try it ?? @oxfordsbs @oxford_uni A post shared by R U D I N A ? (@rudisuti) on Dec 4, 2019 at 10:30am PST

What About Your Intention? 

However, with tour operators trying to mitigate offence and give back to locals, the impact of slum tourism stays rather isolated. Fabian Frenzel, Author of the definitive book, Slumming It: The Tourist Valorization of Urban Poverty. , writes “ In slum tourism, what I find is that people are interested in this fact of inequality”.  Images of these areas create a sense of sentiment that amplifies over time as more and more visuals of the human condition around the world, especially within these slums surface. 

So, instead of consuming these images at home, people are increasingly trying to follow those images back to its origin, in order to “see it themselves” and then try and do something about it. According to the tour operator, the effect of such desire is massive. Take movies based around the areas. Slumdog Millionaire- an oscar winning movie that portrays the journey of two brothers in the slums of Mumbai to riches. Might it be a mere representation of the slums in its entirety, the actual essence of the “slum life” is something that creates this need to rate the place, see the place, feel the desperation of poverty?

View this post on Instagram #streetphotography #dharavi #oldhomes A post shared by bunny (@dharavi__17) on Dec 11, 2019 at 8:15am PST

“What you see is life, urban life”, as Frenzel puts it. Even though limited in many ways, might it be the lack of basic sanitation or all basic services of a city, there is a sense of vibrancy that has fantasised poverty. This is where the issue starts. Yes, the intention behind slum tourism itself is diverse in nature, but they all are pushed from a place of empathy, that adds personal value to the visitor rather than the actual settlement. It does help educate us about inequality in the world, but it takes away the poor in poverty by depoliticizing and romanticising life in slums. 

Is there something good that comes from ‘Slumming’. 

Regardless of your intention, slum tourism does open our eyes to inequality. It takes poverty and inequality and commodifies it in the sense of tours educating (might it even be a small group of people) about a global issue. While it might illuminate the issue on a small scale, slum tourism is not a sufficient answer to a growing global problem. 

But as Frenzel puts it “if you want to tell a story, you need an audience, and slum tourism provides that audience”.  

Yes, slum tourism can provide a way to challenge the stigma that represents slum life something dangerous. Take Reality Tours and Travels , for a mere INR 900 per person (USD 12.72), you can get a 2-hour eye-opening tour of ‘one of the largest slums in Asia’ and learn about the very vibrant life of Dharavi and its people. The best part, 80 per cent of the profit goes back into the slum to organise programs and run a community centre that houses many NGOs – including what Reality Tours gives to help better the conditions of the area.

Thus to conclude, what I would like to say is, yes slum tourism has many implications, but what matters is what your intentions are. Are you indulging in pro-poor tours to make yourself feel better? Or is it because you want to be educated about inequality and poverty?

Ask yourself this the next time you or someone you know goes on a slum tour.  

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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

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Tourist and resident perspectives on ‘slum tourism’: the case of the Vilakazi precinct, Soweto

• Published: 06 May 2019
• Volume 85 , pages 1133–1149, ( 2020 )

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• Gijsbert Hoogendoorn   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7969-7952 1 ,
• Nthabiseng Letsatsi 1 ,
• Thabisile Malleka 1 &
• Irma Booyens 2 , 3  

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13 Citations

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Slum tourism as a topic of investigation has seen significant growth since the beginning of this decade with increasing theoretical and empirical depth. With this growth, some inconsistencies in conceptual framing and use of terminology have emerged. The purpose of this paper is to argue for township tourism in Soweto to be regarded as a form of heritage tourism rather than slum tourism—a notion which has entered the township tourism literature in recent years. This argument is presented through two sections of analysis and debate, using Vilakazi precinct in Soweto as a case study. Firstly, the paper analyses the emergence of township tourism as an academic focus in the literature and how it came to be classified as slum tourism, considering definitional conundrums. Various South African authors emphasise the struggle heritage character of township tourism. Secondly, the historical development of townships and tourism in these areas are interrogated. The empirical data offer the perspectives on tourism in their area from: (a) residents living in and around Vilakazi Street; and (b) tourists visiting the Vilakazi precinct. The analysis reveals that neither residents nor visitors consider the Vilakazi precinct or the larger area of Orlando West as a slum; rather they perceive tourism is the area to be connected to its struggle heritage. We accordingly stress that the term ‘slum tourism’ to describe township tourism in Soweto is inaccurate and is inconsistent with the views not only of residents and visitors, but also South African authors.

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( source : authors)

( source : resident survey)

( source : visitor survey)*. *Figures subject to rounding error

( source : visitor survey)

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This was in response to one of the authors’ presentations at the South African Cultural Observatory’s 2018 conference in Port Elizabeth, 7–8 March 2018.

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Young male (18–30), relying on remittances.

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Visitor No. 30 (hereafter V with the questionnaire number), female, aged 30, on holiday.

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Gijsbert Hoogendoorn, Nthabiseng Letsatsi & Thabisile Malleka

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Irma Booyens

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Hoogendoorn, G., Letsatsi, N., Malleka, T. et al. Tourist and resident perspectives on ‘slum tourism’: the case of the Vilakazi precinct, Soweto. GeoJournal 85 , 1133–1149 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-019-10016-2

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Slum Tourism: What Is It, and Is It Okay?

