THE DEVELOPMENT TEAM

Principal Investigator Prof. S. P. Bansal,

Vice Chancellor, Indira Gandhi University, Rewari

Co-Principal Investigator Dr. Prashant K. Gautam,

Director, UIHTM, Panjab University, Chandigarh

Paper Coordinator Prof. Deepak Raj Gupta,

School of Hospitality & Tourism Management (SHTM), Jammu

University, J& K (INDIA)

Paper Co-Coordinator Dr. Amit Gangotia,

Central University of Jammu, J&K (INDIA)

Content Writer Dr. Amit Kumar Singh,

Assistant Professor, M.D.U, Rohtak Haryana

Content Reviewer Prof. Pariskhit Manhas,

Director, School of Hospitality & Tourism Management,

Jammu University, Jammu

Paper 11: Special Interest Tourism Module 12: Introductory Ideas of Slum Tourism

QUADRANT-I

1. Learning Objectives

After completing this module students will be able to:

i. Understand the definition, concept and historical evolution of slum tourism

ii. Know the various nomenclature of slum tourism prevailing in the world

iii. Understand the driving force behind promoting Slum Tourism in India

iv. Know the controversies in slum tourism

v. Analyze the real impact of slum tourism

ITEMS DESCRIPTION OF MODULE

Subject Name Tourism and Hospitality Management

Paper Name Introductory Ideas of Slum Tourism

Module Title Introduction to Slum Tourism

Module Id Module no-12

Pre- Requisites Basic knowledge about Slum Tourism

Objectives To study the definition, concept, historical evolution,

nomenclature, reasons, controversies and impact of slum

tourism

Keywords Motivation, Dharavi Slum Area, Entertainment, Poverty,

Entrepreneurship, employment opportunity, project, NGO,

Travel Company etc.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Learning Outcome

2. Introduction

3. Defining, Concept and Historical Evolution of Slum Tourism

4. Nomenclature of Slum Tourism Prevailing in the World

5. Motivation Behind Visiting Slum?

6. What Actually Happens on Slum Tours?

7. Controversies in Promoting Slum Tourism

8. What is the real impact?

9. Summary

1. Introduction: Tourism is the only industry which is full of mysterious services

and products. The important reason behind it is its customers who have diverse

motivation for tourism. If we consider the examples of some of the emerging

tourism products like dark tourism, ghost tourism, ghetto tourism, green tourism,

pink tourism, white tourism, blue tourism etc all these concepts are emerged out

of the needs of the travelers who are visiting a particular destination because of

their choice of the product. The concept “slum tourism” seems to be a new

phenomenon in the world of tourism history which has been derived from the

need of anthropologist segment. The concepts like museum, beach resort have

become obsolete and people are inclined towards some antithesis type of

destinations like slums. Off beaten tracks, no go zones, limited resources, narrow

passage, less amenities, a similar pattern of houses with least in-house facilities

etc have now become a bonafide centre of attraction for many tourists who are

fulfilling their choice of special interest tourism. Slum tourism is considered as a

laboratory where the relationships and interactions between the global North and

South appear as micro-sociological encounters framed by the apparent concern

over inequality (Steinbrink, 2012). Beyond questioning the ways in which

participants shape the encounters in slum tourism, structural implications and

conditions come to the fore. Thus spatial inequality influences opportunities and

hinders governance solutions to manage slum tourism operations (Koens and

Thomas, 2016). Evidence has been found for the use of slum tourism in urban

development (Frenzel, 2014; Steinbrink, 2014) and more widely in the

commoditization of global care and humanitarian regimes (Becklake, 2014; Holst,

2015). Research has also pointed to the ethical implications of anesthetizing

poverty in humanitarian aid performances and the troubles of on-the-ground

political engagement in a seemingly post-ideological era (Holst 2016).

