INTRODUCTION:

Slum tourism is one of the fastest-growing niche world and is no stranger to controversy. A slum, as defined niche, the impacts it has had on the regions tourism segments in the by the United Nations, is “a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security” (Ma, 2010, 3). Slum tourism is the to discuss slum tourism and the regions where it is most popular, the historic development of the affected, and a look into the future formation of organized tours in these areas. Because slum tourism is a new phenomenon, there is relatively little research on the subject. This paper will begin evolution of the trend.

DESCRIPTION OF THE TREND

In a general sense, “slum tourism” falls under the umbrella of poverty tourism – where tourists travel to less developed areas to view in Africa, and Mumbai in India. These include the largest slums in their regions based on population and geographical size. An overwhelming majority of visitors to slum destinations are deemed “curious, rich Westerners” (Freire – Medeiros, 2008, 584). In fieldwork by Ma (2010) from Reality Tours & Travel in up the largest proportions of visitors. Long haul travelers saturate the market as it is rare that members of the surrounding city dare to journey into the depths of the slums that are in their own backyards. This can be seen as only 5% of visitors in Ma's research were from India. Slum tourism attracts a relatively balanced amount of female and male visitors, drawing tourists ranging from 25 to 55 years of age (Freire – Medeiros, 2008).

In Ma's 2010 study of slum tourism and travel motivations, three of the top four motivators related to even begin to imagine. “in a more primitive society, in which the tourist could reflect on his/her own identity in modern society in comparison to the 'Other'” (Ma, 2010, 8). The concept of the half day cultural curiosity. Slum tourism provides a unique experience that many find it hard to tours for a small price, lead by guides who allow tourists to walk through the homes and “tourist gaze” explains just Mumbai, Americans and Australians Today's traveler seeks meaning in their vacations and is moving away from the trend of sheer fun and pleasure. Slum tourism allows the tourist to engross him/herself with an average annual income of $100,000 make that (Urry, 1990, cited in Ma, 2010). Tourists are motivated by the desire to witness differences between the “tour object” and what occurs in everyday life (Ma, 2010). tourism” in Africa, and is simply known as “slum tourism” in India. The regions that this paper will discuss are Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, a variety of locations fulfill tourists' curiosities by providing a glimpse of life on the inside. Typically, they often have an expectation and are curious to see if the authentic experience meets that expectation. Slum tourism tour operators help people living in poverty. It is referred to as “favela tourism” in Brazil, “township, small groups are taken on small businesses in the slums.

HISTORIC PERSPECTIVE

The roots of slum tourism can be traced back to 1884 when the Oxford English Dictionary first recognized the term “slumming it” (Loftus, 2009). Outskirts of major cities presently, but at the time, they were considered the poorest locations organized tourism strategies for slum tourism. Instead, regions – mostly in the Global South, trying to develop their economy and sparked interest among the wealthy, the same demographic most interested today. For the next hundred years, there were no took on a “slum clearance” strategy. The slums were seen as dirty and an “eyesore” to major cities who were trying to attract tourists. Governments put money into removing them from the city Tourists visited neighbor hoods such as White chapel in London or the Lower East Side in New York to “see how the other half lived” (Loftus, 2009). These areas were not necessarily as extreme as the slums that can be rationale was that tourists would not want to come to cities that were associated with slums, primarily due to safety still faces these concerns from some people today. found on the borders. The issues and a lack of cleanliness (Freire – Medeiros, 2008). Although the popularity of slum tourism is on the rise, the niche township tourism” in South Africa, attracting tourists wanting to learn more about the apartheid and living conditions of the African population. The Kibera slum of Nairobi, houses 1.5 million people and is one of the largest slums in

