Slum

Tourism:
Poverty for Cash?

Exploiting

White sand beaches are starting to become too conventional. In

getting a real sense of how the poorest live, a growing number of

international tourists visiting Indonesia have preferred to visit
Jakartas poverty-driven neighborhoods. Poverty tourism, or slum
tourism, is not a new phenomenon. Originating in London in the mid1800s, it has also been particularly popular among the favelas of Rio
and the mega-slums of Mumbai, but is only now beginning to
become a trend in Jakarta.
The way it works is simple. Pay anywhere from US$34 up to $80 and
be guided through Jakartas notorious slum areas, such as Ciliwung,
Galur and Bantar Gebang. Participants may enjoy traditional food in
the warungs, have conversations with the locals, enter their selfbuilt homes to have a look around, and take as many photographs
as they like. For the most part, even the activities of peoples daily
routines, from washing clothes in the polluted rivers to hauling
around carts piled high with garbage, are spectacles for the outsider.
At the end of the day, tour guides typically give small handouts of
money to the people in the communities who helped service their
visits.
Slum tourism possesses some commendable points. Firstly, it gives
international visitors a markedly different and interesting
perspective of Jakarta. In a city where orang bule, or white
foreigners, are not a common sight on the streets, the locals are also
entertained by the excitement of seeing people from different parts
of the world. Shop owners receive extra income and so do the other
residents who are willing to open up homes or host meals for
visitors. More organized tour operators have even taken further
steps, by utilizing their profits to design and organize training
programs for the locals. One operator even claims to use 50% of its
pending into profits to hire business consultants to go around the
slum areas and talk to shop owners and others about their small
businesses and give them tips and things they can improve on, in

an effort to empower the locals. Another operator plans to acquire a

van for a mobile healthcare system and hold seminars to teach local
women about healthcare. While ideas abound and the intention to
develop the community sounds good, there is unfortunately no
concrete empirical evidence of program implementation, much less
an evaluation of successful impact. Without being cynical, it is safe
to say that the bulk of the grandiose claims made by tour operators
remain generally unconfirmed.
Despite the potential of slum tourism to divert tourist spending into
poor local communities, there are also numerous criticisms the
enterprise must contend with. First, slum tourism in practice is
charged with exploiting and commodifying the citys poverty. Locals
minding their daily tasks are turned into objects of spectacle,
without being asked or consulted. Aside from the invasiveness of
strangers sporadically touring their communities, the experience of
being photographed as an exhibit of poor people erodes human
dignity. Moreover, simply giving out envelopes of money is not a
constructive way to help the poor as it fosters a mentality that relies
on handouts. This is something that does more harm than help,
contends Sandyawan Sumardi, an urban poor activist.
Then there are those who argue that any income, even in the form
of unsustainable handouts, is better than nothing. Proponents of
slum tourism also point to exemplary slum tour companies in Brazil
and India, who have visibly built and managed seemingly successful
community schools and orphanages. On balance, what should be
noted from poverty tourism in the specific case of Jakarta is that
more transparent supervision and professional management is
needed in order to ensure the sustainability of its impact.
Accountability and sensitivity should be made a priority, in the
interests of defending the rights of the impoverished in the slum
areas affected. All residents should be consulted before tours are
conducted in a specific neighborhood. Far more can also be done to
design and implement community development programs that are
specific to the needs of each community; cooperation with other
non-governmental organizations, who have more experience and
expertise, may also be necessary. Most importantly, the goal should
be to ensure that benefits from the expansion of slum tourism in

Jakarta are distributed among the poor, instead of merely lining the
pockets of profit-maximizing tour operators.