Season 2 / Social
Opening Scene
Joe joins the tour because he wants to understand the “real” city. He read it in a review: it’s not touristy, it’s authentic.They tell him he can take photos, that it’s fine, that showing these realities is important.
From the van, he watches tightly packed houses, unpaved streets, glances that last barely a second. Everything happens quickly without getting out, without interrupting too much.
Origin
From reality to guided tour
You know how "poverty tourism" is a thing now? Well, it didn't actually start as a business or a way to make money.
In the late 20th century, it was more of a gesture. It started with universities and NGOs taking people to marginalized neighborhoods just to show the reality of extreme inequality. The original goal was honest: look at the world to understand it, and get close so you can't just ignore it.
Then, urban tourism exploded in the 90s and 2000s. Cities stopped just selling beaches and old monuments. Instead, they started selling the "real city" that raw, unequal side of life as an "alternative experience."
What used to take time and a lot of context suddenly got squeezed into 45-minute tours. Companies designed safe routes and wrote scripts to make sure visitors felt "aware" instead of guilty.
Eventually, review sites and social media did the rest. Suddenly, visiting these spots was "recommended" or "impactful." Looking at inequality basically became just another thing to buy and consume. It’s definitely something to think about next time we’re planning a trip.
The Phenomenon
You won't see them advertised as "poverty tours" anymore. Instead, they use terms like "cultural exchange" or "transformative experiences." It’s a clever way to rebrand the same old tours.
In Rio de Janeiro, favela tours are now just as common as going to the beach. This really took off around the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. It definitely brought in new hostels and souvenir shops, giving some locals a way to earn a living.
But honestly, the big picture didn't change much there. Even with tourists walking around, many favelas are still controlled by gangs or militias. The violence didn't just go away; it simply started living right alongside the gift shops. It’s a strange mix.
In Cape Town, visits to townships are bundled with fancy wine tours and safaris. In Mumbai, the Dharavi area is marketed as a hub of "entrepreneurship." The brochures focus on how hard-working and resilient people are, rather than how tough their living conditions actually are.
Then you have Medellín’s Comuna 13 (A topic we covered in one of the previous editions) This one feels a bit different because the tours are run by the people who actually live there. You’ve got local rappers and graffiti artists telling their own stories while you walk past the famous outdoor escalators.
In that specific case, the money stays in the community and it has actually helped lower the violence over the years. It shows that when the locals are the ones holding the mic, the impact can be much more positive.
