Mass tourism has found a new vein in the most unexpected place, the favelas

When you think of Rio de Janeiro, one of the first images that comes to mind is Christ the Redeemer, the 30-meter-high statue that stands at the top of Corcovado Hill. For some time now, however, there has been another Rio icon. much more visited by foreign tourists: Vidigal and Rocinhatwo areas of the city known for their favelas. Between them there are tens of thousands of visitors. Nothing surprising if we take into account that the favelas are increasingly present in the itinerary with which tourists arrive in Brazil.

There they look for authenticity… and good selfies.

Touring the favelas? Exact. The history of the Rio favelas is ancient. It usually dates back to late 19th centurywith the closing of the settlement of Providenceand since then the word has been linked to a series of ideas: substandard housing, poverty, crime. Nothing that a priori one wants to experience during an idyllic vacation in a beach destination and postcard landscapes.

Over time however that has changed. As international tourism grows in Brazil More people look to Rio’s favelas in search of something difficult to find in the most ‘touristized’ places: authenticity. This has made it no longer strange to meet tours, guides and groups of foreigners in some settlements. Even new ones emerge viral trendslike climbing to the top of a rooftop in Rocinha to record a video with help from a drone.

Are there figures to prove it? Yes. He Carioca Tourism Yearbook 2024a report that collects trends in the sector in the Brazilian metropolis, shows that that year there were areas known for their favelas that made it into the TOP 20 of the most visited icons in Rio de Janeiro. Not only that. They even surpassed other symbols, such as Christ the Redeemer wave Selarón Staircasetwo of the places that have spent decades starring in Rio’s tourist postcards.

To be more precise, in 2024 the Municipal Tourism Secretariat registered 81,600 visitors foreigners in Vidigal and 45,600 in Rocinha. It is far from the 925,400 of Copacabana beach or 554,400 of Ipanema, but it still stands out among the busiest in the region. If we add the flow of tourists arriving from other parts of Brazil itself. That balance shoots up considerably.

And in recent years? Interest in favelas does not seem to have waned. For reference, last January (high season in Rio de Janeiro) Rocinha received 41,852 visitors37% more than last year. Around those same dates Or Globeone of the most influential newspapers in Brazil, published a chronicle in which he confirmed the rise of favela tourism and the challenges that this entails.

The growing ‘pull’ of the favelas can also be followed through the international press. In recent months the average reach of Associated Press (AP), D.W., Guardian either the BBC network have dedicated articles to the phenomenon, delving into the challenges, opportunities and moral dilemmas it generates.

As a background, a fact that they stick out their chest the Rio authorities: in 2025 Rio received some 12.5 million of visitors, significantly above the 11.4 in 2024. Of them, 2.1 million came from other countries. They may represent a small proportion, but in just one year their influx shot up almost 45%.

How do you explain your success? That there are more and more tourists who include favelas in their Rio tours is no coincidence. There are several factors that explain it. The first is that the authorities have done an effort to ‘pacify’ themsomething that dates back to the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games.

Over the years, a network of services, local businesses and guides has also been created that make the experience much more accessible for foreigners. The clearest example is the Na Favelaan app created precisely to facilitate the organization and management of activities with guides. Those responsible offer “authentic experiences” that, they say, boost the local economy.

Does it generate wealth? There are testimonies that suggest this. A few months ago AP interviewed to Vitor, a local guide who works with visitors who are curious about the settlements. He previously worked as a taxi driver in Rocinha, but upon noticing that foreign visitors were increasing, he began offering tours and now basically lives off of tourists. In another interview He recognized that, after a life marked by drugs and violence, tourism offered him an opportunity. “I never imagined it. I didn’t finish school or manage to learn another language.”

“If you come to Rio and only visit Copacabana Beach, the statue of Christ the Redeemer and the Sugarloaf Mountain, you are not really visiting Rio. You are visiting a luxurious and expensive part of Rio,” claims. “The essence comes from the favelas.” He is not the only one who slips that message. In May the BBC chatted with an expert in tourism that assures that the violence in the favelas of the South Zone has subsided, something that it attributes in part to the sector. He also assures that, although the area may pose a risk to residents, the cartels do not target tourists.

Is it all good news? No. Although it is no longer strange to meet foreign tourists in certain areas of some favelas, the reality is that they are still not the safest destinations in Brazil. It became clear only a few weeks ago, when dozens of visitors They were trapped in a viewpoint during a police operation against drug traffickers. Months before, in April, more than 200 tourists They had also been stranded for several hours in Morro Dois Irmãos in a similar episode. An operation against drug trafficking caught them in the middle of their tour.

The touristification of favelas not only generates controversy for the safety of visitors. He also does it for its moral background and the doubts it generates: What impact does tourism have on those neighborhoods and their population? Does it offer them a new source of income and a way to make a living or does it involve ethically questionable exploitation of their living conditions? And if the phenomenon continues to grow, what will be its long-term consequences?

Images | Desert Morocco Adventure (Unsplash) and Diego Baravelli (Wikipedia)

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