Slum tourism is helping the poor

For their first contention, the Pro provided a laundry list of the effects of poverty. While these are all true and unfortunate, I do not believe that slum tourism does not help the poor, at least not long-term. That argument was mainly was about charities that combat poverty and how slum tourism also combats poverty by encouraging donations. I have two problems with this. 1. The Pro is exaggerating the benefits of slum tourism 2. Charities do not help the poor long-term 1. As an article by Forbes says: "As far as who makes the money from these tours, Ways claims that, Tour operators promise they give money to the people there but in comparison to what they themselves are earning, it's a pittance. Frenzel concurred that the direct economic stimulation in the communities from these tours is negligible. What adds to that is that these tours are often combined with some notion of charity. So the tour operator will say some of the money you give us will flow into a project here in the neighborhood, or we'll do this, or we'll do that with some of your money. Or we employ local guides," Frenzel explained. "[But] so very little of the money that is spent on these tours actually ends up in the places being visited." https://www.forbes.com... The benefits are highly over-hyped and not as amazing as the Pro would lead yo to believe. 2. And even if a lot of people donate, charities do not help the poor long-term. You mentioned how some charities try to stop malaria, treat people suffering form disease, and give money to the community. And other charities also donate food. This is nice and all but this does not address the roots of poverty and relieves responsibility from the government. Instead of equipping people with the tools to solve their own problems, charities temporarily "solve" a problem (and only for a portion of people). And then when the charities leave, they feel good about themselves without realizing that after the resources run out, the people are still poor. I am not saying charity is inherently bad, I am saying it is not a long-term solution and I only wish people would stop treating it like one. In essence what I am saying the following: 1. The slum tours do not make very much money int eh first place, so it is hard to put that into the community even if they want to 2. If they make a lot of profits, these do not usually end up in the community. As you mentioned n the comments, these tours are profiting off of poverty 3. If these slum torus are good people and have enough profits that they give tot he community, this charity is not a long-term solution to poverty. It does not truly help poor people. Here are some extra points: "Slum tours treat people like animals in a zoo - you stare from the outside but don't dare get too close." "Visitors aren't interested in meaningful interaction; they just want their photo op. Contact with locals is minimal." "Money rarely trickles down. Instead, operators fill their pockets but the vaunted 'benefits to the community' don't materialize. Slum tourism profits from poverty." "People feel degraded by being stared at doing mundane things - washing, cleaning up, preparing food, things that are private. Their rights to privacy may be violated. Imagine yourself at the receiving end: how would you feel?" "Even when they participate as hosts, local people are often underpaid and exploited." "The image of a country may be tarnished by publicizing slums (this is an actual concern among certain segments of certain populations - usually the more wealthy)." "The tours make poverty exotic, otherworldly, almost glamorizing what to inhabitants is a harsh reality which will remain once the tourists are long gone." https://www.women-on-the-road.com...