Slum tourism, also sometimes referred to as "ghetto tourism," involves tourism to impoverished areas, particularly in India , Brazil, Kenya, and Indonesia. The purpose of slum tourism is to provide tourists the opportunity to see the “non-touristy” areas of a country or city.

While slum tourism has gained some international notoriety in recent years, it is not a new concept. In the mid-1800s, rich Londoners would travel to the squalid tenements of the East End. Early visits began under the guise of “charity,” but over the next few decades, the practice spread to the tenements of U.S. cities like New Yorkand Chicago . With demand, tour operators developed guides to tour these impoverished neighborhoods.

Slum tourism, or seeing how the other half lived, died off in the mid-1900s, but regained popularity in South Africa due to apartheid. This tourism, though, was driven by the oppressed Black South Africans who wanted the world to understand their plight. The success of the movie "Slumdog Millionaire" brought India’s poverty to the world’s attention and slum tourism expanded to cities like Dharavi , home to India’s largest slum.

Modern tourists want an authentic experience, not the white-washed tourist zones that were so popular in the 1980s. Slum tourism meets this desire, offering a look into the world beyond their personal experience.

Safety Concerns

Like it is in all areas of tourism, slum tourism can be safe, or not. When choosing a slum tour, guests should use due diligence to determine if a tour is licensed, has a good reputation on review sites and follows local guidelines.

For instance, Reality Tours and Travel , which was featured on PBS, takes 18,000 people on tours of Dharavi, India each year. The tours highlight the slum’s positives, such as its infrastructure of hospitals, banks and entertainment, and its negatives, such as the lack of housing space and bathrooms and mounds of garbage. The tour shows guests that not everyone has a middle-class home, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a vibrant life. Further, 80% of proceeds from the tours are pumped back into community improvement projects.

Unfortunately, other companies, taking on similar names and logos, offer “tours” that don’t showcase the positives and negatives but exploit the community. They don’t pump funds back into the community, either.

Because there is no standard for slum tour operators yet, tourists need to determine for themselves whether a particular tour company is acting as ethically and responsibly as it claims.

Brazil’s favelas , slum areas that are typically located on the outskirts of big cities like  São Paulo , draw 50,000 tourists each year. Rio de Janeiro has by far the most slum tours of any city in Brazil. Slum tourism of Brazil’s favelas is encouraged by the federal government. Tours provide an opportunity to understand that these hill communities are vibrant communities, not just drug-infested slums portrayed in movies. Trained tour guides drive tourists to the favela by van and then offer walking tours to highlight local entertainment, community centers, and even a meet with people who live there. Generally, photography is prohibited on slum tours preserving respect for the people who live there.

The government goals for touring favelas include:

• explaining the economy of a favela (employment, welfare, rental markets and more)
• highlighting the infrastructure of the favela (hospitals, shopping, banking, fashion, and entertainment)
• touring schools and community centers
• touring community projects
• interacting with the citizens and visits to their homes
• enjoying a meal at a local restaurant

While Brazil has carefully structured its program for slum tourism, concerns remain. Despite regulations and guidelines, some tourists take photos and share them on social media. Whether for shock value or in an effort to enlighten the world to the plight of people in slums, these photos can do more harm than good. Some tour operators, likewise, exploit tourists, claiming that their tours support local businesses without actually giving back to the community. Perhaps the greatest concern, though, is that when slum tourism goes wrong, real lives are impacted.

Responsible slum tourism depends on government guidelines, ethical tour operators, and considerate tourists. When these come together, tourists can have  safe travel experiences, gain a wider worldview and communities can benefit.​

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Savvy Travel Advice

Travel Research: Slum Tourism in South Africa

Last updated: July 13, 2022 - Written by Jessica Norah 10 Comments

Today I would like to focus on the topic of slum tourism in South Africa, also known as township tourism. Slum tourism is defined as the practice of travelers visiting poor urban areas of the Global South to view its impoverished conditions and understand more of the lifestyles of local inhabitants.

Organized slum tourism tours exist around the world in cities such as Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Cairo, and Mumbai. Slum tourism is a controversial issue and I have written about the different viewpoints and potential pros and cons of this practice in a previous article that focused on research about slum tourism in Cairo, Egypt .

This post will specifically focus on the research of a fellow researcher and blogger, Jeanett Andrea Søderstrøm who runs a blog called The Gipsy Giraffe , writing about her travels, passions, life, and research.

Although born in Norway, her holiday travels to South Africa and a township tour in Cape Town made her wonder about the impact of slum tourism and led her to later study this issue from an academic point of view.

Since that time, Ms. Søderstrøm has received a Master’s degree in Responsible Tourism Management in which she completed her final research on township tourism in Cape Town. If you want to learn more about slum tourism in South Africa, read on!

Table of Contents:

A Brief Overview of Slum Tourism in South Africa

While slum tourism is not a completely new phenomenon, organized slum tours have become steadily more common and popular since the 1990’s. Currently, there are an estimated 40 to 50 township tour operators in Cape Town alone and it is estimated that at least 25% of international overseas tourists to South Africa take a township tour.

