A short guide to slum tourism

Slum tourism is one of the new trends in the world of traveling, although it’s not really clear whether it is a good one. If you haven’t heard about it yet, here’s slum tourism in a nutshell: it supposes guided tours in the slums of big cities. It is popular in places like New Delhi, Buenos Aires, Johannesburg or Nairobi, where poverty is already a big issue.

The favelas in South America and slums in India, despite their economic misfortunes, seem to be genuine tourist magnets lately. So here’s a short guide to slum tourism, and its pros and cons.

There are two competing views on slum tourism. According to its defenders, it is very important to know how people live in certain impoverished areas of the world before you can claim that you understand their countries. On the other hand, the opponents of slum tourism say that it is downright voyeuristic – people’s suffering should never be tourist attractions. The average slum inhabitant who lives in these cities lives on less than a dollar a day, and often does not have access to basic amenities such as adequate housing or drinking water.

In recent years, many travel agencies have started to include slum tourism on their list of services. Slum tours are marketed as helping the local population, improving their income and generally contributing to the development of the country. Having a look at how the ‘other’ side lives is not limited to staring at slum dwellers – there’s always a tour guide that will be happy to tell you more about the basics of life in the slums.

Some travel agencies post helpful advice to their prospective slum tourists, such as not eating in public because the locals still suffer or malnutrition, not giving out sweets to the children. The goal of this entire experience is to raise awareness, although what tourists generally become aware of is that the people living in impoverished areas go about their lives and have families and friends just like the tourists themselves.

While some still claim that slum tourism is necessary and it will eventually lead to the eradication of poverty in the regions where this type of tourism is practiced, but so far, there aren’t really any results to show for it. At best, slum tourism seems a bit like going to the zoo and gawking at those who have it worse than you.

Showcasing poverty in some regions with potential for tourism might not be the best way to make their economic situations better. Maybe focusing on actual natural or historical attractions in developing countries would work better than putting their people on display.