What is Poorism?

BRAZIL’S Rio de Janeiro does not attract tourists only to its beautiful beach. For years, tour operators have guided foreigners through Rio’s shanty towns called ‘favelas’, famed equally for their drug gangs as for their sea views. In South Africa, tourists mingle with locals at illicit beer halls known as ‘shebeens’ in the vast shanty townships outside Cape Town and Johannesburg. A New Delhi NGO raises money for street children living on the platforms by arranging guided walks for tourists through the railway station. In Mumbai, a travel company called Reality Tours organizes walks through Dharavi, a thriving slum in the heart of the city.

‘Pover ty tour ism’, or ‘poorism’ as it is sometimes called, is a form of travel in which tourists pay to see the poorest areas of the world, usually located in African, Asian and South American countries. Some are also in affluent Western cities such as New York’s East Harlem or Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

Poorism has often faced flak for being insensitive and for deriving entertainment from the distress of others. Some believe it is a good way to sensitise people to endemic poverty, the effects of chronic war and the plight of immigrants. Many poorism tour operators also give a part of their earnings back to the communities they visit.