High demand for accommodation when the World Cup takes place has generated a new type of tourism that is nontraditional in Brazil: the “favela experience”, the new tendency.
The “Favela Experience” is the name of the service that the inhabitants of the slums of the marvelous city, or “Cidade Maravilhosa” in Portuguese, have created in order to earn some money. It deals with rental properties inserted in the favelas of Vidigal and Rocinha, which, since 2008, have found themselves reconciled by the installation of the Peacekeeping Police Units (UPP).
To stay there can cost 65 dollars a day, while a room in a traditional hotel has a value of 400 dollars. In addition to satisfying the demand that will be generated for the time between the beginning of June and halfway through July of this year, staying in the favelas can provide tourists with a new way to get to know the Rio de Janeiro area.
Staying there allows tourists to experience the local customs, which are separated from the places prepared specifically for tourism. So, discovering the true Brazil will be an added bonus for everyone that is not a fan who visits the country during the next World Cup.
According to the Rio subsidiary from the Brazilian Association of the Hotel Industry (ABIH-RJ), in Rio de Janeiro there are 55,000 beds in hotels, hostels, and inns. But the expectation is that of the 600,000 foreign tourists that come to Brazil for the World Cup, some 100,000 go through the “Cidade Maravilhosa,” where seven games will be played, and among them the final championship.