Slum Tourism: Who Empowers and Who is Empowered?

Abstract

This study examines how the process of implementing community empowerment for disadvantaged communities through NGOs could be viewed as a tourist attraction in slum tourism. This study used a phenomenological approach and collected data through interviews with four informants. This study emphasises the importance of including community empowerment initiatives led by local community members in slum tourism programmes. The results showed that NGOs play a crucial role in slum tourism. NGOs are considered the empowering entities while disadvantaged communities are considered the empowered entities based on additional studies. NGOs empower marginalised communities to prevent exploitation and enable them to benefit from slum tourism, improving their quality of life. The study emphasises the importance of local community engagement and empowerment in slum tourism, focusing on NGOs as empowering entities. The research highlights the importance of ensuring that slum tourism contributes to the betterment of disadvantaged communities by improving their quality of life rather than exploiting them.

Keywords: empowerment, participatory competence, populist competence, slum tourism, socio-political ability