The favelas of Rio de Janeiro are among the big draws for slum tourism - sometimes called "poorism" - a growing trend in the travel industry. Westerners pay to tour the garbage piles and open sewage in the slums of Mumbai, the townships of Johannesburg, and settlements among the vast landfills of Mexico City.

Eric Weiner is a national correspondent for NPR and the author of the book
"The Geography of Bliss: One Grump's Search for the Happiest Places in the World." He recently wrote about poverty tours in The New York Times. He joined Word of Mouth to discuss the fine line of where education ends and exploitation begins.

Read Eric Weiner's article in The New York Times, "Slum Visits: Tourism or Voyeurism?"

Read "Why We Need Micro Loans Instead Of Slum Tourism" on Brave New Traveler

Read "Slum tourism: good or bad?" in Foreign Policy

Read "Slum tours: a day trip too far?" in The Guardian

Favela Tour – Rio de Janeiro

Soweto Tours

(Photo by Christopher Baan)