On the itinerary are the favelas of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, the slums of Kibera in Kenya where a sea of tin roof shacks house close to a million people and the streets of New Delhi in India where an estimated 2,000 street children live in the areas surrounding the main railway station. Needless to say, it's a controversial practice, which has risen more than a few eyebrows since its inception in the shanty towns of South Africa.

'Voyeuristic' is the criticism that continues to crop up; and in a climate of reality TV and tell-all books, it's easy to assume that the tour operators are cashing in on the trend. Others claim the tours offer nothing more than a slick photo opportunity for a visiting dignitary hoping to find public favour, or a celebrity attempting to resuscitate a fading career. Either way, it's difficult to grasp what a group of gawking tourists on urban safari can do to benefit the inhabitants of these areas.

The tour organisers, meanwhile, insist that they are not trying to capitalise on misfortune; rather they aim to raise awareness of the misfortune that exists in these areas. Max Wallace of the Toronto Parkdale Tenants' Association in Toronto, for example, organises slum tours of Toronto's worst apartment buildings, taking a busload of 50 tourists at a time, free of charge. His intention? "To shame the government into doing something."

While Wallace's agenda is clearly for the betterment of living conditions, other tours are operating on a slightly more unsavoury level. The Tour Experience 'trava' tour in Argentina gives tourists a look at the transvestites that line the dusty pathways in the slums, along with a trip to the transvestite brothels nearby.

Even the most open-minded would have difficulty recognising how this rather insidious venture offers any contribution to Argentine society.

And few can pardon the exploitative disaster tourism that occurs after devastating natural disasters. In the aftermath of the Asian tsunami, and following Hurricane Katrina, profiteering tour operators brought hordes of rubber necking tourists to the areas most affected.

Rather than roll up their sleeves, the tourists instead stood in slack jawed horror, took some photos and generally got in the way of the aid workers.

While there are undoubtedly dodgy tour operators who are clearly capitalising on catastrophe, the majority of 'slum tour' organisers believe that what they are doing is worthy. Most claim they donate a large part of, if not all, their profits to NGOs working in the areas. Many encourage excursionists to embrace the tours by visiting local craft shops, trying local food and, ultimately, bringing the tourism dollar directly to the community; while some operators are attempting to create employment within the slums by hiring locals to host the tours.

Nevertheless, the issue of public intrusion can't be ignored. When a Reuters correspondent visited the Kibera slum to assess the locals' response to slum tours, he was met with a feeling of frustration.

"They see us like puppets, they want to come and take pictures, have a little walk, tell their friends they've been to the worst slum in Africa, " said David Kabala, a local carwash worker.

Enakshi Ganguly Thukral, of HAQ, the New Delhi-based NGO agrees: "Slum tours should not be promoted as a form of tourism. It is an invasion into someone's privacy. It takes away the dignity of the poor." Thukral once went on a slum tour of the Cape flats in South Africa, but protested and left half way through.

Marcelo Armstrong who organises a tour through the favelas of Rio de Janeiro also believes that the tours have been wrongly criticised. "I am used to all kinds of criticism from people who judge the tour without ever joining it. To imagine the tour as voyeuristic is easy, if you do not do it. On many occasions I have had people who have done the tour and by the end of it confessed that they had initial criticisms and misconceptions that made them hesitant to come. Later they said they were so glad to come with us and said it was so different to what they expected.

"My first concern, before starting the tour back in 1992, was asking the locals in the favela whether they would support me in doing it, and I felt total support from them, " he says. "So, if the locals support me, who else should not?"

While these operators are working at a grass-roots level, pro poor tourism is becoming something of a global agenda. The Pro Poor Tourism Partnership is a major international campaign that works on initiatives to deliver tourism to the poorer areas of the world, and take tourists off the familiar tourist trails. They are striving to encourage the travel industry to trade with local community, and one of their guidelines is the setting up of guided tours through poor areas.

The initiative is backed by many leading international development organisations, and it certainly raises the question: perhaps these operators, whether right or wrong, are laying the first seeds for what is soon to become a global trend? Though it might seem impossibly Utopian, perhaps tourism is the factor that can lead to the regeneration of these areas, and in time the startling rich/poor divide of locals/visitor will eventually narrow and 'poorism' will simply become tourism.

GROUND LEVEL: SIX POPULAR SLUM TOURS

New Delhi, India
Run by Salaam Baalak, a charity that provides education for the street children of New Delhi, this tour focuses on the inner city area of Pahargunj and the New Delhi Railway Station where the city's street children gather. They emphasise that they are not running a slum tour, rather a guided walk that aims to raise awareness of the charity among tourists.

Interestingly, the walk is hosted by ex-street children and it is 100 per cent non-profit making. All funds go towards the charity, which runs educational centres for the children.

See www. salaambaalaktrust. com

Khayelitsha, South Africa
The legacy of the Apartheid regime has given rise to the poor communities that live in townships on the outskirts of major cities in South Africa. This particular tour takes visitors around the third largest of the country's townships: Khayelitsha. The itinerary includes a tour of local shebeens (pubs), training centres and craft centres; while some even go on to stay in the local B&Bs set up by enterprising locals especially for tourists.

See www. nomvuyos-tours. co. za

Nairobi, Kenya
Husband and wife team Jane and Robert Hughes (Jane herself a Kenyan native) run various excursions through Nairobi offering visitors what they describe as an intimate glimpse at Kenyan culture. The 'Survival Tour' takes visitors on a first-hand visit to the Nairobi slums, visiting local households and schools. See www. touchreality. biz

Dharavi, India
The novel Shantaram, by former convict Gregory David Roberts, was set in Dharavi. The popular book has caused many tourists to follow the literary trail to what is Asia's largest slum. The tour includes visits to a boy's shelter, an open-air laundry and the Kamathipura (red light district). Reality Tours & Travel enforce a strict no-camera policy.

See www. realitytoursandtravel. com

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
The film City of God was based within the favelas of Rio, now tourists can take a step closer and see for themselves the complex, and notoriously dangerous, Brazilian slums.

Visitors are encouraged to buy local handcrafts and pay a visit to a local buteco (restaurant). See www. favelatour. com. br

Toronto, Canada
The Parkdale Tenants' Association run their slum tours with tongue firmly lodged in cheek.

Among their many initiatives to raise awareness of the appalling living conditions within the Parkdale apartment buildings, is the awarding of a 'Golden Cockroach' award to the area's worst landlord. They'll be organising another tour of the apartments in July.

See www. goldencockroach. org