Slum tourism goes by many names, including poor people, purism, and slam tourism. All these “isms” are a global tourism trend, around the ethics of which discussions sharpen, journalistic pens are erased, and sometimes even fists are used. But the popularity of such tours is undeniable, so let's look at them for now as a product, without which the industry will only become poorer.
Someone thinks that the quintessence of romance is the "metal-constructive" Eiffel Tower, and someone sees the elevation in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. The Purists have nothing in common with the Puritans, except perhaps the phonetic similarity of the name. The very concept of "purism" comes from the English words "poor" (poor) and "tourism" (English-Russian dictionary to help). Purists or slum tourists like to travel to places where people live extremely poorly. Someone says that this is quite normal because such tours are a cultural window at the junction of different social formations. Someone believes that this is how people calm their shattered nerves, making sure that somewhere their brothers in mind live much worse. There is also an opinion that slum tours are so popular because of simple curiosity and ... fatigue. Yes, you heard right.
However, there is little pleasantness in this whole story, especially if market players begin to openly go too far, turning advertising for slum tours into something monstrous. And how would you yourself react to a text like this: “After a delicious and hearty lunch, you will have the opportunity to visit the slums where homeless children collect plastic bottles so as not to die of hunger”? Disadvantages Of Slum Tourism
How poverty became popular with tourists
Purism took off in the wake of the wild popularity of movies like Slumdog Millionaire and City of God. The first tells about a poor boy from the Mumbai slums, and the second is about the notorious favelas of Rio.
However, do not think that slum tourism is a modern notion. This type of tour did not even appear in the 20th century. The Oxford Dictionary says that the word "slum" appeared in English in 1884. At the end of the 19th century. in the United States and England, well-to-do Yankees and suave gentlemen with specie rolling around in their pockets traveled to gawk at the New York slams of the Bowery and Five Points on the lower East Side, and London's backwaters of Whitechapel and Shoreditch.
Rules of slam tourism
Slum tourism has its own rules that must be strictly observed because the life of tourists often depends on it.
First, the rule “less is more” applies here. Poor neighborhoods, wherever they are, is not the kind of place that you will like if you watch it from the window of a comfortable bus. It is better to choose a walking route, which should be walked in a group of 5-7 people - no more.
Secondly, you need to be extremely careful in your desire to photograph everything that just catches your eye. Think for yourself: would you like it if every day well-fed tourists photographed your everyday life, and then also posted all this “zoo beauty” on the Internet? Hardly. The camera will definitely not add confidence on the part of local residents, and sometimes it can even provoke outright aggression. Therefore, many companies offering slum tours immediately prescribe a ban on photography and video filming in the conditions. If you can't deny yourself the pleasure of taking pictures, it's best to do so with the permission of the slum dwellers.
Thirdly, your habit of flaunting luxury should be left at the hotel along with jewelry and other expensive things. You find yourself in an environment where they can kill for the iPad.
And the last. Try to choose a travel agency that invests a certain part of the income from the tour in the economy of poor neighborhoods. In other words, by visiting the slums, you help the locals by improving their living conditions. This, to a certain extent, addresses the ethical issues that will definitely arise if poverty is capable of making you regret it.
Brazilian bottom
The first favela tours began in Rio de Janeiro in the late 1990s. An enterprising young man, Marcelo Armstrong, took a few thrill-seeking tourists to a poor neighborhood. Then he organized the Flavela Tour company, which today has no end to customers.
About 65 million Brazilians live in the favelas of Brazil, which is a third of the population of the entire country. The bulk of the slums are located in Rio (there are about 750 of them in this city) and Sao Paulo. Here you can wander through the infernal nooks and crannies, meet real gangsters who will gladly pose for you, provided that you do not take pictures of their faces, and make sure that there is no sewerage here, but there is a high level of crime. This is the real Brazil, which is often overlooked, but always reminds us of itself.
Tour price - $40
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