Slum tours in South Africa are typically called “township tours” because in South Africa the term “township” generally refers to impoverished and underdeveloped urban areas. The division and segregation of people according to race during apartheid —the political system that ruled in South Africa from 1948 to 1994—led to very segregated townships with most colored people being forced to live together in impoverished conditions.

Ms. Søderstrøm’s research focuses on Langa in Cape Town since it is currently one of the most commonly visited townships during the commercial tours. Small and located near the center of Cape Town, Langa is the oldest township in South Africa, created in 1927 as an area for non-Whites to live (often forcibly) in racially-segregated South Africa—a forerunner to apartheid.

The majority of residents in Langa are Xhosa people (former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela was a Xhosa-speaking Thembu person) and the level of unemployment and poverty is extremely high.

The Research Study: Responsible Township Tourism in Cape Town

Research study : Søderstrøm, J. A. (2013)  Responsible practice for township tourism: An exploration of Stakeholders’ opinions, commitments, actions and expectations in the township of Langa, Cape Town . Master’s thesis.

The current research takes a three-prong approach in gathering qualitative data from tour operators, Langa residents, and government officials. The researcher interviews four tour operators of township tours in Langa and then takes three township tours by these same operators. She also interviews 39 Langa residents, including 17 residents of homes where household visits occur during tours. Lastly, the researcher also interviewed four people involved in responsible tourism planning within the local government in Cape Town.

Research Findings: Township Tourism in Cape Town

In the course of her research on township tourism in Cape Town, Ms. Søderstrøm developed a list of 14 guidelines for tour operators she wanted to explore further with her research. These guidelines were based on what has been suggested by past research and stakeholders as ways to ensure that tours are operating as responsibly as possible, particularly emphasizing social and economic benefits for the local communities.

Below are each of these guidelines and the findings related to the research on each one about whether it is being adhered to by the tour operators participating in the research project.

1. Walking tours over driving tours

Why? : Walking tours can allow for more meaningful connections between tourists and residents, allow tourists to purchase products/make donations, and help avoid the more voyeuristic nature of looking at people from a car or bus.

Findings? : Overall, most companies offer walking tours, although some companies do offer tours that are partially or primarily driving tours. Locals reported that they would like it if tour operators facilitated more conversation and meaningful interactions with tourists such as more time for conversation, more visits to local businesses, and more time to stay in homes such as stopping to have a chat over tea.

2. Small rather than large tour groups

Why? : Smaller groups can more easily visit homes and businesses and feel less intrusive to residents. It also can help facilitate more interaction between tourists and the locals and between the tour operators and the tourists.

Findings? : Most responsible companies in Cape Town do appear to be adhering to the responsible practice of providing small group tours rather than large group tours.

3. Provide behavior guidance to tourists

Why? : For most travelers, they have never been on a slum or township tour before and do not know what to expect. For many, this may be their first time encountering such poverty and living conditions and they may not know how to behave, especially when entering people’s homes.

It is the responsibility of the tour operators and guides to ensure that tourists do not make a negative impact on the local community by communicating proper dress codes and behavior, as well as encouraging curiosity about residents’ customs through general respectful interaction. Many tourists also have ethical concerns about whether or not to book such a tour.

Findings? : Some companies provide general guidelines concerning behavior on their websites and some also talk about ethical concerns tourists may have. Most tour operators give some guidance as well about “good behavior” during the tour. But more could be done on some tours.

4. Photography policies

Why? : Obviously, most visitors want to take photographs or videos to remember their tours. However, being constantly photographed can be very annoying and feel quite intrusive by local residents. Many residents do not mind being photographed and visitors should ask residents before taking photographs of actual people.

Findings? : Companies appear to be providing photography guidelines at the beginning of tours to tourists about asking residents before taking pictures of them. Some also advise tourists not to photograph children.

While all tour leaders appear to be providing guidance, some tourists may be disregarding this advice and still taking photographs anyway without asking. Among the interviewed residents many claim it can be annoying in certain situations, hence is it crucial that guides always repeat what is expected from the visitors in this regard and discourage this behavior.

5. Provide fair salaries to guides

Why? : Providing a fair salary to tour guides and other staff avoids exploitation of cheap labor in impoverished communities, gives back to the community, and generates staff goodwill that hopefully also leads to more satisfied clients.

Findings? : Unfortunately, there are no good guidelines of what constitutes a “fair salary” and many guides are not well paid. Most of the guides depend on tips and were even observed discouraging donations to local residents on the tour in order to attempt to receive a larger tip themselves from tourists at the end of the tour.

6. Tipping policies

Why? : To encourage professional behavior by guides, tour companies should communicate that tipping the guides for good services is welcome. This should help supplement their typically small salaries and result in further professionalism among guides. Most importantly this could also lead to guides allowing more of the tourist donations to end up in the hands of the communities visited.

Findings? :  It was found that most companies do not communicate a tipping policy to tourists, as tour operators reported that most tourists decide to give tips anyway. However, tour operators saw the information about unfair redistribution of tourist donations as interesting and may not have previously considered that this issue was related to having an established tipping policy.

7. Provide compensation to visited households

Why? : Most tour companies visit at least one local household during their tour and this is generally one of the promoted highlights of the tour. These households should therefore be compensated for their time and value as a tourist attraction. Such compensation not only makes sense from an ethical business perspective but also avoids exploitation of the local residents.

