Reality Tours - tourism with difference
Tourism is a huge business. Some countries are almost solely depending on it. For other countries, even though they have other revenue streams, tourism is still big. China for example, enjoyed an income of US$ 137 billion on 2007 from tourism alone.
Imagine when a portion of this money is spent on the poorest areas instead.
That’s what Reality Tours (Wired.com called it Poverty Tours) can do.
First time I heard about it is in that Wired article linked above. Actually I have thought about it, but for my own family. I asked my wife to think about & arrange visits to poor areas with the kids. This will help to expand their horizon.
Last time we went around, my kids were surprised that there are houses with no (ceramic) floor. There are houses with no electricity, no taps. There are people who had to walk very far, just to get a bucket of water. And so on.
We took too much for granted, this makes us less grateful at times, and I aim to fix that.
This Reality Tours idea expanded it for others. This is truly brilliant.
For the tourists themselves, this would not be only fun, but also an eye-opening experience.
Visiting the poorest areas is a totally different experience than your standard holiday, where the aim are just for fun - and nothing else. They will find out totally different things. They will see humanity in all sorts of conditions - and still thriving.
Some of my best mentor are the poorest ones. It’s amazing to see them always smiling, while facing hardships daily. Actually it may be only my opinion, because they doesn’t seem to think of their problems as hardships. They are able to enjoy life in any kind of situation.
Simply beautiful.
Us ? We are stressed when the roads are jammed. We are panicked when the computers are down. We don’t know what to do when the internet access is disconnected.
I am always humbled whenever I met with these great people.
Also I noted that spending is only an instant gratification. It tires you SO much later - so much stuff, what to spend next, where, how, etc. Especially spending on a holiday. At the end of it, sometimes you were left gobsmacked - did I bought all of that? what for? How much ??? And so on.
But, when you’re spending on something that you know are helping others, the effects are so much more lasting. It seems that this is the way the deepest core of humanity were coded.
This is what Reality Tours are offering - a truly refreshing experience. Unlike normal holidays, which may left us tired at the end, and made us unhappy to go to work at the next day (seems familiar?).
The new horizons gained from the Reality Tours will energize us, and brings out the best from us. You don’t aim for fun in these tours, but trust me, you will have a lot of it, and will be enjoying it for a lot longer.
In Indonesia, however, I don’t think you can bring foreigners into the deepest slums in Jakarta. Probably in some areas, but generally this can be very dangerous. Unless you know the people and the gangs in that slum very well.
A much better destinations would be the countryside. The landscape are beautiful, and the people are far more graceful.
A taste of this may be enjoyed in JAM (Jika Aku Menjadi), a unique TV programme created by the well-known Satrio Arismunandar. In its episodes, an urban dwellers will be selected and then taken to a family at the countryside to live there for some time.
A truly touching example is the episode where the actress lived in a duck herder’s family. It’s very hard to imagine a family of 5 living on a cup of rice - for 2 days.
Yet they’re still happy, and they’re grateful with what they have. Imagine how joyful they were when someone gave them Rp 1 million (about US$ 90), so they were able to increase the size of their herd.
It’s a truly humbling experience, and makes you realize about things that really matters.
So, if you’re going to arrange Reality Tours, let me know. If it’s any good, we’re signing up.
March 17th, 2008 10:15
Pak Harry, to be honest I am not convinced with Reality Tourism specially (hm sorry) related with reality show tv). I am bit skeptic about Poverty Tours (sounds bit like we enjoy poverty -wish I am mistaken) but indeed I tried what so called volunteering. We built school, fixed the board chalk, chairs and even tought the kids. I’m prefer to be part of the ‘tourism’ rather than sit and watch.
I was wondering if I have my own kids whom used to living in such privileges (car, house, education, toys, etc). I want take them to remote country to share experience, integrate with locals and bring various childhood memories.
March 17th, 2008 12:28
How would the poor people feel being tourism objects?
Promoting helping poor people as tourism might work to attract the public’s interest, but the subject could be very sensitive to the poor people. This needs to be approached really carefully and thoughtfully so that it would not offend anyone.