The 1980s brought about “the world. It has also been deemed the “friendliest slum in the world” for the positive attitudes and overall happiness of its inhabitants (Cejas, 2006). Currently, the two major tour operators offering “slum safaris” are Real Adventures Africa and Victoria Safaris. They highlight the “rainbow nation”, a term coined by post-apartheid South Africa after its first fully democratic election in 1994. Most visitors leave these tours feeling touched and they often gain a new understanding for these in need (Cejas, 2006). It was not until the mid-1990s at the United Nations Earth Summit on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro Latin that contribute America. One of the most popular slum tour organizations is Favela Tours which has seen an average Desmond home to 15,000 small businesses $700 million per year to India's economy (Wall Street Journal, 2007). It is one of the most expensive cities in the world to live in and the slums sit on prime real estate. Developers have tried numerous tim). Reality Tours & Travel is the largest slum tour operator in Mumbai. Mumbai's slums are slum dwellers to move to tiny high rise es to bribe the Tutu used to describe of 3,000 tourists per month for the past ten years. A total of 98% of its market is foreigners, a trend seen across all that slum tourism took off and became a recognized form of dark tourism. Brazil is home to Rocinha, the largest slum in organized slum tours (Freire – Medeiros, 2008).

Dharavi is Asia's biggest slum and is home to more than one million residents covering 1.8 square kilometres (Forster, 2009 apartments because they believe that it tarnishes the “India rising” image (Wall Street Journal, 2007). Should this happen, it would eliminate the demand for slum tourism in Mumbai completely.

Movie induced tourism has played Slumdog Millionaire” internationally boosted awareness of slumming and increased Mumbai's popularity as a slum tourist destination. Business reportedly increased by 25% after its release (Ma, 2010). The 2005 film, “The Constant Gardener”, brought a wave of tourists to Africa's Kibera slums after exposure from the box office hit. than on a big screen. Slum tourism, as a recognized and profitable form of tourism was non-existent a few decades ago Similarly, Rio saw an a large role in the increasing popularity of slum tourism. The release of the 2008 Oscar winner “increase in tourists after the movie “City of God” was released in 2002 (Freire – Medeiros, 2008). These films create interest among viewers who want the chance to witness the film locations in to realize that by turning these slums into destinations, they will be able to make a profit because tourists “seem to feel the need to go anywhere ... as long as [they] can pay the fee” (Ma, 2010, 3) real life, rather. With so many regions of the world stuck in extreme poverty, tour operators in these countries are beginning

BREADTH OF IMPACTS TO DATE

Slum tourism sparks the Cited in Forster, 2009, 1).

Some argue that one of the reasons poverty still exists is because people are too far away from it geographically and mentally. These Forster, 2009with the means to provide help and support cannot imagine what it is like to live like that, finding it hard to make the connection between their everyday lives and the slum residents witheut debate between whether this trend is an ethical practice. Does it promote educational value or does it have voyeuristic intent? Christine Bowers, a consultant for the World Bank says “the jury’s still out on whether the tours are perverse invasions of privacy or eye-opening experiences that will prompt action on the poverty agenda” (these in need, whether it be where they just visited or in their own local area. experiencing it firsthand (). Slum tourism can be used as a means to educate people and raise awareness about the living conditions of these less fortunate than themselves. It brings hope that tourists might go back home and take action to help heated

These that claim slum tourism is voyeuristic believe that it does nothing but exploit the less fortunate. It promotes the practices of “gazing at people in poverty as if they were animals in a zoo” (Forster, 2009, 1). Slum tourism claims to be an authentic reprnflux of tourists arriving and departing after only a few short hours each day. It turns poverty into entertainment as it is experienced momentarily and then escaped from permanently (Cejas, 2006). This form of “reality tourism” can be equated to the ever so popular “reality television”. Tour operators, like television pesentation of life in the slums but one must question whether or not the residents' behaviour become altered with an iroducers of tourism not a role in the actual tourist attraction itself.

Slum tourism questions the concept of privacy as tourists parade through the slum community. “Is it morally permissible for financially privileged, can essentially write a script for tour guides on what is said - who is hero, who is the villain, and what areas should be highlighted (Cejas, 2006). It essentially turns residents into commodities, a “product in the service of an industry” (Whyte, Selinger, & Outterson, 2010, 7). Residents should play a role in the planning

tourists to visit places for the purpose of experiencing where poor people live, work, and play” (Whyte et al, 2010, 2)? Some argue that the elite are made of tin and scrap metal. They are put there, in plain sight, for all who pass by to see. Slum tours do not allow residents to separate “work” from “play” when the activities of their daily lives are on display at all times.

