THE RESPONSIBLE GUIDE TO TOWNSHIP TOURISM
Imagine a busload of foreign visitors traipsing down your street, peering into your house, take a selfie in front of your door… Invasive right? Yet that's exactly what happens on some tours, often labeled poverty tourism, pity tours, ghetto tourism, reality tours or even poorism - there is no dearth of labels.
so is township tourism ethically acceptable or is it exploitative? What are the advantages and disadvantages of slum tourism? Do our tourist dollars actually help these communities or are we simply paying for a peek into lives we have no intention of ever experiencing for more than a few minutes?
The biggest challenge with township tourism is how responsible the tour guides and the tourists are on these journeys.
Walking over driving tours
Why?: Walking tours can allow for more meaningful connections between tourists and residents, allow tourists to purchase products/make donations, and help avoid the more voyeuristic nature of looking at people from a car or bus. Most companies offer walking tours, although others do not. Locals reported that they would like it if tour operators facilitated more conversation and meaningful interactions with tourists such as more time for conversation, more visits to local businesses, and more time to stay in homes such as stopping to have a chat over tea.
Small Rather than Large Tour Groups
Why?: Smaller groups can more easily visit homes and businesses and feel less intrusive to residents. It also can help facilitate more interaction between tourists and the locals and between the tour operators and the tourists. Most responsible companies do appear to be adhering to the responsible practice of providing small group tours rather than large group tours.
Provide Behaviour Guidance to Tourists
Why?: For most travellers, they have never been on a township tour before and do not know what to expect. For many, this may be their first time encountering such poverty and living conditions and they may not know how to behave, especially when entering people’s homes. It is the responsibility of the tour operators and guides to ensure that tourists do not make a negative impact on the local community by communicating proper dress codes and behaviour, as well as encouraging curiosity about residents’ customs through general respectful interaction. Many tourists also have ethical concerns about whether or not to book such a tour.
Photography Policies
Why?: Obviously, most visitors want to take photographs or videos to remember their tours. However, being constantly photographed can be very annoying and feel quite invasive by local residents. Many residents do not mind being photographed and visitors should ask residents before taking photographs of actual people. Some tour companies appear to be providing photography guidelines at the beginning of tours to tourists about asking residents before taking pictures of them. Some also advise tourists to not photograph children. While all tour leaders appear to be providing guidance, some tourists may be disregarding this advice and still taking photographs for their albums without asking.
Tipping Policies
Why?: To encourage professional behaviour by guides, tour companies should communicate that tipping the guides for good services is welcome. This should help supplement their typically small salaries and result in further professionalism among guides. Most importantly this could also lead to guides allowing more of the tourist donations to end up in the hands of the visited communities.
Provide Compensation to Visited Households
Why?: Most tour companies visit at least one local household during their tour and this is generally one of the promoted highlights of the tour. These households should therefore be compensated for their time and value as a tourist attraction. Such compensation not only makes sense from an ethical business perspective but also avoids exploitation of the local residents.
Even if tour operators do not directly provide money to households, regular committed donations of food, clothing, school supplies, etc. would significantly help these households.
Promoting Local Purchases
Why?: One of the ways that tourists can help the local communities they visit is by spending money within that community. These may include buying local handicrafts, purchasing local services, staying at local homestays, or eating in local eateries. While it seems that almost all tour companies provide an initial opportunity to purchase crafts at the beginning of the tour, most tour companies do not promote local purchase throughout the tour. Many seemed to avoid lingering around local businesses, making it more difficult for tourists to stop and buy something.
Tour operators said they did not want the tours to feel too commercial, had to adhere to their schedule, or said that tourists were not very interested in purchasing goods. Locals want tourists to visit their businesses, but felt that getting tourists to their stands daily is difficult since they have very little power over the tourists groups which are directed by the tour guides.
Provide ways tourists can donate to the local community
Why?: Many people take township tours to learn more about the culture of the people, and after taking these tours many have a desire to give back to the community. While purchasing items or services may be one way tourists can give back, some may instead want to donate money to local community projects (e.g., schools, construction projects, churches). This is another way that tour operators can provide to those tourists who want to give back without people seeing the township as a charity.