Practicing Sustainable International Volunteer Tourism

'Practicing Sustainable International Volunteer Tourism' provides a uniquely holistic “how to guide” for the practice of sustainable international volunteer tourism which incorporates contextual as well as practical advice for primary stakeholders including communities, practitioners, governments and volunteer tourists. The first full length guide that highlights the interconnected relationship among and between key stakeholders, Practicing Sustainable International Volunteer Tourism integrates theoretical insights with application. As the international volunteer tourism sector continues to grow, it has become an increasingly complex marketplace which has materialized into a diversity of expectations, motivations and experiences. While sometimes convergent, opportunities for divergence among key stakeholders can also become core challenges in creating an ethical as well as sustainable sector. This timely guide was written with the shared belief that for international volunteer tourism to be appropriately practiced, each individual stakeholder needs to understand their co-stakeholders’ interests and the corollary nuances of their participation. As such. this book is divided by stakeholder group and includes sections for each on “how to practice sustainable international volunteer tourism”, ethical and moral issues, choosing your project, a case study, do’s and don’ts and additional resources. International volunteer tourism is now includes commercial operators, international as well as domestic NGOs, government agencies and local communities around the world. Additionally, while the market has traditionally been dominated by international volunteer tourists from the Global North to the Global South, today Global South-to Global South volunteers further diversify international volunteer tourism mobilities. These diverse stakeholders have developed an array of services and programs designed to serve the needs of host communities as well as the international volunteer tourists. As a result of the numerous critiques against the international volunteer tourism industry, various organizations have developed guidelines. Yet, these guidelines lack a comprehensive perspective that addresses the multiple key stakeholder interests as well as challenges. In this book, the authors: * Highlight the critical need for key stakeholder groups to understand the complex interests at stake in order to create a more mutually beneficial and ethical international volunteer tourism sector; * Challenge traditional assumptions of the benefits of volunteer tourism, and suggests how best practice can truly enable positive contributions to local communities economically, politically, socially and environmentally; * Advocate international volunteer tourism practices that link with national and international governmental organizations that are better prepared to affect policy changes in order really have positive effects. This book is a must-have reading for all those studying and working in the tourism industry as well as not for profits, commercial operators, International and National NGOs, government agencies, communities and international volunteer tourists themselves.

Summary: This book revisits and further develops the topics and themes covered in Volunteer Tourism: Experiences That Make a Difference, written over 10 years ago. Concentrating on the experience of the volunteer tourist and the host community, this new edition builds on the view of volunteer tourism as a positive and sustainable form of tourism to examine a broader spectrum of behaviours and experiences and consider critically where the volunteer tourist experience both compliments and collides with host communities, using multiple case studies. The book has nine chapters and a subject index.

Inhaltsangabe:Introduction: Voluntouring programs are incredible journeys through remarkable destinations, combining unique travel opportunities with meaningful volunteer work . This statement, taken from the website of Aquila Tours, which is one of the first Canadian tour operators offering this kind of volunteer tourism, shows how this type of tourism is advertised and sold to the customer as a new kind of travel experience. This example illustrates how tour operators describe this kind of tourist experience using word games like Voluntouring in order to market this special form of tourism which combines leisure, volunteer work and travel. This way of spending meaningful holidays is gaining more and more popularity among vastly different demographic categories of people. To make a difference while on vacation is already very popular in the U.S, UK and Australia, but is also a concept that is getting more and more attention worldwide. The media has played an important role: from The Time Magazine to Forbes Magazine: articles have been devoted to the idea of blending tourism with community and environmental oriented work. Lonely Planet published its first volunteer-travel guidebook in June 2007 called Volunteer: A Traveler s Guide to Making a Difference around the World as reaction to the growing importance of this travel segment. Newsweek International stated in its article: Having fun doing good: For some altruistic travelers vacation means more than just a day at the beach , furthermore describing the phenomenon as follows: It s tourism with a conscience, undertaken by travelers who don t want to experience another culture through the windows of a tour bus (...) . People are prepared to pay to volunteer and they are even willing to devote holiday time in order to get actively involved and help in environmental conservation projects as well as social projects. In Germany, this new type of travel is slowly beginning to be considered as an emerging trend and was recognised by the press as early as end of 2006 and has been considerably strengthened since the end of 2007. This phenomenon of combining holidays with volunteer work has even developed a new term integrating both aspects: Voluntourism . In addition, it has created an industry around this, the so-called Voluntourism Industry . The numbers of socially responsible tourists as well as the opportunities available to them are increasing. The desire to help is matched by an [...]