Findings? : Very few tour companies have formal agreements concerning compensation with the local households they visit. Most receive nothing (or very little) directly from the tour operators. For most they only receive donations or tips left by tourists; however, most guides do not appear to talk about or encourage donations so tourists are often unsure whether it is appropriate to leave donations or not.

Sadly, some local households reported that they used to receive regular visits from tours, which provided tourist tips and/or food, but for unknown reasons, the tour operators have stopped visiting them which has made their economic situation even worse. Even if tour operators do not directly provide money to households, regular committed donations of food, clothing, school supplies, etc. would significantly help these households.

8. Promoting local purchases

Why? : One of the ways that tourists can help the local communities they visit is by spending money within that community. These may include buying local handicrafts, purchasing local services, staying at local homestays, or eating in local eateries.

Findings? : While it seems that almost all tour companies provide an initial opportunity to purchase crafts at the beginning of the tour, most tour companies do not promote local purchase throughout the tour.

Many tour guides seemed to avoid lingering around local businesses, making it more difficult for tourists to stop and buy something. Tour operators said they did not want the tours to feel too commercial, had to adhere to their schedule, or said that tourists were not very interested in purchasing goods.

Locals want tourists to visit their businesses, but felt that getting tourists to their stands daily is difficult since they have very little power over the tourist groups which are directed by the tour guides.

9. Provide ways tourists can donate to the local community

Why? : Many people take township tours in order to learn more about the culture of the people, and after taking these tours many have a desire to give back to the community. While purchasing items or services may be one way tourists can give back, some may instead want to donate money to local community projects (e.g., schools, construction projects, churches). This is another way that tour operators can provide to those tourists who want to give back.

Findings? : Some tour operators discuss this as an option during tours, but often only when tourists verbally express interest. Some tour operators reported that they did not want people to see the township as a charity and do not mention this; however, tourists themselves often expressed gratitude for being given information about how to donate if they would like to do so.

It should be noted that some residents whose homes are visited during tours stated that they felt that encouragement of donations to local schools or other projects has hurt them by leading to decreased tips and donations to their household.

10. Involvement/donations by tour operators

Why? : An ethical and responsible tour operator should give back to the local communities through community involvement or donations, and many tourists may in fact expect this of slum tourism companies.

Findings? : Whereas some tour operators do become directly involved and donate to local projects, others reported that they are a business and give back indirectly by bringing tourists into the township. Among those who did report giving back, it was not always clearly stated or communicated for tourists to find this information, nor was it proven to the researcher.

11. Provide evidence of responsible claims

Why?: Given that many tourists have ethical concerns about these tours, companies should clearly state and detail what specifically they do to give back to local communities and how the community benefits. Such practices provide transparency and help better inform potential clients.

Findings? : While many companies do responsibly give back to the local communities, whether indirectly or directly, these claims are often vague and not well communicated.

12. Create linkages with local enterprises

Why? : The more connections that slum tourism operators create with local companies, the more widely they can benefit the community.

Findings? : Most tour companies do try to include at least one local business in each tour, whether it be a local dining establishment, craft store, or homestay. However, more of such local businesses could be utilized to not only help benefit the community but also enhance the tourist experience of the local culture.

13. Seek residents’ feedback

Why? : It is vitally important that to maintain responsible tourism practices, tour operators seek feedback from residents and that they continue to seek feedback over time. This not only helps avoid exploitation of the local population, but enhances good will, cooperation, and local participation.

Findings? : Tour operators all claim to seek resident feedback; however, it is clear from interviews with locals involved in the visited homes that tour operators and guides often have poor communication or unclear agreements with the local residents.

Some residents reported that they had questions, requests, or suggestions for tour operators, while others seemed apathetic about actually communicating their opinions and wishes to the tour operator or guides. This suggests that residents may not feel empowered to voice their opinions and it is the responsibility of the tour operators to ensure that residents, especially those involved in the tours, are given a voice.

14. Assure that all tour staff have the same responsible aims

Why? : The majority of township tour operators in Cape Town report that they follow responsible tourism criteria; however, while having such criteria set in principle is great, these also need to be clearly communicated and followed by all staff members, particularly the guides.

Findings? : While most interviewed companies claim to be responsible, the actual practice depends largely on who is guiding the tour and the company’s emphasis on staff cooperation, transparency, and reporting.

Conclusions of the Research on Slum Tourism in South Africa

So what do these research findings mean? What are the conclusions drawn by the researcher?

This research supports the complex nature of slum tourism in Cape Town, South Africa. While there are certainly benefits for the local people and most locals feel that things are better with tourism than without it, tourism companies do not appear to be doing as much as they could to make an impact on local communities.

While most tour operators, in general, appear to be friendly, professional, and adhere to general ethical policies, they seem more apathetic regarding issues such as encouraging donations to local hosts, providing fair pay to guides, and promoting tourist purchases and donations.

The issue of not compensating local households visited during tours was highlighted as a particular problem as some of these households get up to ten visits on average per day—often with no compensation!

There appear to be a number of ways that tour operators in Langa, Cape Town can better improve their responsible tourism practices and the first step would be to facilitate better communication with local residents. Further, more support and oversight is needed by the local government. Although the local government encourages township tours and have created policies on responsible tourism, they do not seem very involved in enforcing such policies.

