Rio de Janeiro: An Evolving Tourist Destination

Once upon a time Nicholas Frimond Readers I wouldn’t have dared suggest you take a break to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s largest city. This was because the of the city’s notorious ‘favela’s’, otherwise known as shanty towns. These places were extremely unsafe, particularly for affluent westerners who were in danger of being exploited. The reputation of the favelas even lead to Michael Jackson filming the video to his 1996 hit ‘They Don’t Care about Us’ in a Rio favela. This has always been such a shame, because Rio in places has always been one of the most beautiful, culturally rich cities in the world and a fantastic winter sun destination. So it’s with great pleasure that I can finally advocate Rio de Janeiro as a fantastic winter sun destination not in spite of its favelas, but because of them. 

This has come from a change in Brazilianperceptions of its favelas. Where once they were ashamed of their 763 shanty towns (according to official statistics), they have now learned to embrace them and mark them as a unique part of Brazilian culture. They have oddly somehow become a marketing tool that Rio’s tourist authorities and companies use to attract curious westerners to the city. 

This has culminated in in what is coming to be known as favela tourism. This all originated from city wide programmes to clean up the favelas and make them less dangerous, as well as more attractive. The first favela in Rio to undergo such treatment, to be “pacified” under such state programmes, was Santa Marta in 2008. The programme looked to expel the areas drug gangs by installing a police base and initiating social change projects. 

These projects include the favela painting art project, which was created with the aim of boosting community pride, and has led to 34 houses being painted in a rainbow of bright colours. Ever since the success of the Santa Marta project, a further 34 favelas have been pacified. The Santa Mara favela has since become seen as a model of the success of the programme, and as such has attracted international stars such as Madonna and Beyoncé to visit. This has brought western media attention and turned the favela into a hot tourist destination. 

So what will you get when you visit Santa Marta or another of the Rio favelas? You get explosions of colour; seriously colour everywhere you look that is a result of these projects. You get scenic tram rides, businesses that cater to the growing tourist industry, unique patchwork buildings with authentic character and authentic Brazilian cuisine houses. In essence when you visit a favela in Rio de Janeiro you take away a little piece of the colourfully frenetic energy of Brazilian culture with you. It’s Brazil at its very best.