Viral drone video fuels debate about Rio favela tourism

A line of tourists apply makeup before strutting across a rooftop in Rio de Janeiro’s largest favela, posing for a drone that zooms out to show spectacular aerial views of the hillside community.

With a contagious rhythm, the video of the Rocinha favela exploded on social networks at a time when the city is attracting a record number of tourists.

It also created a sense of unease, with dozens of comments accusing visitors of glorifying poverty and crime in a low-income community dominated by drug dealers.

However, Renan Monteiro, 42, founder of tourism company Na Favela Turismo, told AFP that the drone footage was the result of efforts to show tourists “the positive side of the favela”.

“We don’t idealize poverty. We want to change the prejudices that exist in people’s minds.”

He explained that tourists cannot simply go to the roof of the Porta do Ceu (Gate of Heaven), where one sometimes has to wait up to two hours for the drone selfie, which costs at least 150 reais ($30).

They can only get there via a guided tour, navigating a maze of narrow alleys as locals go about their daily lives while stopping to visit local artists or watch a capoeira show.

Rocinha “has this image that it’s pretty bad, pretty dangerous… I found it really nice to see the atmosphere,” said Gabriel Pai, 38, a delivery driver from Costa Rica, after posing for his photo with his drone.

The success of the drone video attracted influencers, local officials and even a marriage proposal.

Ingrid Ohara, a Brazilian influencer with 12 million followers on Instagram and 20 million on TikTok, walks across the roof in a shower cap and towel, which she tosses aside to reveal a skimpy dress, twirling as the drone flies away.

“These videos that I make are always very popular, that’s why I wanted to make one here in Rocinha because they go viral all over the world,” she explained to AFP.

She said the videos “showed our country, our Rio de Janeiro, it’s part of our culture.”

– “Safari-type tourism” –

Monteiro, who grew up in Rocinha, remembers the beginnings of “safari-style” tourism in the favela, when visitors guided by foreigners showed up in open-top jeeps, much to the chagrin of locals.

In 2017, a Spanish tourist was shot dead in a shootout between police and drug traffickers, and all tourism came to a halt.

When it resumed years later, visitors were once again “wandering on bad paths” without supervision.

Monteiro had the idea to find a safe way to show visitors the sprawling favela, which is home to more than 70,000 people.

Working with community leaders, he mapped out defined tourist routes, monitored by locals. He also created an application to track the location of guides and manage the flow of tourists.

In the event of a police operation against drug traffickers, guides communicate via the application to cancel ongoing tours.

The company has trained 300 local guides and ten drone pilots. The owners of 26 roofs and terraces in Rocinha and Vidigal make money by allowing tourist visits.

Drone pilot Pedro Lucas, 19, said he had few prospects before the job, which “changed my life a lot.”

“I make a lot of money and it would be nice if more people in the favela had the same opportunity.”

– ‘An exotic contrast’ –

With world-famous beaches, Carnival and tourist sites like the Christ the Redeemer statue, tourism in Rio has exploded.

Government tourism agency Embratur told AFP there had been nearly 290,000 international visitors in January alone, a record.

In February, Na Favela Turismo recorded 41,000 visitors to Rocinha and nearby Vidigal.

Claudiane Pereira dos Santos, 50, a cleaning lady, welcomes the tourist “frenzy”.

“People immediately associate (Rocinha) with crime, with the bad side. And it’s not like that. There are a lot of hard-working people, wonderful people.”

If people want to criticize something, she added, they could focus on the lack of basic services and electricity that residents face.

“I recognize that some residents see it as a legitimate source of income,” said Cecilia Olliveira, executive director of the Fogo Cruzado Institute, which tracks gun violence in low-income communities.

“The problem arises when the favela ceases to be a dynamic and complex neighborhood traversed by structural inequalities and becomes simply an exotic contrast or backdrop for impactful content.”

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