'Making a Difference': Volunteer Tourism and Development,

Abstract: In recent decades there has been a boom in international volunteer tourism, mainly in the form of the growth of gap-year companies offering placements, linked to conservation and community well-being goals. This paper makes two points: firstly, it argues that the growth of volunteer tourism is in part a product of the politics of the current period – the decline of grand narratives and the growth of ‘life political’ alternative forms of agency. Hence volunteer tourism, motivated by the impulse to ‘make a difference’, tells us something about the way in which development issues are being conceived of by idealistic young people who comprise the majority of volunteer tourists. Secondly, the paper takes issue with the view that today’s volunteer tourists are part of a tradition of colonialism and neo-colonialism that projects western conceptions of modernization onto the Third World societies to the detriment of the latter. Rather, it is argued that the politics behind volunteer tourism is better characterized as a rejection of modernization as development in favour of a post-development influenced approach. Keywords: volunteer tourism; life politics; gap-year; ethical consumption; tourism and development

Implementing sustainable tourism: a multi-stakeholder involvement management framework

Within the extensive body of literature on sustainable tourism (ST), its successful implementation is an emerging and important theme. The lack of or ineffective stakeholder participation is a major obstacle to ST realisation and there is little clarity as to how best to resolve this problem. This paper presents the findings of a purposive UK-based case study that evaluated stakeholder involvement in the implementation of ST. Using over fifty stakeholders’ accounts drawn from eight primary stakeholder groups, a ‘multi-stakeholder involvement management’ (MSIM) framework was developed. The MSIM framework consists of three strategic levels: attraction, integration and management of stakeholder involvement. Six stages are embedded within the three levels: scene-setting, recognition of stakeholder involvement capacity, stakeholder relationship management, pursuit of achievable objectives, influencing implementation capacity and monitoring stakeholder involvement. These are supported by the overarching notion of ‘hand-holding’ and key actions [e.g. managing stakeholder adaptability] that enhance stakeholder involvement in ST. Key words: Implementation, Sustainable Tourism, Stakeholder Involvement, Stakeholder framewor

Concepts and tools for comprehensive sustainability assessments for tourism destinations: a comparative review

This paper reviews a wide range of tools for comprehensive sustainability assessments at whole tourism destinations, covering socio-cultural, economic and environmental issues. It considers their strengths, weaknesses and site specific applicability. It is intended to facilitate their selection (and combination where necessary). Tools covered include Sustainability Indicators, Environmental Impact Assessment, Life Cycle Assessment, Environmental Audits, Ecological Footprints, Multi-Criteria Analysis and Adaptive Environmental Assessment. Guidelines for evaluating their suitability for specific sites and situations are given as well as examples of their use