Tourism and urban heritage in Kibera

Tourism is not merely a practice in which heritage is consumed. Tourism also produces heritage. The paper considers the empirical domain of slum tourism, where bottom-up processes of attraction making are dominant. Such attraction making contributes to the recognition of Kibera as part of the urban heritage of Nairobi. Tourists are seeking elements of local culture to which guides respond creatively and spontaneously, creating the potential for the touristic ‘discovery’ of heritage. Guides are also taking a more active role in re-producing relatively established notions or imaginaries of slum life, at times evoking heritage in notions of history, culture and locality. We advance people-centered approaches to understanding heritage, by showing the potential of tourist-guide interactions to create place attachment. •Tourists and tour guides co-produce attractions, which put Kibera on the map.•Tourism contributes to the recognition of Kibera as part of the urban heritage.•This paper advances people centered approaches to heritage in a tourism context.•Tourism not only consumes heritage but also contributes to the making of it.