Volunteer tourism: An ambiguous marketing phenomenon

One of the more recent forms of tourism to emerge from the continuing fragmentation of tourism into many different forms is what has become known as Volunteer Tourism. Although itself taking on a number of variations, it is essentially the practice of individuals going on a working holiday and volunteering their labour for worthy causes. It is widely accepted that volunteer tourism has mirrored in many ways the development and commercialisation of opportunities for individuals to engage in ecotourism, another form of tourism which also began on a small scale with compassionate and non-economic priorities. This theoretical paper illustrates the ambiguity that characterises the volunteer tourism phenomenon and the challenges that this poses in terms of its marketing

Volunteer tourism : at the crossroads of commercialization and service?

Volunteer tourism as a phenomenon and as a market has come a long way since its ideologically driven early days. It is now an established and ever commercialised market that meets the demand for a different travel experience for the more morally conscious traveller, while the same time it provides opportunities for economic gain for the organisations that act as brokers of such experiences. This interaction raises several ethical issues in terms of serving a mission while making economic gains. In general there is an acceptable relationship between monetary gain and altruistic service, within the context of enlightened self-interest provided that the beneficiary of economic gains diverts profits into serving their mission. This paper examines the supply for volunteer tourism for evidence of commercialisation and profit driven behaviour and investigates a relationship between monetary gain and serving a mission by creating public goods

The volunteer tourist as 'hero'

Volunteer tourism is a rapidly growing form of tourism which has a weak conceptual basis and which is generally defined rather simply in terms of participants' actions while on holiday, ignoring elements such as reasons for participation, behaviour, and influencing forces. This article argues that an appropriate conceptual base for volunteer tourists is Campbell's 'Hero's Journey' and draws analogies between participants in volunteer tourism and the 'Hero' in Campbell's writings. The article discusses data on volunteer tourists, which reveals their self-expressed reasons for participating, and their specific situations. The data were collected by field research based on covert participation at an orphanage in Mexico. Volunteers interviewed revealed the traits explaining their participation in volunteer tourism that were similar to the characteristics and driving forces found in the participants on Campbell's 'Hero's Journey' and in medieval and classical myths. While participation in volunteer tourism may not match contemporary understanding of heroes and heroic behaviour, there is considerable similarity in reasons given by respondents for participating in the activity, and a conceptual model is developed to illustrate thi

Volunteer tourism : altruism, empathy or self enhancement?

Volunteer tourism being an ambiguous concept could be seen equally as an expression of social conscience and civil duty but also as cynical exploitation of human qualities like altruism and empathy. Still it is recognised that volunteer participants may also gain from their involvement but that should not raise questions about the purity of their motives. It is much less clear where, on a continuum from altruism to self enhancement, volunteer tourism falls, and it is likely that this varies greatly from individual to individual. To some it clearly a holiday, to others a commitment with real costs, and to others something in between, an enjoyable experience with anticipated benefits in terms of career advancement at some point in the future. This paper looks at both altruism and empathy in a theoretical context in an attempt to deconstruct their role in the development and expansion of volunteer tourism opportunitie

Dr volunteer and Mr tourist : lifting the guilt off volunteer tourism

Debating commodified and decommodified forms of volunteer tourism is a Sisyphean task and one that disorientates from the real goal that should be to deliver volunteer tourism that could make a positive difference to the lives of the local recipients. In the dawn of volunteer tourism the focus was the local recipients, but for marketing reasons the volunteer took certain stage with the known consequences. Accepting volunteer tourism as incompletely commoditized will accept the commercial side of volunteer tourism, as a necessity, lift the guilt that haunts the industry and focus on what really matters, and that is the local recipients

Volunteer Tourism, an ambiguous phenomenon: An analysis of the demand and supply for the volunteer tourism market