The “tourism” system must be developed such that the poor people receive the biggest benefit, not the tour operators or any other party (I’m not saying they cant make money from it).
March 18th, 2008 16:04
Hi mbak Ambar & mas Ronny, thanks for joining in.
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Personally, I would be most sceptical as well. However, the article on Wired discusses this kind of business which have been running for 16 years. Looks like it’s running very welll so far.
Of course it’s all boils down to the execution - done poorly, it can become very tasteless.
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So I guess this is not only a feasible business, but also already accepted by the people / tour objects as well. When done properly, this can be very beneficial, both to the subject and to the object.
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Re: making money, I like how Mr Fantozzi are telling people that they’re not getting any money by begging to the tourists - but they will have plenty of it if they sell something.
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But the biggest benefit of this, I think, is that it helps expand our horizon. These are the kind of events that can inspire. And when somebody has been inspired, they can do great things. I think you have seen that kind of thing around yourselves for quite several times already.
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Thanks.
April 9th, 2008 07:15
How would the poor people feel being tourism objects?
June 6th, 2008 11:15
let’s support Indonesia Tourism, I thing it’s good opportunity for our nation
June 11th, 2008 16:27
I think this is a fascinating idea… visitors are more and more wanting a more real experience and to go further than just seeing the standard everyday attractions. They want an experience that will be etched with them forever and these tours will do that… I hope more catch on in the future as we could all learn a lot from them.
June 16th, 2008 00:00
i’ve been reality traveling for 5 years now, have to say that it seems that the locals are preety cool with being tourism object cuase it translates to money for them, which they realy need. i truely recommand going to these places it opened my mind and heart,
Hayden Nielsen.
June 17th, 2008 02:01
In some countries tourism gives the most part of the budget’s income so this is the good way to keep business going.
June 19th, 2008 18:51
Thank you for article. I think we should continue to develop and grow this kind of tourism - reality tours.
July 16th, 2008 03:08
I loved your article… its quite inspiring and I think you are 100% right. Reality tours can be both educational, inspiring and benefit the local area in a positive way which isnt always just financial.
August 6th, 2008 10:48
An expert on adventurous travel and festival tours in southwest China, organises Yunnan tour, Tibet tour, Guizhou tour, with motor travel, camping, trekking and mountaineering tours.
August 9th, 2008 22:59
Thanks for the article.
I’m from Northern Ireland and tourism is only really starting to take hold here since the beginning of the peace process. But people are definately loving our beautiful wee country
August 16th, 2008 18:35
Reality tourism can provide not just a boost in tourism, but a sustainable boost… thats the key to a successful tourism business plan - making it sustainable.
September 5th, 2008 08:34
This is a pretty good article. I understand why some people are saying that touring is a bad idea and some people might not like it because it seems degrading, but I think this is a great idea and experience for most people. I believe that the people in rural areas will appreciate that people are visiting them and seeing that not everyone in the world is living in luxurious places, it may make people appreciate things more and hopefully help them have better lives. I mean they may be happy with their life, but I’m sure them having water close by for everyday use. My parents moved from Vietnam and they have told me many stories, for example there is a river that is used to wash clothes and to cook food. But that same river is also used as a toilet, and the fish eat the poop, and the people eat the fish… We have to find a better way for them to feed fish.
September 8th, 2008 20:53
Although it is very good to enjoy trips and holidays in that way but how many of us would like to go there in poor areas? First of first, there are security risks then majority of us have dreams to spend holidays on hill tops or Europe or UK so it is rather difficult to plan such tours.
September 8th, 2008 22:36
There definately needs to be a better way to feed the fish!
Seriously though great article and great idea. Well done to the founders I wish them every success
September 17th, 2008 12:34
nice to read the article, no doubt tourism is a huge business ….. it can help to generate revenue for a country, it should not be missed
October 12th, 2008 02:21
It really is amazing to see how the majority of the world actually lives. Especially when you compare it to our lifestyle here in the west. I think that Reality Tours should be almost mandatory! thanks for posting this great idea.
October 20th, 2008 11:57
Yeah,very well said..tourism is such a huge industry, but it relies entirely with people having high purchasing power…with this economic crisis , will this industry still survive???