Videos of tourists on rooftops in Rocinha go viral and generate debate about the 'romanticization of poverty'

Lajes da Rocinha has queues of tourists for drone videos
As they queue, some tourists touch up their makeup to parade on the roof of a house in Rocinha, the largest favela in Rio de Janeiro, posing for a drone that moves away to show an aerial view of the hillside community.
With an infectious musical background, the Rocinha video went viral on social media just as Rio records record numbers of tourists.
The The success of the attraction is so great that some visitors wait up to two hours to film themselves, for a price of at least R$150. Recently, there was even a marriage proposal.
But it also generated some discomfort, with dozens of comments accusing visitors of romanticizing poverty and crime in a low-income community where drug trafficking is rife.
"We are not romanticizing poverty. We want to change the prejudice that exists in people's minds", Renan Monteiro, founder, denies to AFP from the company Na Favela Turismo.
The video is the result of efforts to show tourists "the positive side of the favela", he argues.
Monteiro explains that they can only get to the slab to film themselves through a tour, in which they go through a labyrinth of alleys while residents go about their daily lives, visit local artists or watch a capoeira show.
Rocinha "has this image that it is something bad, dangerous... For me it was really charming to see the environment", he says Gabriel Pai, a 38-year-old Costa Rican, after posing for his drone recording.
Ingrid Ohara, a Brazilian influencer with 12 million followers on Instagram and 20 million on TikTok, also didn't want to miss the opportunity.
She walks across the slab in a shower cap and robe before taking it off to reveal a tiny dress, twirling as the drone moves away.
"These videos I make always get a lot of views, and so I wanted to do it here in Rocinha, because it is going viral all over the world", he tells AFP.
The images "are showing our country, showing our Rio de Janeiro, this is part of our culture", he adds.
'Safari-type' tourism
Woman is filmed by a drone at the famous Porta do Céu viewpoint, in the Rocinha favela, in Rio de Janeiro, on March 5, 2026
Pablo Porciuncula/AFP
Monteiro, who grew up in Rocinha, remembers the early days of "safari-type" tourism in the favela, when foreigners showed up in open jeeps.
In 2017, a Spanish tourist was shot dead during a shootout between the police and drug traffickers, which paralyzed tourism.
When it was resumed years later, Monteiro looked for a safe way to showcase the favela, where more than two thousand people live. 70 thousand people.
Together with community leaders, he designed tourist routes and created an application to track the location of guides. If there is a police operation against drug trafficking, the guides communicate to cancel ongoing visits.
His company has trained 300 local guides and ten drone pilots.
Pilot Pedro Lucas, 19, said he had few prospects before this job "changed" his life.
"I made good money and it would be good if more people from the favela had the opportunity."
The owners of 26 rooftops and terraces in Rocinha and Rocinha neighboring Vidigal also charge to allow tourist visits.
'Exotic contrast'
Group of tourists prepares to begin a tour of the Rocinha favela, in Rio de Janeiro, on March 5, 2026
Pablo Porciuncula/AFP
Tourism in Rio has soared recently.
Government tourism agency Embratur told AFP that in January alone there were almost 290,000 international visitors, a number record.
In February, Na Favela Turismo registered 41 thousand visitors in Rocinha and Vidigal.
Claudiane Pereira dos Santos, a 50-year-old domestic worker, celebrates the tourist "fever". She states that some people associate Rocinha "with crime, with the bad side. And that's not the case. We have a lot of good people. There are a lot of workers, there are wonderful people."
"I recognize that there are residents who see this as a legitimate source of income", says Cecilia Oliveira, executive director of the Fogo Cruzado Institute, which monitors armed violence in low-income communities.
"The problem is when the favela stops being a living, complex neighborhood crossed by structural inequalities and becomes just an exotic contrast or backdrop for impactful content", he laments.
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Source: G1