Comments on: Calling Poverty Tourism by its True Name

By: This Week’s New York Times: Homestay in Guatemala and a Low Opinion for Slum Tourism | The Mindful Tourist

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 18:29:34 +0000

[...] An opinion column on the nastiness of slum tourism. We’ve written about this before but this article really captures the essence of why slum tourism is wrong-headed in so many ways. [...]

By: Promoting Indigenous Tourism | The Mindful Tourist

Promoting Indigenous Tourism | The Mindful Tourist — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:52:06 +0000

[...] tourism, sometimes it’s hard to sift through and find the ones that are truly worth the effort. Poorism? Not so much a fan, thanks. Staycation? Uh, [...]

By: Florence Italy

Florence Italy — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:12:46 +0000

Very nice information. Thanks!

By: Florence Italy

Florence Italy — Sat, 30 May 2009 17:12:33 +0000

Very nice information. Thanks for this.

By: Florence Italy

Florence Italy — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 21:54:19 +0000

I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader.

By: Clare

Clare — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 19:25:07 +0000

In Chile, I worked with a group that called it socio-cultural tourism. It was a reaction to the tourism that had been created on other hills of Valparaiso, where the poor had been forcibly moved from their land. On Cerro Polanco, they were creating a tour route that highlighted the dirversity (from squatters to 3 story mansions) while supporting a local economy, not displacing people, and having the locals involved in all aspects of the tourism. For more information, check out Fundacion Rescate Patrimion at http://www.vrf.cl/

By: Marcus Bauer

Marcus Bauer — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 18:09:02 +0000

Rightly said. The economic condition is nothing to showcase professionally - in fact it is already kind of odd with the celebrity tours in Hollywood. There it is looking up, while with “poverty tourism” it can be used to give people the feeling of being something better.
I think that the problem starts with the definition of poverty. While some people are better in terms of money, formal education, health etc. other people are richly blessed by great natural surroundings, traditions, tales, joy and many other forms of wealth.
Tourism can be a fantastic form of exchanging resources:
Tourists have time and money to travel, whereas destinations have natural setups and culture that they can offer. Thus, it can be enriching for both sides. Toursts can bring financial resources to economically disadvantages areas and in exchange get a great learning experience. The challenge is to provide systems that enable encounters on an eye to eye level. Operators who bring tourists to “backward” destinations have to carefully set up mutual learning experiences. If poverty alone was the topic of the tour, tourists would not feel well. If poverty was their sole interest, they could well find it at home. But who has the guts to join a beggar on a mall and start a conversation about poverty.