How Can I Find Out More about Slum Tourism?

If you have specific questions about this research project, you can connect with the researcher, Jeanett Andrea Søderstrøm, by visiting her personal blog The Gipsy Giraffe . Here you can find ways to contact her as well as more articles on slum tourism.

Want to know more about slum tourism? I wrote a prior post on research on slum tourism in Cairo, Egypt , which looks at the thoughts and feelings of slum residents, tour operators, and local stakeholders.

We also wrote a follow-up post to this one that comes up with a set of 17 proposed slum tourism guidelines for travelers . The article helps travelers decide if they should take a slum tour, how to choose the most responsible tours, and how to behave on a tour. It provides a lot of tips for travelers who want to take a slum tour. That post also includes an overview of the history of slum tourism , slum tourism research, and how to find more information and resources on the topic.

What do you think about slum tourism in South Africa or slum tourism globally? Have you taken a township tour in South Africa or taken a slum tour in another country?

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Indiphile Post author

February 9, 2020 at 4:31 am

Are slum tourism a legitimate form of tourism or another neoliberal exploitative endeavor?

Jessica & Laurence Norah Post author

February 10, 2020 at 3:18 am

Hi there Indiphile,

Slum tourism has been around for a fairly long time (originating in Victorian London), so it is nothing new. Most of the original slum tours in the Global South have political or social justice roots. However, many tours now are designed and run by for-profit companies and little of this money may go back to the community. As noted it can certainly be an exploitative form of tourism. But some are led by non-profits with the money going to try to help the community. And some tours are going to be more responsible than others.

I definitely encourage you to read some of the research and policy papers on the subject so you learn more about the practice and come up with your own opinion in terms if it is a legitimate form of tourism or not.

Best, Jessica

Mark Post author

February 9, 2014 at 6:21 pm

Interesting Piece.. Whatever the rights or wrongs, slum tourism is definitely growing very quickly in many places

travelcats Post author

February 9, 2014 at 7:59 pm

Yes, it sure had been growing in popularity. My hope is that if people are going to do it, they do it as responsibly as possible.

Emilie Hagedoorn Post author

December 28, 2013 at 12:59 am

With regards to your future post regarding how to choose a responsible tour may I recommend checking Fair Trade Tourism (FTT)? FTT has certified several tourism businesses offering tours into townships in SA. Great examples are AWOL Tours, Uthando (both in Cape Town), Calabash Tours (in PE) and Lebos, Fundani and Moratiwa (all in Joburg/Soweto).

Any other questions please get in touch with FTT.

Thanks, Emilie

December 28, 2013 at 10:52 am

Thanks Emilie, this information is very helpful! In regards to my future post, it will focus more generally on slum tourism worldwide, but checking out responsible tourism trade organizations is a good idea. Thanks for stopping by.

Val Post author

December 26, 2013 at 11:20 am

Hi, I would like to mention, not to take anything from the author or yourself, it is a very complex situation and can have catastrophic consequences for its residents. As mentioned this is only one township this study was done on. Each area and tribal group have differing dynamics. This article therefor in my opinion is a relatively small indication of township or squatter camps as they are in fact called in South Africa. One cannot generalize this in all the countries as mentioned. I kindly refer you to the research paper authenticated by University Of Pretoria, by OG Mengich on Slum Tourism in particular to page 65 of this citation. Also would like to draw your attention to the article by Ross McGuiness A cynical cash cow or a helping hand on the website of metro.co.uk/slum_tourism Thanks and Regards Val

December 27, 2013 at 8:14 am

Hi Val, thank you very much for your comment. As noted this research was specifically done on township tourism in Langa, Cape Town and may not generalize to other areas of South Africa or other countries. However, it should be noted that empirical research in this area often demonstrate similar complex findings suggesting that there may be both potential great harm as well as potential benefits from slum tourism. Almost all advocate for responsible tourism practices similar to those suggested by the author. Thank you for the additional info on slum tourism, we will take a look. I suggest that you visit the featured researcher’s website as well for more information on her research.

Mary Belle Post author

December 23, 2013 at 10:16 pm

Hi Jessica! For a Tourism student, I haven’t heard of Slum Tourism. Shame. But thank you so much for sharing! Now I’ve got something to share to my friends back in school too! 🙂 And expect me to be a frequent visitor! <3

December 23, 2013 at 11:01 pm

Welcome Mary, thanks for taking the time to comment. Glad that you learned about slum tourism and hope that you will inform others. You should check out my other post on slum tourism and the Gipsy Giraffe blog. Look forward to having you as a follower!

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The Red Square and beyond: a guide to Moscow’s neighbourhoods

Apr 23, 2019 • 6 min read

The Red Square, Kremlin and St Basil's Cathedral in Moscow at night © Mordolff / Getty Images

One of the world’s largest cities, Moscow is a true metropolis whose ancient neighbourhoods are interspersed with newly built high-rises, inhabited by people from all over the former Soviet Union.