One of the more recent forms of tourism to emerge from the continuing fragmentation of tourism into many different forms is what has become known as Volunteer Tourism. Although itself taking on a number of variations, it is essentially the practice of individuals going on a working holiday and volunteering their labour for worthy causes. The concept of volunteer work has existed for several decades since its origins immediately following the First World War, but the idea of combining this activity with tourism is relatively new and has already changed considerably over a very short period. This thesis reviews the process by which volunteer tourism has developed, focusing on its transformation from an individual altruistic endeavour to a more commercial form of conventional tourism. As such, volunteer tourism has mirrored in many ways the development and commercialisation of opportunities for individuals to engage in ecotourism, another form of tourism which also began on a small scale with compassionate and non-economic priorities. This thesis provides a twin pronged approach to the study of volunteer tourism focusing both on the demand and the supply of volunteer tourism. The demand is investigated through an observation of a group of volunteer tourists in Mexico over a three week period and a new conceptualization of participation in volunteer tourism as a balancing act between commitment and hedonistic pursuits is developed. This thesis also reviews the growth in number of websites devoted to the various forms of volunteer tourism that now exist, and discusses the changes that have taken place in the content and focus of these websites and the organisations they represent over the last two decades. In relation to this analysis, it also examines the location of destinations which are being made available to volunteer tourists and providing the opportunity to engage in this activity. As a part of this analysis, the thesis examines the changes in the distribution of these locations and the relationship between location and the relative need of the respective destinations for assistance. The current distribution pattern of volunteer tourist opportunities now bears little similarity to the acute need for assistance that one might expect if the real motivation for providing this assistance was altruistic rather than commercial. In proposing a new approach of viewing volunteer tourism participation as a balancing act, but also by showing that the organizations involved vary in terms of their commitment and expectations, this study presents clarification on the role, expectations and motivations of the main players in volunteer tourism

Volunteer tourism : an ambiguous phenomenon

This presentation explores how the growth of interest in volunteer tourism and the large scale expansion of opportunities have altered the nature of the activity

Mega sports events volunteering : journeys with a past, a present and a future

The purpose of this research is to explore volunteer involvement at a mega-sports event (MSE) using the metaphorical volunteer journey as a lens. It responds to a call for research to provide insight into the background of MSE volunteers (Baum and Lockstone 2007). This need has arisen from past studies of volunteer involvement generating large lists of expectations and motivations through a predominantly survey based approach. The context used for this study is the Frontrunner pre-event volunteer programme for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and a narrative approach is applied allowing the volunteer experience to be considered from both the individual and group perspectives. The stories suggest that the individuals arrive at volunteering at Glasgow 2014 as a result of a dynamic process informed by the pragmatist school of thought. The stories also highlight the underlying meaning of volunteers’ involvement through consideration of past lived experiences

Tourist reviews of whale watching experiences : exploring TripAdvisor comments

Cetacean activities (including whales, dolphins, and porpoises) based tourism has seen a significant rise globally, attracting more than 13 million visitors each year. Understanding visitor satisfaction is an important element for small operators within this rather competitive industry, to enhance organisational performance. While previous studies have explored whale watching satisfaction quantitatively within an A ustralian context, this study proposes a more global and qualitative approach through the use of online reviews from TripAdvisor. An initial study of 5246 reviews shows significant patterns within the quantitative review elements. The outlined qualitative data shows differences between 1 and 5 star reviews, and lends itself to the possibility of further exploration

Modelling collaborative consumption : theory of planned behaviour, commitment, and trust

Collaborative consumption allows consumers access to consumer goods and services on non - ownership terms. Given the evolution of the internet, this has resulted in an uptake of collaborative consumption across a variety of contexts, for example accommodation, transportation, and to urs. A model of collaborative consumption intention is proposed using a combination of theory of planned behaviour, commitment, and trust. A total of 117 usable responses were used in an initial study to conduct a preliminary test of the model. Commitment and trust are identified as mediating constructs between attitude, expectations, and ease of use when considering a sharing or collaborative consumption option. Commitment, or bonding, acts as an antecedent of trust in the development of the collaborative consumption relationship. Theoretical and practical implications are outlined relative to the developed mode