Tourism in south africas rural slumlands article pdf available in bulletin of geography. Developments in a young field of interdisci plinary tourism. Slum tourism in kibera and the world starluck travel. In 1976, during the soweto uprising in which unarmed students were stormed and killed by police for refusing to study in. Despite the growing popularity of slum tours there is much criticism and controversy in relation to this form of tourism. While slum tourism has gained some international notoriety in.
Slum tourism has been around since victorian times, when wealthy londoners trudged down to the east end for a view. Apr 27, 2008 in cairo, the heart of the citys upscale area is known as zamalek, a lush island neighborhood in the nile that thrives with tourists and commerce. It argues that criticism of slum tourism is denial of poverty and does not necessarily reflect a propoor sentiment. Aug 10, 2014 despite the growing popularity of slum tours there is much criticism and controversy in relation to this form of tourism. The first section of the paper is an argumentative commentary that ascertains there is inept logic in branding slum tourism as exploitative and voyeuristic. Slum tourism is a type of tourism that involves visiting areas of poverty such as in developing african countries like kenya and uganda.
So in 2006, the two friends founded reality tours and travel, offering indias first slum tours. Slum tourism has become extremely popular in the 21st century. The sprawling township is a congregation of wooden and corrugated iron shacks. With its escalating use, slum tourism has generated a heated and critical debate. Earlier, people from affluent countries use to indulge in this leisure. This paper aims to evaluate stakeholders views on the potential role that slum tourism and its associated products can play in enhancing living conditions in slums in egypt. In south africa there are many slums with hundreds of thousands of people living in poverty every day. Ebook slum tourism as pdf download portable document format. The end of apartheid in south africa fueled a more politicallyoriented type of township tour while rocinha has been receiving tourists for years some 50,000 a year now. Foreigners probably driven by curiosity saw it as a chance to visit the infamous favelas. It has more than 20,000 informal dwellings or shacks. Slum tourism takes place in vans and jeeps, but also as walking tours or on bikes.
Instead of showing tourists valuable cultural artifacts, slum tours show poverty, a vice phenomenon. I guess that it becomes almost like looking at people in difficult situations, situations of poverty, is almost like looking at animals. Egypt s slum crisis persists amid housing abundance over 16 million egyptians live in inhumane conditions, while over six million formal housing units have been reported vacant. Slum tourism is an expanding domain of research focused on organized tours to poorer areas of cities in the global south, such as south africas urban townships. A central appeal of slum tourism is that it is the antithesis of traditional cultural tours. Mar 05, 2018 slum tourism is when travelers visit poor areas of the global south to view the impoverished conditions of local inhabitants. In this article we will provide you with continued. Slum tourism, despite remaining controversial in relation to its motive, continues to gain popularity across the world, including in some african countries such as kenya and south africa.
The challenge of slums is not only limited to egypt, but it also involves most of the developing countries. In 2014, over one million tourists visited a township, a. Tourists came to south africa and wanted to see the townships and places of the apartheid repression and mandelas house so it began as. Essay from the year 20 in the subject tourism, grade. Egypt and chinese villages in cities, while case studies from cuba, mexico, thailand, mozambique. You may write about how earnings from tourism contribute to a. The paper examines the role of slum tourism in poverty relief.
Usaid egypt tourism fact sheet pdf 617k current activities rediscovering esnas cultural heritage assets. Travel and tourism in egypt to 2018 page 1 timetric. Egypts slum crisis persists amid housing abundance economy. Slum tourism is the organization of tours in these areas. To mumbai dwellers, especially expatriates, the concept of slum tourism, poverty tourism, poorism or simply slumming it needs no introduction. To do so, it surveys the stateoftheart literature on tourism and poverty and investigates the ways in which slum tourism research. Socioeconomic series 2626 december 2014 with 8,759 reads. Tourists offered nights stay in mumbai slum world news. Africa a glimpse inside johannesburgs diepsloot slum. Slum tourism in the philippines not for the fainthearted this tour has really opened my eyes as its the first time ive seen poverty this close, said a dutch tourist after touring the. 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 nontouristy areas of a country or city. Slum tourism discourse on definitions, motivations and tourism professionals.