2. Definition, concept, historical evolution and current scenario of slum

tourism: Slum tourism or ghetto tourism is a special interest tourism that involves

visiting impecunious areas. This is also described as niche tourism fulfilling the

need of some special segment of tourists. Earlier this concept was focused on the

slums of London and Manhattan till 19th century, but the concept slum tourism is

now increasingly prominent in many places, including South

Africa, India, Brazil, Kenya, Indonesia, Detroit, and others. The nomenclature of

slum tourism is very vast. It has been denoted as a township, ghetto, a slum, a

shantytown, a barrio, a favela and typical improvised place for visitors. The

concept of establishing slums records back to 19th century when the middle and

upper class of people heading to the East End of London which was infested with

poor class of people and latter they were introduced as slums. This particular term

called “slumming” was edited in the Oxford English Dictionary in 1884. In

London people used to visit slum areas such as Whitechapel or Shoreditch to

observe the quality of life which the inhabitants were enjoying. By the era of

1880, it became a fashion among wealthier people in New York City to visit the

areas of Bowery and the five points which were the prominent places for poor

immigrants just to see how they live. In South Africa in the year 1980, organized

tours were conducted by the black residents to the township of white people to

educate them in terms of local government. Such tours got popularized and

attracted international tourists who wanted to learn more about apartheid. By the

end of the decade 1990, the organized tours were started for the most

disadvantaged area of the developing and developed countries and later they were

called as slums. Renowned travel companies came forward to promote slum

tourism and as an estimate in Cape Town an approx of more than 3 lacs tourist

visit every year to view the slums. In India added advantage of slum tourism came

in the year 2008 when movie called Slum Dog Millionaire released and Mumbai

(Dharavi) became the hub of slum tourism. Mean while some more adventurous

travelers attracted towards new destinations like lower east of Manhattan and

place of anti-apartheid movement of South Africa. Now these places have been

developed into formalized commercial offering as “Slum Tourism”. In modern

times the concept of slum tourism has been turned into a legitimate part of travel

industry attracting millions of tourist per year. Tour operators are attracted

towards its huge potentiality which it encompasses and as a result special

destinations have been identified and marketed by the tour operators. The major

attractions included into the category of slum tourism is the township of Cape

Town and Johannesburg, the favela of Rio, the slums of Mumbai, Kolkata,

Chennai and Delhi, skid rows of Los Angeles, Detroit, Copenhagen and Berlin.

3. Nomenclature of Slum Tourism prevailing in the world: The distinguished

feature of slum tourism is that it is mainly performed in the urban areas of

developing and developed countries which different names. Some of the common

names similar to slum tourism prevailing in the world is discussed below:

1. Township Tourism: This type of tourism was prevailed in South Africa and

Namibia. As we know township tourism came into existence because of apartheid

and racial segregation. South African settlements are divided into many forms like

wealthy, white suburbs and poor, historically black townships and are centre of

attractions for many tourists.

2. Favela Tourism: Meaning of favela is a shanty town in or near a city. The concept

Favela Tourism is available in Brazil. This is also a motive for travellers.

3. Slum Tourism: This concept is attached with India and the famous place is

Dharavi in Mumbai. The concept get popularized in the year 2008, when a movie

called “Slumdog Millionaire” was released.

4. Hidden Tours: This type of tourism is availed in Jakarta, Indonesia by the name

Batavia Jakarta Tour. This tourism is volunteer in nature because the travel

companies involved in promoting hidden tours in Jakarta claim that 50% share

goes to the locals in making them educated, empowering and bringing out them

from emergency situations. They also urge that those who want to donate

generously they can bring pencil boxes, books, soaps, second hand clothes, toys

etc. for the kids of the village.

5. Social and religious divisions: A combination of political, religious and social

differences plus the threat of inter communal tensions and violence has led to

widespread self-segregation of the two communities. Catholics and Protestants

lead largely separate lives in a situation that some have dubbed self-imposed

apartheid. Examples are New York City and Belfast, Northern Ireland in which

travellers are visiting the area because of remembering the incidents of the past

happenings.

6. Ghetto Tourism: The concept of Ghetto as a tourism product was conceived in the

year 2005 by Michael Stephens. The Oxford dictionary defines ghettos as a

section of a city, especially a thickly populated slum area, inhabited

predominantly by members of an ethnic or other minority group, often as a result

of social or economic restrictions, pressures, or hardships. Ghetto is also

represented with urban tourism and stresses movement to certain destinations

made famous by popular artists. Ghetto tourism inculcates all forms of

entertainment like music, rap, video games, movies, television and other gadgets

that allow travellers to be there in the inner city without leaving home. It gives

opportunity to travellers to cross the boundaries based on caste, creed, race and

colour and enjoys the life style of others.

