This article follows a recent discussion in the Make Travel Fair Facebook group that attempted to gauge popular opinion on this “voyeuristic-type tourism that you can read happening in places like Rio and Delhi.” Can this form of tourism be conducted in a a sensitive manner? Is it more acceptable if all the proceeds are invested into projects that work to improve the situation? My answers would be yes and no.
A window on the world
Voyeurism
For an example of this type of tourism in Delhi, India see “Slum tours: a day trip too far?” by Amelia Gentleman of The Guardian. The article refers to a tour run by Salaam Baalak Trust that shows visitors where Delhi’s street children live and ply their trade as pickpockets on train platforms to feed their habbit of sniffing the white correction fluid called Eraz-Ex. The money raised from these tours goes into the Salaam Baalak Trust which then tries to rehabilitate these children through the provision of educational facilities.
A tour focused on the Prague homeless situation has recently been setup by praguehotel-link.cz.
“Our goal is to educate and inform travellers. We take you to the soup kitchen where you can see how life can be for some people.”
All proceeds from the tour are donated to the Novy Prostor “Big Issue” magazine that supports homeless people in the city.
It seems that if tourism is instigated by a community, either independently or with the support of an NGO then it is something that can indeed be nutured and play a crucial part in development and education. More purely voyeuristic tours such as those featured above seem wholly exploitative of a situation, with no real plans in place to directly ensure improvement as a result of tourism. Donating tour revenue to a local charity seems to show a lack of vision for what a more direct and engaging social enterprise can do, delivering hope and raising local interest through the visible benefits of doing business. If a company does not have the time or resources to consult with the subject of their tours and attempt to work out a way of directly linking tourism to community benefits then perhaps a tour shouldn’t be run. When a project isn’t managed on a local level by those involved but instead becomes part of the portfolio of a larger company it is surely destined to be more selfishly voyeuristic than altruistic.
Tourism
The programs that seem to work best are those such as the Morrinho Project in Rio outlined in an article by Tourism Concern titled “Slum Tourism Or Voyeurism” and set up by founders of the Brazilian B&B network Cama e Café. This project engages the community, involving them in the tourism rather than subjecting them to it.
Discussion
Gerhard Buttner who has trained guides and artisans in the Yucatan and Oaxaca regions of Mexico and won the 2008 Colibri Ecotourism Award from Planeta.com entered our Facebook discussion with the following:
“In South Africa this kind of tourism has become very common under the name of township tourism and yes A VERY FINE LINE INDEED. I think a huge distinction needs to be made between outsiders making money out of others poverty (leaving little or no benefit in those communities) and tours run by actual township (informal settlement) residents. Tours run by actual sensitive local residents with a passion and respect for their own community and especially where profits are shared with the community or incorporating other community organisations (there are restaurants, craft groups and even township B&B´s on offer) can be a real local job creation possibility, but it is an interesting question about where it becomes exploitation or voyeuristic. And surely one which not only the tourist should decide, but rather those poor communities themselves.
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