In brazil, slum tourism gained traction during the 2014 world cup. The academic field of slum tourism research is comprised primarily of case studies. 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. Slum tourism discourse on definitions, motivations and tourism. This product is licensed and is not to be photocopied published. Thankfully, this has completely avoided the development of slum tourism companies and has maintained slumming as a foreign term in venezuela. The different levels of culture will be the rituals, the heroes and the symbols of the given. The role and importance of cultural tourism in modern touri sm industry 203 according to hofstede 1997 the core of a culture is formed by the values figure 1. Mar 05, 2018 today i would like to focus on the topic of slum tourism in south africa, also known as township tourism. The rights and wrongs of slum tourism india real time wsj.
But, the negative impacts that result from slums are alarming. Slum tourism, also known as poverty tourism, makes my skin crawl. Apr 10, 2014 the paper examines the role of slum tourism in poverty relief. Alex is one of the poorest urban areas in south africa. It also aims to catalyze efforts and initiatives for dealing with slums in egypt to become part of international best practice.
If the inline pdf is not rendering correctly, you can download the pdf. Usaid supports the development, implementation, and promotion of an alternative tourism development approach in esna, in luxor governorate, that improves the towns potential for responsible cultural tourism. Just north of johannesburgs flashy suburbs lies diepsloot. Slum tourism which involves touring marginalised and impoverished areas that tourists would normally never visit is becoming increasingly popular in. 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, kenya, philippines, and. While i do not pretend to speak on behalf of kibera residents, i would argue there are appropriate and inappropriate ways to visit kibera. Slum tourism is getting plenty of attention today as a practice that should be subject to responsible reflection goodwin, 2011b. Jun 28, 2019 tourism provides workers with 1 out of 12 jobs for every worker. There are so many environmental damages when tourist allowed to explore it. Egypts slum crisis persists amid housing abundance. On the one hand, proponents of poverty tourism argue that this form of tourism can contribute to a change in the representation of the slums and its people and that slum tourism is a legitimate way to fight poverty. Reflections on urban poverty tourism from a historical perspective. By the 1960s, over 33% of population of rio lived in slums, 45% of mexico city and ankara, 65% of algiers, 35% of caracas, 25% of lima and santiago, 15% of singapore. Whether called a township, a favela, a barrio, a slum, a shantytown, or a ghetto, outsiders recreationally visiting these typically impoverished places is nothing new.
Black south africans in the early 1990s began giving tours of their marginalized and raciallysegregated townships. In year 2000, the united nations millennium declaration pledged to tackle the challenge of setting specific goals of achieving significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers. The city of the dead, or cairo necropolis, also referred to as the qarafa arabic. For instance, reality tours and travel, which was featured on pbs, takes 18,000 people on tours of dharavi, india. The world discovered dharavi because of the movie slumdog millionaire. It is sometimes called poverty tourism or slumming or seeing how the other half lives cejas, 2006, diekmann and hannam, 2012, manyara et al. This is one of the first publications dealing with the concept of slum tourism in an egyptian context and therefore should prove an interesting read. Newer destinations for slum tours include egypt, namibia. The idea of turning impoverished homes into a tourist attraction reminded me of my decision to forgo the dmz at the border of north and south korea. The challenge of slums is not only limited to egypt, but it. In cairo slum, the poor spark environmental change. Among others ma 2010 argues that the international. Even if they act responsibly but some of them may damage the environment.
Although differences can be observed between slum tourism offerings in different localities, one thing that unites them is the importance. Shyamal sengupta, a film professor at the whistling woods international institute in mumbai, condemns the film for being a poverty tour. Slums are heavily populated urban areas characterized by substandard housing, inadequate access to clean water and sanitation, and a constantly changing residential population. The aim is to contribute towards a reframing of scholarship on slum tourism by directing attention to the phenomenon of tourism development oc. Type i and type ii, are the two types of ratio multipliers. The historical antecedents of slum tourism have been explored in the context of the global north steinbrink, 2012. Impoverished urban areas have always enticed the popular imagination, considered to be places of otherness, moral decay, deviant liberty or authenticity. As of 2012, 863 million people called a slum their home. Community perception on slum tourism in dharavi rudra rhodes abstract. With a maturing of international research around slum tourism there has occurred a widening of the geographical range of slum tourism destinations as well as an expanded number of topics investigated in slum tourism scholarship steinbrink, 2012. Slum tourism in the philippines not for the fainthearted.
