by KATIE PALMER
Girls asking for money from tourists at the killing fields in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. PHOTO/Erik Putz
Recently I partnered with a colleague from OneChild, a children’s rights organization, to travel throughout Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand for several weeks to investigate prevalent social issues affecting children and youth in the region. Such issues include child sex tourism, absolute poverty, largely inaccessible primary and elementary education, and health problems arising from large populations inhabiting informal housing districts. In order to gain the most from our exposure trip, we partnered alongside a number of hosting organizations.
One similarity among the varied hosting organizations was the implementation of “advocacy tours.” Geared towards both foreign tourists and wealthier local citizens, advocacy tours (sometimes referred to as “poverty tours” or “poverty tourism”) provide opportunities for participants to understand a variety of social and economic issues common in the Global South.
My initial reaction to advocacy tours was one of keen interest. Many NGOs, whether located in the Global North or Global South, are underfunded and must constantly brainstorm innovative ways to generate funds in order to support their projects. Without doubt, advocacy tours fit the criteria of creativity and it is interesting to note the rise in tourist-oriented companies that offer poverty tours in countries such as India, Kenya, Rwanda, and Brazil.
While my purpose is not to argue that the NGOs or companies that implement advocacy tours uphold purely capitalist intentions, it is important to think critically about how such tours fall short of promoting sustainable development practices. First, however, I would like to describe the contributions that advocacy tours have the potential to make.
Advocacy tours can play important roles in stimulating local job creation, generating funds to help marginalized populations, and drawing attention to pertinent social issues.
In terms of job creation, NGOs and the tourism companies require human personnel to carry out the research and development components of the tours. Advocacy tours require the services of drivers, tour guides, and translators. Indirectly, advocacy tours have the potential to create the demand for products for tourists to buy, such as handicrafts and jewelry, created and sold by resourceful local entrepreneurs.
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