It’s also the city of rings: the innermost is the Kremlin itself; further away are the former defensive rings, Boulevard Ring and Garden Ring; still further are the Third Ring Road and the MKAD, which delineates the city’s borders. There’s an ongoing joke that Moscow Mayor is the Lord of the Rings. Most sights are contained within the Garden Ring, although for some more authentic neighbourhoods one has to venture further out. To help you explore Moscow’s diversity, we picked our favourite ’hoods – but this list is by no means exhaustive.

The Red Square and around

It can be argued that Moscow, or even the whole of Russia, starts at the  Red Square  – it’s an absolute must-see for any visitor. After standing in line to check out Lenin’s granite  mausoleum , go to GUM , Moscow's oldest department store. Full of luxury shops, it’s famous for the glass roof designed by one of Russia’s most celebrated architects, Vladimir Shukhov. Apart from architectural wonders, GUM has several places to eat including the Soviet-style cafeteria Stolovaya No 57 where you can sample mysterious-sounding delicacies such as the ‘herring in a fur coat’.

On the opposite side of GUM, Kremlin ’s walls and towers rise above the Red Square. Walk through the Alexander Garden  and past the grotto to the Kremlin’s entrance. It’s a treasure trove for any art and history lover: ancient gold-domed churches, icons galore and the resting place of Moscow tsars.

On the other side of the Red Square is Moscow's symbol,  St Basil's Cathedral with its multi-colored domes. Right behind it is the newly built Zaryadye Park , which showcases flora from all over Russia; another attraction is the floating bridge jutting out above the embankment and the Moscow river. A glass pavilion nearby hosts Voskhod , a space-themed restaurant with dishes from all 15 former Soviet Union republics. It’s a perfect spot for a classy evening meal and there’s often live music.

Patriarch’s Ponds

The Patriarch’s Ponds (aka Patriki) is a historical neighbourhood, celebrated in Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel Master and Margarita . Located right off Tverskaya street, Moscow’s main thoroughfare, Patriki recently became the city’s most happening quarter. It has some of the most elegant architecture, including several buildings by art-nouveau genius Fyodor Shekhtel. Narrow streets here have a cozy feel, with recently widened sidewalks and bike lanes. In the summer it becomes party central.

Start by checking out free exhibitions or one of the cutting-edge performances at the experimental theatre Praktika . But make no mistake, the neighbourhood’s main attraction are its bars and restaurants. Patriki’s residents are well-off Russians and expats, so it’s no wonder that  Moscow’s recent culinary revolution started here. Uilliam’s , one of the pioneers of this foodie movement, still rules over the scene with its floor-to-ceiling windows. Also try AQ Chicken  for everything chicken-related, Patara  for a taste of Georgian cuisine, and Cutfish for some great sushi. Finish your gastronomic tour with original cocktails at Pinch or the Moscow outpost of NYC restaurant Saxon+Parole .

Around Kursky train station

For a long time, Kursky train station was surrounded by semi-abandoned factories and the area was best avoided. It all changed in the late 2000s, when a dilapidated wine factory was turned into Winzavod , a mecca for fans of contemporary art. Today these red-brick buildings are occupied by some of Moscow’s leading galleries. After taking in all the art, pop in the small wine bar Barrell  for a glass from burgeoning wineries of Russia’s south or grab a bite at Khitrye Lyudi  cafe.

Right next to Winzavod is Artplay , another refurbished factory full of design and furniture shops and large exhibition spaces.  It’s also home to  Pluton , one of the latest additions to Moscow’s dance scene. Other Pluton residents are the multimedia art gallery Proun  and another lunch option,  Shanhaika , with authentic Chinese cuisine.

A short walk away is Arma, where a cluster of circular gas holders has been turned into offices, restaurants and clubs including Gazgolder  (it belongs to one of Russia’s most famous rappers, Basta). Apart from hip-hop concerts, Gazgolder organises regular techno parties that sometimes go non-stop from Friday to Monday.

If you’re interested in religious architecture, Taganka is the place to go. First of all, see the old Moscow at Krutitskoye Podvorye – one of those places where nothing seems to have changed in centuries. The monastery was founded in the 13th century, but in the 16th century it became the home of Moscow metropolitans and most of the surviving buildings are from that epoch. Take a tour of the grounds, and don’t miss the interior and icons of the Assumption Cathedral.

Your next stop is the Rogozhskoe settlement of ‘old believers’, a branch that split from Russian Orthodoxy in the 17th century. The settlement is dominated by an 80m-tall bell tower. The yellow-coloured Intercession Church, built in neoclassical style with baroque elements, has an important collection of icons. Next to the church grounds is the popular Trapeznaya cafeteria, with Russian food cooked using traditional recipes – a perfect spot for lunch.

A short ride away is Andronikov Monastery, which today houses the Rublyov Museum  in the old monks’ quarters. There’s a great collection of ancient Orthodox icons although none by Andrei Rublyov, who was a monk here in the 15th century. The main attraction at the monastery is the small Saviour’s Cathedral, considered the oldest surviving church in Moscow.

Finish the day at the craft-beer cluster around Taganskaya metro station. Varka offers both Russian and imported labels, with the Burger Heroes stand serving arguably the best burgers in town. Craft & Draft looks more like a respectable old-fashioned pub, with decent food, 20 beers on tap and a hundred types of bottled brews.

