Slum Tourism

I was surprised to read about the slum hotel in South Africa built by Emoya Luxury Hotel & Spa. The hotel is constructed to replicate the slums. It consists of private shacks or Shantys, made with corrugated iron sheets. This hotel is for people who want to experience the slum life but do not want to go to the slums. The slum hotel is the first Shanty Town in the world which has underfloor heating and Wi-fi. It also equips the tourists to heat the water by themselves and use a long drop toilet. If you look inside the shanty it was very much unlike a slum with all the basic amenities so naming the place as a slum hotel is misguiding.

                                            Shanty town constructed by Emoya Luxury Hotel & Spa

                                           
                                                                Inside the Shanty 

I felt it as mockery of the people who have no other option but to live in slums unlike the rich who have the option of choosing the hotel slum life, stay there for a few days and get back to their normal lives. If people really want to experience slum life they should go to the slum areas, stay in their houses as paying guest, eat as they eat, live as they live and then pay them the price which is equivalent to their stay in a five star hotel. In this way the slum tourism is beneficial to both the parties and there is no need to construct new counterfeit slum areas.

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Images  from http://www.emoya.co.za/g5/v1/Emoya%20Hotel%20&%20Spa/Accommodation/Shanty%20Town/shanty-town.html