Slum tourism lacks consent, which have this same problem with the popularity of Hollywood Tours; however, the rich have the opportunity to live in gated communities and block their houses with bushes and trees. Slum residents do not have that option when their houses “requires, at a minimum, adequate information and a realistic opportunity to say and voices [to] shape the way in which the tourism activities are envisioned and carried out” (Whyte et al., 2010, 5). The tour operators allocate the tours to be run on the days and times in which they are going to be the most profitable. Little consideration is given as to whether or not it conflicts with any parts of no” (Whyte et al., 2010, 5). This relates to the concept of privacy as the tours are focused upon residents. In these areas, tour planning does not involve collaboration between residents and tourists. It does not allow the “residents' perspectives the residents' daily lives.

The mission and purpose of organized tours must be made clear to slum residents. Concerns have been expressed that the generally interact with the residents due to language barriers (Whyte et al., 2010). This confusion could cause serious tension between the residents and locals, varying in degrees on Doxey's irritation index (Cited in Beeler, 2000). The scale measures the attitudes of locals towards tourists as their numbers increase. It ranges from the lowest spectrum of euphoria where, in the initial phase of development, “visitors and investors company and tourists do not make attempts to better the slum conditions because it is not communicated effectively. The residents are also sometimes unaware of who the tourists are or what they are interested in. This reiterates the lack of communication and causes residents to become uneasy and distrusting, especially because the tourists do not are welcome”; to apathy, where there is a “more formal interaction between host and guests: leading to the higher stages of annoyance, where tourist arrivals reaching saturation points leave locals with “or other acts of violence.

One final issue to be addressed is the economic impact that these tours have on the slums. The threat of economic leakage is high, unless tour reservations towards tourism and tourists begin to grow”; and finally, antagonism, where irritation is openly expressed and visitors are “blamed as the cause of all societal problems” (Beeler, 2000, 10). This may lead to crime against tourists operators manage them properly. Visitors should be aware of what portions of the (Loftus, 2009). No evidence was found, however, that this was truly the case.

ANTICIPATED FUTURE EVOLUTION AND IMPACTS

In December 2010, the University of the West of England in Bristol, United Kingdom held the first international conference on slum tourism profits of their tour goes back into the community in order to support responsible tourism. It is also important that research be done to ensure that the money claimed to be redistributed back into the community Urban” at the annual Research Committee 21 conference held at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, July actually is. Reality Tours & Travel of Mumbai claims that 80% of profits are placed back in the community in an effort to aid these less fortunate entitled “Destination Slum!”. It was the first has sparked the debate amongst intellectuals and politicians alike (Destination Slum, 2011).

The International Sociological Association will feature a session on “Slums, Ghettoes, and the Internal Periphery of the Global 7 – 9, 2011. It will “address the contemporary and historical significance of the urban periphery to the development of the global opportunity for delegates from six continents to discuss tourism issues in the slums around the world. There were 25 presentations from experts in the field which sparked great discussion of the issues at hand. It appears that this conference urban and global system” (Destination Slum, 2011). As more conferences such as these begin to emerge, more awareness will come to slum tourism and communities can learn to manage it in the world as these two events bring in thousands of tourists and millions of tourist dollars. Rio's newest initiative is the “Rio Top Tour: Rio de Jaineiro in a Different Perspective”. Integrated in 2010, this tour properly. All eyes are on Brazil in the sporting world during the next five years as it hosts the World Cup of soccer in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016. This puts a lot of pressure on Rio de Janeiro to effectively manage the largest favela allows the government, along with residents, to promote tours celebrating local arts and culture. Slum residents guide the tours, as they know the area best, to showcase the rich community that is often masked by such deep poverty (Loftus, 2009). There is an increasing trend towards pro poor tourism, “tourism that, addressing the negative social and environmental impacts, and policy/process reform (Roe & Urquhart, 2001). If managed effectively, slum tourism is an example of a way that “poorism” can be integrated into communities beneficially. As this trend continues to gain interest from travelers, slum tourism should see the generates net benefits for the poor” (Roe & Urquhart, 2001, 2). This is not a sector or a niche, like slum tourism, but an approach to the industry as a whole. It is comprised of three core activities: increasing access to economic benefits as well.