Volunteer Tourism is one of the major growth areas in contemporary tourism, where tourists for various reasons seek alternative goodwill experiences and activities. To meet this demand there has been a surge in volunteer programmes offered in range of destinations organized by a variety of charities and tour operators which is predicted to continue to grow in the future. Volunteer Tourism provides an in-depth analysis of the complex issues associated with traditional and contemporary volunteer tourism. Reflecting the growth in this phenomenon, this book provides a cohesive collection of chapters written from a range of international expert scholars and researchers. The theoretically rich, practically applied and empirically grounded contributions are based on current and diverse research in the area. This groundbreaking volume explores topics which have not been addressed in the literature before, such as the impact on host communities, introducing new areas and ideas to the field. The diverse range of themes are identified and addressed, including volunteer tourism and sustainability to, uniquely, the examination of volunteer tourism stakeholders – volunteers themselves, the host-to-guest exchange, and the organizations – and management of volunteers. These themes are examined in a range of international case studies, demonstrating the wide range of issues associated with volunteer tourism. This volume is a timely addition offering an innovative approach to the area. Volunteer Tourism will be of interest to both students and researchers interested in tourism, leisure and development, as well as non-academics, practitioners, NGOs government officials at all levels.

Volunteer tourism describes a field of tourism, in which travelers visit a destination and take part in projects in the local community. Projects are commonly nature-based, people-based or involve restoration of buildings and artifacts (e.g. restoration of a Buddhist temple inMongolia).

Just a generation ago the notion that holidays should be invested with ethical and political significance would have sounded odd. Today it is part of the lifestyle political landscape. Volunteer tourism is indicative of the growth of lifestyle strategies intended to exhibit care and responsibility towards others less fortunate, strategies aligned closely with developing one’s ethical identity and sense of global responsibility. It sits alongside telethons, pay-per-click, Fair Trade and ethical consumption generally as a way to “make a difference”. Volunteer tourism involves a personal mission to address the political question of development. It draws upon the private virtues of care and responsibility and disavows political narratives beyond this. Critics argue that this leaves the volunteers as unwitting carriers of damaging neoliberal or postcolonial assumptions, whilst advocates see it as offering creative and practical ways to build a new ethical politics. By contrast, this volume analyses volunteer tourism as indicative of a retreat from public politics into the realm of private experience, and as an expression of diminished political and moral agency. This thought provoking book draws on development, political and sociological theory and is essential reading for students, researchers and academics interested in the phenomenon of volunteer tourism and the politics of lifestyle that it represents.

Master's Thesis from the year 2012 in the subject Sociology - Work, Education, Organisation, grade: 1,0, Technical University of Munich (Lehrstuhl für Forstwirtschaft und Ressourcenmanagement), language: English, abstract: Since the 1970ies volunteer tourism has sparked academic as well as public interest and debate. This thesis consists of a concise analysis of current theories and research interests in this field. It points out challenges and opportunities of international volunteering, using a case study from South Africa, especially focusing on the area of research volunteering in a conservation context. The analysis of attitudes and perceptions of the volunteer as well as potential benefits the experience may have on their future life in general and career especially has been carried out by means of online survey. Further similarities and differences between ‘general’ volunteers and research volunteers have been established and analyzed, leading to the insight that altruism combined with the desire to travel and experience a different culture are central motivators to both groups and similar perceived benefits are attributed to volunteering. This study concludes that research volunteering can be especially beneficial to all parties involved if design and realization of the project are given great consideration and suggests further research into the complex task to develop mutually beneficial volunteering projects despite ongoing commodification of this area of sustainable tourism.

Do you want to travel and make a positive impact on the world? This book is designed for you. How to Be an Amazing Volunteer Overseas will give you essential advice on how to decide what to do and where to go. It will help you to prepare for life in a new country. And most importantly, it will set you up to get the most out of your experience by learning from local leaders and contributing in a meaningful way. Full of practical tips and personal stories from the author's experience having worked and volunteered in 70 countries, How to Be an Amazing Volunteer has been endorsed by leaders in the international development community, and is a must-read as borders begin to open up post-pandemic, and as purpose-driven Gen-Zers around the world look to broaden their horizons while making a positive impact. Net proceeds from book sales will go to support education programs in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Kenya and a First Nations community in Canada. "People who change the world are not necessarily 'special' people. They are everyday people who do not hesitate to respond to outside signals. Volunteering is about discovering what you can do and about getting to a point to take your own first steps. This book chronicles Susan's journey to discover herself - you'll enjoy being a co-traveller with her." -- Professor Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate 2006