4. Motive behind visiting slum area: So far as perspectives of visitors are

concerned, there is not any specific reason to visit slums. There are few tourists

who are interested in understanding the living pattern of slum residents,

anthropologists see them as a homeless people and whether they face any

discrimination from the local government and those with the permanent housing

while the researchers come with the motivation to study the social welfare

policies run by the government and are being implemented. However, through

various motivations it has been described in the following manners:

1. Homeless People: A slum as a resident is chosen by the persons who are unable to

afford a house on rent. The slum as a option is fit for persons who are less

educated looking for a job of less salary package, working in the factories for

whole day and in the end of the day needs a place to sleep. A house in slum area

is nothing but a compact cell with minimum facilities.

2. How do they live and what are their life stories? Every house in a slum area has

an untold story to share. The basic motive of a traveller is to know their standard

of life and what made the people to reside in a slum area. The curiosity of

watching something new has motivated travellers to visit slums.

3. Discrimination which they face from local government and those with permanent

housing: The establishment of slum area has been found to be on government

protected land. This land was about to be used in near future for government need.

The unauthorised people encroached the area and slowly and gradually it was

converted into a slum. Being unauthorised in nature, the government has no

initiative for their betterment i.e. no power connection, sewage treatment and

many more.

4. Social issues and concern for general human condition: In these slums the basic

need required for a human being is completely missing. The need of hygiene and

sanitation, drinking water facility, electricity is minimal requirement but in slums

all these are absent.

5. Inequality in development: The development procedure is always hindered as

these slums are considered to be unauthorised and always on the radar of

government. When the development parts comes, the government least focuses on

these slum areas. Reason being, the government does not find any source of

revenue from these areas and people are using resources which are illegal.

6. London coincided with the advent of a new technology called photography.

Seeing images of some of these areas provoke the desire in many outsiders to go

and see them for themselves. “Every mediated picture seems to create more desire

to actually see for yourself.”

7. Few tour operators are of this view that the film Slumdog Millionaire has a

massive impact on Mumbai tourism because more visitors started visiting Dharavi

which is world’s largest slum area Although the tours to Dharavi, was a common

activity but the film increased the popularity of the place and became a place of

reference for what people has witnessed.

8. Writers are adding extra taste to this new emerging form of tourism. They are

using media as a tool to propagate the attraction. They discuss, rate the place and

hence do electronic word of mouth publicity and sometimes recommending or

referring the destination on any travel portal is one of the best example of

showing the destination.

9. Push factors: The factors like social comparison, entertainment, education or self

actualization have a big role in motivating tourists to slum areas. There are few

tourists who often visit slums to put their life in perspective. It has also been

observed as perpetuated social motivation to do some good job for the society and

more over political demands for greater social justice.

10. Poor, dirty and dangerous: The main attraction of the slum tourism is its poor

inhabitants, dirty climate and dangerous in nature which in terms of tourism it is

some short of risk taking activity.

11. An attempt to attract visitors, investors, cultural producers, media and civil

society organizations: The slum tourism binds together various people who have a

common interest. These includes visitors, investors whose interest lies in

investment into slum areas, cultural producers work as entertainer, media people

propagate the destination through its magazine and travel writing and civil society

performs volunteer activity in uplifting slums in terms of education, hygiene and

sanitation, employment etc.

5. What does happen on slum tours? As the name suggest the image which comes

in front of us is an area full of dense populated, unplanned houses, narrow

passage, small room covered with tin shed, asbestos sheet, grass shed or concrete

shed, roof kissing each other home, unhealthy and unhygienic area with a lot of

overflowing water, houseflies, environment full of fowl smelling, litters are

found, the sun rays striving for to reach the ground and people residing in the

locality with least form of amenities. Obviously the only and only reason to visit

slums is the life style of its inhabitants. The difference between a normal human

colony and a slum lies in the fact that a government approved human colonies

survive with modern facilities of sewage, cleanliness, parking area, greenery,

people with civic sense, a designated area with a periphery or protected wall,

while in a slum all these are absent and the residents are left with their own way

to manage. Hence we can see a sheer evidence of negligence from the part of

government and NGO but above all it is lively and vibrant. The majority of the

tourists usually visit slums to get the information about various project sites which

are running for the sake of welfare of the community. The examples of such

projects are like schools running to educate the children residing in the area, other

educational centres for adults, projects like composts feces to produce gas for

cooking and projects caring for orphanages. The significance of these sites lies in

the facts that tourists choose to visit for getting the first hand information about

the ongoing projects for the betterment of the community and sometimes share

their suggestions as to how they can lend their support, if required in near future.

