Attitudes towards Slum Tourism in Mumbai, India: Analysis of Positive and Negative Impacts

Abstract

Tourism has grown exponentially in the 21st century and continues to be one of the rapidly growing industries in the world in terms of revenue generation and employment opportunities. It covers not only travel services and boarding-lodging activities but a wide range of independent but related sectors like transport, accommodation, food and beverage, and entertainment, among others. Modern tourism is diversified and includes several odd types of tourism, like slum tourism, dark tourism, and sex tourism. This paper analyzes the case of slum tourism to Dharavi, India’s commercial capital and largest city as well as the benefits and disadvantages that such kind of tourism has. It also attempts to understand the opinion of the common people and slum dwellers on slum tourism, while observing if the ten principles of the “Global Code of Ethics for Tourism” (GCET) have been fulfilled in the country. The results show that overall, the principles of GCET are fulfilled but much is still left to be done. On the other side, most of the slum residents accept slum tourism as a reality that brings more benefits than damage to their living environment and are of the opinion that tourism brings prosperity to them and to the country.

Revisiting and integrating residents' perceptions towards tourism development in urban areas

“…More than two decades later, township tourism is still being used as a strategic development tool that allows previously disadvantaged communities to directly benefit from the tourism industry. Despite the growth and development of the niche sector, there are still ongoing debates in existing literature regarding the ethicality of this type of tourism (Pereira et al, 2022;Ndzumo et al, 2021;Huysamen et al, 2020;Cardoso et al, 2019;Auala et al, 2019;Lekaota, 2018;Frenzel, 2014). These studies have argued that township tourism operates on a thin ethical line and if it is not developed sustainably as well as responsibly, it may create negative socio-cultural impacts and unintended negative long-term implications for host communities.…”

Education of Tourism Ethics Code Development as Sustainable Tourism Zero Emissions (Case Study: Gunung Menyan, Bogor)

“…Tourism takes full advantage of its power to bring people and communities together, and complies with the GCET (Mercedes, R.L et. al., 2018, Cardoso, A., 2022, Mercedes, R.L., 2022, Castilho, F., et. al., 2022, Camilleri, M.A., 2015.…”