- Title
- Volunteer tourism
- Creator
- Wearing, Steven; Lyons, Kevin; Snead, Suzanne
- Relation
- Understanding the Sustainable Development of Tourism p. 188-204
- Relation
- http://www.goodfellowpublishers.com/academic-publishing.php?promoCode=&partnerID=&content=story&storyID=234
- Publisher
- Goodfellow Publishers
- Resource Type
- book chapter
- Date
- 2010
- Description
- The aim of this chapter is to provide students with a critical understanding of the phenomenon of volunteer tourism. It will consider how volunteer tourism occurs in diverse community settings with a particular emphasis upon international contexts. It emphasises the potential volunteer tourism has as a transformative form of sustainable tourism that extends beyond the finite limits of a particular volunteering experience. In this chapter, students will develop a foundational understanding of how this transformation is best realised, and ultimately aims to lead both volunteer tourists and host communities toward responsible and continuing participation in local and global development. This chapter begins by defining volunteer tourism and providing students with an understanding of its development and progression. Particular attention is paid to the way volunteer tourism has been conceptualised as an alternative form of sustainable tourism that is grounded in philanthropic and altruistic ideologies. It also critiques this viewpoint and encourages students to look at volunteer tourism as a reciprocal relationship between host communities and volunteer tourists. This reciprocity is explored by considering the needs of the host community by examining the principles of community planning that underpin quality volunteer tourism projects with particular emphasis upon the strengths and weaknesses of community development processes. The chapter then examines the needs of volunteer tourists, particularly those who are young adults. While volunteer tourism is increasingly being undertaken by a diverse range of individuals, its value as an educational tool for students studying sustainable tourism cannot be overstated. This chapter explores how hands-on volunteer tourism community work allows students to gain invaluable personal and career experience, as well as build powerful life and job skills that can be applied towards future community-building initiatives. This chapter also examines the principles of leadership and group dynamics that underpin successful volunteer tourism ventures.
- Subject
- volunteer tourism; sustainable tourism; host communities; community-building initiatives
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/932623
- Identifier
- uon:11399
- Identifier
- ISBN:9781906884130
- Language
- eng
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