Slumming was added to the oxford english dictionary in the 1860s, meaning to go into, or frequent. In a variety of locations around the world, slum tourism is now emerging as a niche form of tourism. Slum tourism takes place largely as three to fourhour guided tours, but recent years have shown a remarkable diversification of tourism activities. 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, kenya, philippines, and the united states. Tourism has gained wide popularity in the last decade. Empirical results were obtained using two quantitative surveys. Mar 07, 2007 they describe human settlements known in english as slums in brazil, kenya, india, turkey, egypt, peru, malaysia, and sri lanka, respectively. Starting first in london in the late 1800s when groups of wealthy victorians dared venture into poor neighborhoods like whitechapel and shoreditch, it moved across the pond, where new york citys then. Reality tours and travels a collage of pictures from dharavi by reality tours and travels which.
The people who come to visit these slums do not make a positive impact on these already struggling peoples lives if slum tourism was a legitimate. Impact of slum tourism to slums nature and change, language. A few years ago, i spent a month travelling through india solo. Impact of slum tourism to slum s nature and change, language.
Slum tourism, poverty tourism, or ghetto tourism is a type of city tourism that involves visiting impoverished areas. Todays slum tourism is a relatively recent phenomenon starting in south africa at the beginning of the 1990s after the end of apartheid. By 1980, in various cities and towns of latin america alone, there were about 25,000 slums. The oscarwinning film increased demand for companies organizing guided tours into asias biggest slum. A wide range of disciplines have dealt with the phenomenon and it has been discussed from a variety of theoretical angles. It is mostly prominent in developing countries across the globe, however in mumbai it is still a relatively new industry. 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 a soweto tour during a longago visit to south africa, to see a place that overflowed with meaning. This paper aims to evaluate stakeholders views on the potential role that slum tourism and its associated products can play in enhancing living conditions in. Tourism is travel for leisure or recreational purposes.
This is an essay showing in detail the advantages and disadvantages of slum tourism, with regards to the social, economic and security development of the slum dwellers. Alexandra township via johannesburg2012 18 nima slum ghana nima is a residential town in the greater accra region of ghana. Many settlements in south africa are still visibly divided into wealthy and poor areas. Slum tourism is one of the fastestgrowing niche tourism segments in the world, but it is also one of the most controversial. They affect everything about a community, from education to natural disasters. Jul, 2010 this may or may not be true, but it reflects the view that slum tourism is a cruel farce that does little to change the mindset of the tourists and the livelihoods of the toured.
The goal of the described research was to examine the thoughts and feelings of inhabitants about the presence of slum tourism in their neighborhoods and to better understand the positive and negative aspects of tourism. Slum tourism is a globalizing trend and a controversial form of tourism. To do so, it surveys the stateoftheart literature on tourism and poverty and investigates the ways in which slum tourism. Slum tourism has been defined as tourism that involves visiting impoverished areas. Slum tourism is not a new phenomenon, although much has changed since its beginning. Impoverished urban areas have always enticed the popular. What they have done is destroy the local economy and skyrocketed insecurity to completely destroy venezuelas tourism. Pdf poverty alleviation has been given high priority on the agendas of international organizations, governments, and civil society. Mekawy and others published responsible slum tourism. Travellers can taste life of citys millions of slum residents but critics call it poverty tourism amrit dhillon in delhi mon 29 jan 2018 09. Im not sure how much i would have understood about the nuances of kibera, for example, had i not actually spe. Overall, with a widening spatial scope of slum tourism destinations and a broadened canvas of topics under investigation the touristification of slums is now a vibrant arena for academic enquiry burgold et al. The role and importance of cultural tourism in modern.
A new article on slum tourism has been published in annals of tourism research. Apr 24, 2019 in brazil, slum tourism gained traction during the 2014 world cup. Board and victoria safaris towards slum tourism, determine the benefits of slum tourism to kibera slum dwellers, establish measures to be taken to promote slum tourism in kibera and to determine the viability of slum tourism as a tourism product. Whether called a township, a favela, a barrio, a slum, a shantytown, or a ghetto, outsiders recreationally visiting these. It is also popular in postapartheid south africa and namibia.
Like it is in all areas of tourism, slum tourism can be safe, or not. South africas slum tourism actually started on a notably positive note. Id heard about a controversial slum walking tour in delhi. The exploratory and descriptive survey research design was used. Ancient buildings, temples and moved monuments affected by traffic and wear tear inevitably. Slum tourism research has proven to be undisciplined, much like tourism research in general tribe 1997. Egypt s slum crisis persists amid housing abundance over 16 million egyptians live in inhumane conditions, while over six million formal housing units. All in favor of the reallife set of slumdog millionaire becoming a tourist attraction, say yay.