POP-UP TOURISM In Rocinha, many legitimate entrepreneurs have been able to make a fairly regular income from tourism, from taking visitors into their own different kind of world and showing them how they work, the different kinds of properties, the nurseries and schools, the shops and services being offered, and the voluntary projects going on. Tourists are taken to the main streets and often have the chance to walk around and meet with locals, before being taken to a cafe or restaurant, and to local arts and craft stalls; all connected to the shared enterprise. The great majority of Rocinha tourism customers come from outside of Rio, from other parts of Brazil or overseas. Tours highlight the practical challenges of living in an underprivileged community, but also their humanity, resilience and character. The businesses rely on being able to sell tickets to visit some of the most dangerous places in the country: a favela where they don’t know when Special Operations are going to be carrying out raids, and when there might be gang-related killings anytime. TripAdvisor reviews make such associations explicit, describing favelas as both “dangerous places” as well as “safe places to visit on supervised tours”. The stigma associated with somewhere like Rocinha is strong, but the entrepreneurs manage to cleverly balance the danger with reassurance about the low level of actual risk involved. It’s a sexy alternative to the overfamiliar, conventional tourism offerings of Rio, for those who don’t just want to visit Christ the Redeemer and see the views over the bay; it’s different, there’s potential danger there, but actually, it’s not going to be a problem if you stick together in the right places, they say. An urban safari: the wild places are out there, but kept at arm’s length. The evidence of the drug gangs is always there; but you don’t have to see that if you don’t want to. URBAN SAFARI The favela tour operators are very informal – have to be very informal – but run in sophisticated and highly resourceful ways. They can’t run every day because when there have been deaths the night before there’s too much police presence, maybe some grisly evidence left behind. So the networks of people involved use word of mouth, often via WhatsApp messaging, to let each other know the situation. When there’s been no trouble the members of the business spring into action and come together very quickly, the driver, the guide, the cooks and the craft stalls. The next day the operation might need to dissolve again. There’s no formal structure or organisation, it’s all temporary. They are the kinds of businesses that work in the ultimate form of VUCA environment (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, Ambiguity), and are a model for how many more firms may have to work in future. In terms of marketing and sales, social media is essential in making the seemingly inaccessible feel a possible place to be. Despite the levels of poverty, everyone involved in the tours has a smartphone and internet access. Social media platforms are used to alert potential customers to the alternative tours, and also to provide a sneak preview of what they’ll get from the tour. The platforms provide that allimportant assurance of where they will go and what they will see, that there’s knowledge, experience and some organisation involved. In this way the microentrepreneurs assemble methods to provide planned and safe navigation and engagement with favelas. They provide links to the infrastructures that exist, whether by internet and websites, trains, mototáxis, the alleyways of Rocinha themselves; and present exciting knowledge (maps, timetables, photos, historical and contemporary favela stories). Other things include the rules (web details of how to engage with the tour), practices (tour collection, conduct and drop-off, shopping, café stops), and the specific roles and competences of the entrepreneurs themselves (as tour guides, shop keepers, café managers, residents). Photos of visitors taking a tour around Rocinha are posted on social media, with connections to virtual tours in the streets via Google and positive reviews on Facebook and TripAdvisor. The offerings are also tailored and made flexible to meet different needs and customer groups, with walking tours for some, and others solely driven up to the top of Rocinha and down. The biggest challenge for the favela operators is competition from formal businesses, who have more resources to draw on for advertising and facilities, moving in from the city because of the revenue potential. This is seen as unfair to locals, for the wealthy to drain money from Rocinha while exploiting its reputation. As for me, I can vouch for the safety of spending time in a favela. The only time I had any trouble was in the centre of Rio, when someone stole my phone. In Rocinha I met lots of people and they looked after me. Just once did I hear explosions. The fireworks were going off, the signal for the police to arrive. I braced myself for what might be coming. But nothing appeared to change, just ordinary members of a community, getting on with their lives, working together and trying to keep businesses going for another day. Dr Josiane Fernandes is a Lecturer in Marketing. Her work is focused on finding out how people living in extreme conditions – settings of violence and institutional and social ‘voids’ – manage to overcome barriers and find motivation to shape the world around them. j.fernandes@lancaster.ac.uk FIFTY FOUR DEGREES | 7
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