Tourists book hostels in hilltop favelas for Rio 2016 Olympics

Bosque Santa Marta Hostel has opened just a month ago in Morro Dona Marta, the first community in Rio de Janeiro to be guarded by the Pacifying Police Unit (UPP). Salete Martins, local tour guide and family project manager, has already two Mexican tourists booked for the Olympics. "We have just started. It is a work done little by little, but I believe that as we are tour guides here in the favela, until then, we'll get a lot of tourists".

For the Argentine Huel Di Tomafo, the camaraderie is the perfect excuse to stay in a hostel at the Vidigal community, in the South Zone of the city. "We feel a spirit of friendship," he said. "It's very cozy. We feel at home. The view we get from the hostel is wonderful. I can see Leblon, Ipanema, Copacabana. And in Vidigal favela, I'm facing the sea," said the Argentine, who works as a waiter in a restaurant in Leblon.

Tomafo added that he intends to continue in Rio de Janeiro to attend the Olympic Games, which begin in August.

As the Argentine, many Brazilian and foreign tourists plan to stay in hotels, hostel, and inns, located in pacified communities during the games.

According to the Bed and Breakfast and Hostels Association of Rio de Janeiro State (ACCARJ), they expect to book up to 84.7% of hostels in Rio de Janeiro city for the Olympics. Foreign tourists (70%) are the ones who seek this kind of hosting the most.

Booking

At the Home Hostel Cantagalo, in the Cantagalo community, Simone Pereira, who is in charge of the place, expects it to be fully booked for the sporting event. The hostel offers breakfast and lunch, and has created sightseeing tours to attract more visitors. "Among the sightseeing tours, there are viewpoints in the community, restaurant with typical dishes of the Northeast Region, and the favela museum," said Simone.

The American Adam Newman, owner of Hostel Favela Experience, in Vidigal, expects to book 30 rooms of the hostel, operating for a year and a half, until the Olympics. "We opened the agenda last month and the waiting list is already long," he said.

Formed in entrepreneurship in the United States, Adam Newman has had an inn in Santa Teresa, downtown Rio, but decided to move to Vidigal, also in the South Zone, to carry out a social project in the region.

Newman also runs a project to adapt the dwellers' houses to host tourists. "In the World Cup, we received 150 people from around the world. And this year, we will do even more, for the Olympics. "

In the pacified community Morro da Babilônia, the Babilônia Rio Hostel will receive Dutch, English and volunteers who will participate in the Games. "We'll receive a large group of Dutch before the Olympics and then in the Paralympics. It will be fully booked. It was a good surprise, because this group will conduct a research here," said Bianca Lima, one of the business partners, who shares the business with her husband, Eduardo Barbosa.

According to the owner, the hostel is equipped with solar panel and captures rainwater, attracting guests concerned about sustainability.

The Belgian Paul Dhuyvetter has also adopted Morro da Babilônia as his home. He is the innkeeper of Estrelas da Babilônia, opened in July last year, with three private rooms booked at the moment for guests from France, Colombia and Czechoslovakia. Dhuyvetter is sure that all rooms will be booked for the Olympic Games. "It's very fast," he ensured. For him, part of the demand is due to the wonderful view of the Copacabana and Leme beaches and of Corcovado.

Translated by Amarílis Anchieta