ABSTRACT
Slum tourism is on the rise globally (Steinbrink et al. 2012; Frenzel and Koens 2012). As a leisure practice, it can be defined in narrow terms as organised visits and guided tours in areas of urban poverty. More broadly, slum tourism can include the provision of hospitality as well as a range of other services (for example, capoeira classes or bungee jumping) in slums. Finally-in the broadest sense-slum tourism can been understood as the temporal visit to slums of people who normally reside outside slums. This includes (1) former slum dwellers returning for nostalgia reasons or for visits to family and friends and (2) volunteers and professionals in business, state or non-state public services. One must keep in mind the widest definition (perhaps more aptly covered by the term ‘slum mobilities’) when studying and reflecting on the phenomenon of leisurely slum tourism in a more narrow sense (tourists touring the slum) because the mobile practices and differently themed visits tend to influence each other. Also, conceptual boundaries are often blurred and subject to negotiation and change. Moreover, slum tourism appears to be a dynamic and developing system, adapting to local specific conditions as well as following global trends.