Khamovniki is Moscow’s ancient textile district, named after the word kham  (a type of cloth). Two main thoroughfares, Ostozhenka and Prechistenka, cut through the neighbourhood parallel to each other. The former turned into the so-called ‘Golden Mile’ of Moscow in the 1990s, with the highest real-estate prices and some of the best examples of new Russian architecture, while the latter is still mostly lined up with impressive 19th-century mansions.

Khamovniki is somewhat of a literary quarter, as several museums devoted to Russia’s best-known writers – among them  Leo Tolstoy , Alexander Pushkin  and Ivan Turgenev – popped up here during the last century. There’s also plenty to see for an art lover. The  Multimedia Art Museum regularly hosts exhibitions by some of the best photographers from all over the world, as well as contemporary art. Several galleries, including RuArts  and Kournikova Gallery , have also found home in Khamovniki.

When you’ve had your fill of literature and art, stop by Gorod Sad on Ostozhenka, an outpost of a local health-food chain, and order dishes such as pumpkin soup or grilled vegetables salads. Afterwards, head to Dom 12 , which is located just off Ostozhenka street. This restaurant and wine bar is frequented by the city’s intellectuals and its schedule includes lectures, book presentations and film screenings, while in the summer guests migrate to a lovely courtyard.

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City of opportunity: 7 advantages to living in Moscow

1. Moscow never sleeps

The first advantage, and one that every single respondent mentioned, is the ability to buy anything and get any household service performed at any time of the day or night. “You can go to a bookstore at 2:00 in the morning, buy a lamp at a construction market at 3:00 in the morning, find flowers for your girlfriend at 5:00 in the morning, and get your car washed at 6:00 in the morning,” says American producer Bob Van Ronkel, who has lived in Moscow for more than a decade.

The only thing you can’t buy in Moscow in the middle of the night is alcohol. All the liquor shelves in stores are sealed off after 11:00 p.m.

2. Pay terminals for cell phone, internet, and utilities payments

You won’t find yourself without a cell phone signal in Moscow. The most crowded places – stores, underground pedestrian crossings, restaurants, pharmacies, the metro – all have round-the-clock pay terminals. “You just have to punch in your phone number, enter the amount of money you want, and your account is refilled. It also works for your internet account. It’s simple and convenient,” says Croatian programmer Ivan Vuckovic.

You don’t have to go to the bank to pay for utilities, either. The same pay terminals take payments for all possible accounts, taxes, and even speeding ticket fines. It is much more complicated in Europe. “In Croatia, for example, to pay your phone balance you have to buy a special card with a code at a kiosk, and you later have to enter that code into your phone. Naturally, the kiosk isn’t open 24 hours,” Vuckovic complains.

3. Vkontakte vs Facebook

Russian social network VKontakte is particularly popular among foreigners who speak Russian. The network contains a huge number of audio and video files in Russian [though most of these are illegal – RBTH]. Mexican Alejandro Ordonez is a developer of modern Russian-Mexican economic and cultural relations, so for him VKontakte is not only a way to virtually hang out with friends, but also a place where he can watch Russian films, TV shows, and series, as well as listen to music and study Russian online on professors’ profiles. “Even when I’m not in Russia, I don’t forget Russian,” Alejandro said. Foreigners who use Facebook have remarked that the Russian social network has many advantages; for example, it has none of the adverts that accompany the newsfeeds of Facebook users.

4. Text message alerts from the bank

Some Russians have ATM cards at Russian banks and are given the option of setting up bank alerts via text message. “In Croatia, that means that the client will get one text message a day about the state of his personal account,” says Vuckovic. In Moscow, clients get a text message about any operation made with their bank card. This means that they always know how much money they have in their account. It is also an effective way to combat fraud, because the client can contact the bank immediately after receiving a text message about a fraudulent removal of money from his card.

5. Yandex.Traffic

All foreigners are afraid of traffic jams in Moscow, but few are aware of an online service that shows the current state of the roads in real time. This app is so detailed that you can see if there is a traffic jam on even the tiniest street. “At first it was scary to see the completely red Yandex map, which means that there are traffic jams everywhere in the city. But then I understood that this only happens during rush hour. The app really helps me move around Moscow and find the time to move,” said Australian Michael Alexander, who has fallen in love with Russia after three months in Moscow.

6. Medication without a prescription

The majority of medications can be purchased in Russia without a prescription. Antibiotics, hormonal medications, potent antihistamines, and statins can all be bought without having to visit a doctor first. Foreigners consider this a major plus because they can avoid wasting time and money on visiting the doctor. However, we can’t call this an accomplishment, per se, because the number of people engaging in self-medication is increasing with each year. By trying to save money, they are often at risk of seriously harming themselves.

7. Marshrutki

Areas with large concentrations of people are serviced not only by trolleybuses, trams, and buses, but also by marshrutki , something like a minibus. On the outside a marshrutka looks like a minibus, but as a rule it doubles as public transport. It is relatively cheap to ride a marshrutka , and you will typically arrive at your destination much faster than by using other forms of public transport. The only drawback that foreigners have noticed is the poor noise insulation, which makes it so that you have to practically scream at the driver to say where you want to go. “The first time I got scared when my girlfriend suddenly screamed in the marshrutka . It was so embarrassing, but later I got used to it and now I scream myself,” says Enrique Alvarez.

