Slum tourism

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Slum tourism in Five Points, Manhattan in 1885
Bed and breakfast inside a South African township

Slum tourism is a type of tourism that involves visiting impoverished areas, which has become increasingly prominent in several developing countries like India, Brazil, Kenya, and Indonesia.[1] The concept began in poor sections of London and by 1884 had started in Manhattan.[2]

Contents

History [edit]

The Oxford English Dictionary dates the first use of the word "slumming" to 1884. In London, people visited "slum" neighborhoods such as Whitechapel or Shoreditch in order to observe life in this situation. By 1884 wealthier people in New York City began to visit the Bowery and the Five Points area of the Lower East Side, neighborhoods of poor immigrants, to see "how the other half lives." [3]

In the 1980s in South Africa, black residents organized "township tours" to educate the whites in local governments on how the black population lived. Such tours attracted international tourists, who wanted to learn more about apartheid.[4]

In the mid-1990s, international tours began to be organized with destinations in the most disadvantaged areas of developing nations, often known as slums. They have grown in popularity, and are often run and advertised by professional companies. In Cape Town, South Africa, for example, upwards of 300,000 tourists visit the city each year to view the slums.[5]

Prior to the release of Slumdog Millionaire in 2008, Mumbai was a slum tourist destination.[1] The concept of slum tourism has recently started to gain more attention from media and academia alike. In December 2010 the first international conference on slum tourism was held in Bristol.[6] A social network of people working in or with slum tourism has been set up.[7]

Locations [edit]

Slum tourism is mainly performed in urban areas of developing countries, most often named after the type of areas that are visited:

  • Township tourism: in post-apartheid South Africa and Namibia. South African settlements are still visibly divided into wealthy, historically white suburbs and poor, historically black townships, because of the effects of apartheid and racial segregation.
  • Favela tourism: in Brazil
  • Hutong trips in larger Chinese cities, such as Hutongs in Beijing.

Motivations [edit]

A 2010 study 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. In addition, the study found that most slum residents were ambivalent about the tours, while the majority of tourists reported positive feelings during the tour, with interest and intrigue as the most commonly cited feelings.[1] Many tourists often come to the slums to put their life in perspective.[1] Common holidays for slum tourism are Christmas and Valentine's Day.

Criticism [edit]

Slum tourism has been the subject of much controversy. Both critiques and defenses of the practice have been made in the editorial pages of prominent newspapers, such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, London Times, and others. Accusations of the industry[clarify] include that it “turns poverty into entertainment, something that can be momentarily experienced and then escaped from.” Kennedy Odede, a Kenyan, wrote in the New York Times Op-Ed section, “They get photos; we lose a piece of our dignity.”[8] Similar critics call the tours voyeuristic and exploitative.[9] The London Times columnist Alice Miles labeled the movie Slumdog Millionaire as “poverty porn” because of what she considered abuse of the real poverty of individuals for the sake of entertainment.[10] David Fennell, professor of tourism and environment at Brock University, claims that the tours help wealthy Westerners to feel better about themselves. He cites as proof that the slum tourism spike often happens during the Holiday Christmas season, and the first half of February prior to Valentine's Day.[9] Many such tourists are without family on Christmas or significant others on Valentines.[9]

Proponents of slum tourism[who?] say it is benefits all parties involved. Others[who?] argue that criticism is anecdotal, rather than based on research or scholarship.[11] The tours provide employment and income for tour guides from the slums, an opportunity for craft-workers to sell souvenirs, and may invest back in the community with profit that is earned.[9] As the debate over the ethics of slum tourism continues, studies are being done. Forums for discussion are being created to further the dialogue and provide reliable information.[12]

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b c d "Slum Tourism: A Trip into the Controversy". May 15, 2010. Retrieved 2011-07-25. 
  2. ^ "Slumming In This Town. A Fashionable London Mania Reaches New-York. Slumming Parties To Be The Rage This Winter. Good Districts To Visit. Mrs. Langtry As A Slummer". New York Times. September 14, 1884. Retrieved 2010-12-08. "'Slumming', the latest fashionable idiosyncrasy in London -- i.e., the visiting of the slums of the great city by parties of ladies and gentlemen for sightseeing -- is mildly practiced here by our foreign visitors by a tour of the Bowery, winding up with a visit to an opium joint or Harry Hill's. ..." 
  3. ^ Marc Saint-Upéry (October 21, 2010). "Left at the Crossroads: Ogling the poor". RIA Novosti. Retrieved 2010-12-08. "The word 'slumming' was first registered by the Oxford Dictionary in 1884, coinciding with a rising Victorian preoccupation that mixed philanthropy, social paranoia and voyeuristic titillation. Respectable middle-class Londoners would visit seedy neighborhoods such as Whitechapel or Shoreditch, while wealthy New Yorkers roamed the Bowery and the Lower East Side to see “how the other half lives.” By the turn of the century, the tourist practice had begun to decline" 
  4. ^ Dondolo, L., 2002. The Construction of Public History and Tourism Destinations in Cape Town's Townships: A Study of Routes, Sites and Heritage, Cape Town: University of the Western Cape
  5. ^ Manfred Rolfes, “Poverty tourism: theoretical reflections and empirical findings regarding an extraordinary form of tourism,” in GeoJournal, (Springer Science and Business Media, 26 September 2009), 421.
  6. ^ "Destination Slum"
  7. ^ "Slumtourism.net - Network for people working in or with slum tourism"
  8. ^ “Slumdog Tourism,” Kennedy Odede, New York Times, August 9, 2010 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/10/opinion/10odede.html, accessed 12/6/2011.
  9. ^ a b c d Eric Weiner, “Slum Visits: Tourism or Voyeurism?”, New York Times, March 9, 2008, http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/03/09/travel/09heads.html?pagewanted=all, accessed 12/6/2011.
  10. ^ Evan Selinger and Kevin Outterson, “The Ethics of Poverty Tourism,” Boston University School of Law Working Paper No. 09-29, (June 2, 2009), http://www.bu.edu/law/faculty/scholarship/workingpapers/documents/SelingerEOuttersonK06-02-09.pdf, accessed 12/6/2011.
  11. ^ “Slum Tours for the Wealthy Come Under Scrutiny,” Robert Frank in Wall Street Journal, February 1, 2010, http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2010/02/01/slum-tours-for-the-wealthy-come-under-scrutiny/, accessed 12/6/2011.
  12. ^ See http://slumtourism.net/about and University of the West of England. "Does slum tourism make us better people?", ScienceDaily, 28 Jan. 2010. Web. 6 Dec. 2011.

External links [edit]

Wikivoyage has travel information related to: Tips for travel in developing countries
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