As tour operators continue to battle with the ethical debate over slum tourism, there may be a rise in home stays, which are more long term than the traditional half day tour. Currently, these types of tours are created so that groups are guided by a take a trip to a rural village where each tourist stays with a resident for a matter of days or weeks. The price chaperone and they covers travel expenses, operator fees, food, supplies, profit, and a donation to a charitable organization. By living with residents, tourists will get to actually see what it is like to live in that educational experience, while residents would retain profits. As the demand side in slum tourism continues to increase, the supply side needs to diversify their offerings from a single product offering to keep up community (Whyte et al., 2010). Tour operators can take this idea and cater it to the slums. The same idea would apply and tourists would gain from the with competition from other niche markets.

Ironically, one of the few threats to the rise in slum tourism is the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. The first goal is to, by 2015, half the proportion of people that, in 1990, had an income of under $1 a day (Roe & Urquhart, ghettos and slums are a fact of life and although this goal is hopeful for the future, slums will not be going an, 2001). Although this is a step forward for the human race and a positive advancement for society, it will decrease the amount of slums, therefore reducing slum tourism. This goal will better the residents living in these conditions but the people wanting to experience extreme poverty will have fewer choices of where to do so. Either way where anytime soon.

Whyte, Selinger, and Outterson (2010) have proposed six ways that poverty tours can become more sensitive and

· And bad behaviour sanctioned

· The local economy is supported

The tourist agency empowering. They are:

1) Local residents are employed

2) The majority of profits accrue to the community

3) Good behaviour is reinforced fosters the tourists' open-mindedness

4) New infrastructure should be built for the residents, not to accommodate the tourists

If these suggestions can be followed, the sustainability of slum tourism would improve. It would help simmer the debate of its role in the tourism industry as it would be beneficial to a wider variety of stakeholders.

CONCLUSION:

It has been claimed that “if one cannot abolish tourism, one should transform it into a fairer industry” (Freire – Medeiros, 2008, generate an increased interest in how the less fortunate live. It is human nature to be curious of the unknown and this growing niche Whether one thinks slum tourism is educational or voyeuristic, “eyes are being opened. It all depends on what you do with allows a glimpse into an alternate life. Thanks to the media, there is growing exposure and an increase in academic interest that is sparking more research in the field. As the industry is still considered premature and highly controversial, there lacks the abundance of tourist generated statistics and records; but 582). Slum tourism has the potential to benefit the slum community and the nation's economy as a whole, while tourists as long as the trend continues, there will be a greater awareness and insight into the phenomenon in the future. What you see” (Friere – Medeiros, 2008, 587).

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Cejas, M. (2006).: Introducing ecotourism to Venado Island, Costa Rica. Lund University, slums: a new “contact zone” in the era of globalization. Intercultural Communication Studies, 15(3), 224 – 230.

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Forster, J. (2009). Slumdog Millionaire puts slum tourism in the spotlight. Asian Development Bank. Retrieved February 6, 2011

Freire - Medeiros, B. (2008)., 40(2), 580 – 588.

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Ma, B. (2010). A trip into the controversy: A study of slum tourism travel motivations. Penn Humanities Forum on Connections, University of Pennsylvania Scholarly Commons, 1 – 51.

Roe, D. & Urquhart, P. (2001). Pro-poor tourism: harnessing the world's largest industry for the world's poor. International Institute for Environment and Development, 1- 8. Critics slam tourist trips to Mumbai slum, yet visits reveal dignity. Wall Street Journal, B5

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Whyte, K. & Selinger, E. & Outterson, K. (2010). Poverty tourism and the problem of consent. Social Science Research Network, 1 – 24.

Received on 22.02.2014 Modified on 08.03.2014

Int. J. Ad. Social Sciences 2(1): Jan. –Mar., 2014; Page 08-11