Another aspect of visiting slum area is its entrepreneurship. Here the visitors are

shown the place of business, how people work and how people perform small but

very successful business endeavors.

6. Controversies in Slum Tourism: Any emerging form of tourism has always

attracted a criticism. Slum tourism is not an exception. This form of tourism has

seen criticism in both ways i.e. host and guest. There are a number of questions

which have emerged because of introduction of this unique tourism product. Does

this form of tourism have any scope? What made us to introduce it as a tourism

product? What will be the image of countries offering slum tourism? Who will be

the participants? What will be the offerings for tourists and so many. A group of

researcher is of this opinion is that a tourist who is coming for leisure and

pleasure motive, showing him/her slum tourism area may spoil his/her whole

enjoyment of the trip. The anthropologists are of view that slums should be

refraining from all touristic activities because this may lead towards a separate

ideology about India and the image which India has gained in the world in the

field of technology, education, rich heritage and culture, economy etc will be

gone in an instance and the negative image will be spread. Mumbai or Delhi is

known as metropolitan cities of India and are role model for other cities and no

doubt the package tours organized for slum tourism is a curse to Indian society.

Promoting slum tourism means turning scarcity and poverty into entertainment,

something that can be experienced for a short while and escaping from the place.

There are comments from the slums that when a photograph is clicked by the

tourist, the chance of exposure of hidden treasure that lies in slums goes high. The

term ghetto tourism is synonym to slum which denotes drugs, gangs, crime and

murder. Few travel companies started promoting get Ghetto experience which

was a highest form of insult to the communities where this tourism was promoted.

The end result cannot be concluded by highlighting the negative aspects of slum

tourism. However, another group of the intellectuals is of this faith that slum

tourism can be considered a case study for society development. The NGO’s can

contribute into so many aspects in the slum areas like education, entrepreneurship

development, community development, projects of hygiene and sanitation, biogas

project, orphanage programme, and many more. The slum community can be

benefitted with so many community development projects. The tour operators are

indulged into slum tourism business because of making money but they claim that

a small percentage of their profit is shared by the slum residents. Tour operators

often commit that the money earned by them will be spent in the ongoing projects

which are running purely for the sake of slum residents, they hire the local guides

to interpret the area or sell the indigenous souvenirs made by them. The slum

societies are suffering in ambivalence and inequality; it is the tourism which can

help slums for a better future.

7. What is the real impact? When we go through the impact of tourism on slum,

we get that in real terms it has much more to offer to the residents. The prime

impacts which have been realized by many anthropologists are connectivity. The

slums are supposed to be the least developed area of any country and are less

focused by the government in terms of amenities. Connectivity is the core area

which can be emphasized by the tourism. Tourist visiting urban areas are

considered as a no go zone because such places are suffering from deficiencies in

comparison to the rest of the cities and the significance of such places lies in

terms of its value, ethos and existence. The connectivity of two different cultures

in terms of economic growth and opportunity for setting up of new venture can be

analyzed as a positive impact. The case comes from Rio where tourist inflow was

welcommed for the betterment of the locals, facilitating cross class encounters to

a new extent. In first instance such areas need to be ignored because very often it

is informed to the visitors that there does not exist any such place, it is not a part

of the city, do not go there as place is not safe and rumors goes like this. It is the

tourism who can come forward to help in making connections. The brighter

aspect of promoting slum tourism is that these tours provide employment

opportunities and source of income for travel companies and tour guides, an

opportunity for craft makers to sell their artifacts, and thus retaining the profit and

reinvesting the money to be circulated in their own community and in the last well

to do tourist may motivate to donate generously for the upliftment of the residents

of slums.

8. Conclusion: Tourism industry encompasses all those which have ability to attract

tourists. In this connection a new and emerging form of tourism called slum

tourism came into existence. In India this is a new phenomenon but in other parts

of the world this concept was well prevailing by the name of township tourism,

favela tourism, hidden tours, ghetto tourism, shanty town tourism etc. The new

concept created a lot of controversies in promoting slum tourism in India. The

group of intellectual’s stands in favour of it while others stand completely rigid

against it. But it is the stakeholders who have to think of its pros and cons. There

are various reasons of promoting slum tourism in India out of which curiosity,

living pattern, volunteer, investment, entertainment, self actualization, education

are prominent. Slum tourism has many potential scopes for every one like

photographers, film makers, investors, NGO’s, entertainers, educationalist,

entrepreneurs, volunteers and others who want to be associated in any mode.