Do tourists solve problems in shantytowns?

Brazil is to build guesthouses for tourists in Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro’s biggest shantytown notorious for its drugs and violence, according to the Guardian.

The guesthouses form part of a BRL 60 million (about GBP 14 million) redevelopment plan which aims to improve the living conditions in Rocinha.

From what I have been able to find out, (which is not a lot, because my Portuguese is virtually non-existent), construction of accomodation, nurseries, hospitals and roads make up the main part of the redevelopment. I also understand that the plan is for the guesthouses to be run by Rocinha’s locals.

While I acknowledge that tourism can create job opportunities, I’m not convinced tourists should be a priority when trying to improve living conditions in a shantytown.

Wouldn’t it be more effective to spend the money on solving the very problem that forced people to live in shantytowns in the first place?

I can think of many cases where tourist-focused development of a deprived area has forced locals out of the area and only benefitted the developers and other rich outsiders. But I cannot think of one single example of when it has actually benefitted the locals?

I certainly do not believe that an area’s drug-related crimes will be solved by bringing in tourists. At best it may move the crimes to another area, but surely no one can be as naive as to think that tourism will solve anything of that nature? Those types of crimes need to be tackled head-on, not by moving the problem to another area.

It does appear in the case of Rocinha that the guesthouses only play a small part of the development. But I would be interested to hear from anybody in the know about Rocinha to learn what they think of the guesthouses. I’d also be interested in hearing from anybody, who knows of cases where tourism has helped raise locals’ living standard.

Technorati Tags: tourism, development, Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

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