>>151296029
They're scenic like >>151296072 said but there's a cultural element to it too. Favelas are directly tied to samba and popular culture which is something that gets capitalised on by the tourism industry and the media (favelas have been featured in cinema and music videos for decades). When a foreigner thinks about a favela, he thinks about not just heavily armed coke dealers but also kids playing football barefoot, samba, happy people and a B Side to their visit to Brazil. Meanwhile villas are never featured anywhere and people don't associate them to anything except for heavily armed coke dealers and peronistas in 2003 Boca Juniors home shirts.

The only time villas get brought up is when discussing the integration and developments in Villa 31. You need to market them better.