Read more:  Literature lovers can visit Pushkin and Mayakovsky online

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The Tourism Committee, or Mostourism, is the executive body of the Moscow City Government that oversees tourist activities in the capital. The Committee is responsible for legislative initiatives, congress and exhibition activities, and event and image projects. As the brand manager for an attractive tourism image for Moscow, Mostourism constantly analyses global trends, offers Russian and foreign tourists what they want, and also uncovers new opportunities for the capital in terms of interesting and rewarding leisure activities.

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Video materials about Moscow

Mission Moscow : A Conversation with Evgeny Kozlov

Mr. Evgeny Kozlov, Deputy Head Mayor of Moscow Government and Chairman of the Moscow City Tourism Committee, who has come to the city to attain BLTM, the annual prestigious travel event at the Leela Ambience Convention Centre, Delhi spoke with TW Editor Anirban Dasgupta on his vision and goal with the all-new tourism initiatives in Moscow.  

The bond between India and Russia has a long history of culture, literature, love, and of course politics. But recently, there has also been a lot of talk about Gastronomical tourism. Any personal experience with this?

My personal take on the bond between India and Russia stems from my recent experience of trying authentic Indian cuisine in Moscow. I thoroughly enjoyed the spicy flavours of the Curry dish I tried and it left a lasting impression on me. This made me appreciate the cultural exchange between our two countries even more. I believe that Moscow, being a culinary hub, is a great place for people from all over the world, including Indian visitors, to immerse themselves in our rich history and culture. It’s a unique experience that brings people together and showcases the diversity of the gastronomic universe. Moscow has a thriving food scene with various international cuisines to explore, from Chinese to South African and Latin American. This culinary diversity reflects the open-mindedness and curiosity of the Russian people when it comes to trying new types of food. Moscow truly has something for everyone, and I encourage Indian tourists to come and indulge in this gastronomic journey.

  How optimistic are the post-pandemic recovery figures?

After the Covid-19 pandemic, we have witnessed a remarkable recovery in tourism in Moscow. In fact, we have been able to restore 90% of the pre-pandemic tourist flow. In the first half of 2023, almost a million foreign tourists visited Moscow, with over 600,000 of them arriving during the summer season. Among the non-CIS countries, China has led the way in terms of tourist traffic, followed by Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, and India. Prior to the pandemic, India’s tourist flow was steadily growing at a rate of 12-15% annually. Although we faced challenges during the pandemic, we have now put in place all the necessary conditions for a successful recovery. Moscow is known for hosting numerous international exhibitions, forums, congresses, and conferences, attracting approximately 3.6 million business visitors in the past year alone. Among these visitors, India ranks third in terms of foreign business tourists in Moscow. To further promote tourism, we have initiated the MICE Ambassadors training program in India, which aims to assist Indian businesses in exploring opportunities and selecting relevant events in Moscow.

  Can you please share your vision for future tourism development in Moscow?

Thank you for asking this question. I have a multi-faceted vision for the future tourism development in Moscow.

Firstly, I believe that tourism should provide a personal and authentic experience for each individual. Therefore, customization of experiences is crucial. For business tourists, we aim to offer special infrastructure facilities that cater to their specific needs and requirements. We are closely collaborating with infrastructure providers to ensure seamless experiences for those visiting Moscow for business purposes. On the other hand, when it comes to leisure or family tourists, we recognize the importance of providing a support system and guidelines for those traveling with their families, especially children. We are working with museums, theatres, and restaurants to customize their services and products to cater to tourists of all ages, including children. Furthermore, I envision rearranging tourism in Moscow to encourage visitors to delve into the history and heritage of our country. A significant part of my tourism goal is to motivate and inspire the youth and younger generations to travel to Russia. This involves providing affordable pricing for accommodations, entertainment, museums, and other attractions.

We are already constructing tailor-made infrastructure that specifically targets the young generation in Russia, and by next year, we plan to extend and promote these offerings to international young visitors as well. By rebranding the image of Moscow as a destination for longer stays, relaxation, and enjoying various facilities, we aim to change the perception that it is merely a transit or stop-over city. Lastly, the beautiful weather in Moscow during the summer months provides an opportunity to create delightful memories for tourists. I want every visitor to experience the sunshine, green landscapes, parks, cafes, restaurants, swimming pools, and sports facilities that Moscow has to offer during this time.

In summary, my vision for the future of tourism in Moscow revolves around creating customized travel experiences for every type of traveller.

How do you prioritize sustainability and responsible tourism practices in the development of business tourism?

How easy or difficult is it to get a Visa for an Indian Tourist at present?

Acquiring a Visa for Indian tourists has become easier with the introduction of the e-visa system. Since its launch in August 2023, more than 30,000 tourists have already utilized this system. The e-visa offers several advantages over traditional visas, such as avoiding the need to visit consulates or embassies. The application process only requires a digital photograph and a scan of the passport data page. The e-visa has a validity period of 60 days from the date of issuance, with a maximum stay of 16 days in Russia. This convenient and streamlined process is available to citizens of 55 countries, including India. Indian tourists are currently ranked third in terms of business travellers from outside the CIS countries visiting Moscow.

Author: Anirban

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