Katja Schluzy
Volunteer Tourism
The Field for Product Innovations and a Platform for new Alliances for Sustainable
Development in Tourism
ISBN: 978-3-8428-1077-8
Herstellung: Diplomica® Verlag GmbH, Hamburg, 2011
Zugl. Fachhochschule Eberswalde, Eberswalde, Deutschland, MA-Thesis / Master, 2008
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Table of Content
Introduction...1
Part A: The Concept of Volunteer Tourism...6
1. Defining Volunteer Tourism and Setting the Context...6
2. Historical Context of Volunteer Tourism...12
3. Volunteer Tourism within other Tourism Segments...14
Part B: Understanding the Volunteer Tourism Market...19
1. The Demand Side: Understanding the Volunteer Tourist...19
1.1 Motivation of Volunteer Tourists...20
1.2 Conceptual Framework of Volunteer Tourists... 28
1.3 Volunteer Tourism: Indicators of a growing demand...28
2. The Supply Side: The Volunteer Tourism Industry...32
2.1 Diversity in Range of Volunteer Projects...33
2.2 Categorizing Core Target Groups...36
2.2.1 Target Group: Individual Customers...36
2.2.2 Target Group: Corporate Customers...42
2.3 Volunteer Tourism Providers: The Volunteer Tourism Industry ...48
2.4 Case Study: Conservation Volunteer Tourism operating from UK...48
3. Volunteer Tourism Program Design and Implementation...54
3.1 Charities Involvement in Volunteer Tourism: Motivation & Benefits...54
3.2 Tour Operators Involvement in Volunteer Tourism: Motivation & Benefits...55
3.3 Incorporating Volunteering: Guidance for Tour Operators...57
3.4 Incorporating Tourism: Guidance for Charities and NGOs...59
3.5 Volunteer Tourism: Platform for Cross-Sector Partnerships...61
3.6 Examples: Volunteer Tourism Models...66
4. Volunteer Tourism: Platform for Sustainable Development? ...71
4.1 Volunteer Tourism and Sustainability... .72
4.2 Volunteer Tourism: Pros, Cons and Possibilities...75
4.3 Volunteer Tourism: Guidelines for Sustainable Development...80
5. Conclusion: Understanding the Volunteer Tourism Market...85
Part C: Volunteer Tourism Market in Germany...91
1. Volunteer Tourism: Review of the German Market...91
2. Hypothesis: Volunteer Tourism in Germany...96
Part D: Future of Volunteer Tourism in Germany: Empirical Part...99
1. Methodology and Research Question...99
2. Summary of Findings: Exploratory Study...100
Outlook: The phenomenon of Volunteer Tourism...105
References...109
Appendix...120
Acknowledgement
The idea for this master's thesis is based on an article, published 2005 in the UK edition of
Newsweek, with the headline "Having fun doing good" which described the phenomenon of
combining holiday and volunteer work as well as the increasing demand for this kind of
holiday. My curiosity was aroused: what motivates people to take up volunteering while on
holiday? Who would want to spend one's vacation time, or at least part of it, as well as money
to travel someplace to do what most consider work?
The wide range of products offered and the diversity of players involved from tour operators to
not-for-profit organizations motivated me to look behind the phrase volunteer tourism in order
to understand not only the concept and potential but also the limitations of the concept as well
as the structure of the market. Furthermore, I questioned why there is such diversity in
volunteer products and players involved in this field in the UK and U.S and why combining
volunteer work and travel is familiar with students in Germany but not very familiar beyond
this target group. The complexity of this topic, the practical relevance as a growing niche
segment as well as the interdisciplinary character of this relatively new research field was
something I found challenging.
First of all, I would like to thank my advisors, Christina Heyniger and Prof. Dr. Wolfgang
Strasdas, for their helpful suggestions starting with the initial thoughts on the topic, discussing
it and helping to delve deeper into this topic. A special thanks to my advisor Christina
Heyniger, Xola Consulting from the USA, who was willing and enthusiastic to support my
thesis and gave me lots of inspiration and insights into the U.S volunteer tourism market
despite the long distance. Her study on adventure tourism and volunteer tourism in
collaboration with the George Washington University, U.S inspired me for my thesis.
I would also like to thank my interviewees for their openness, interest, input and thoughts,
especially Tom Berry, Earthwatch Institute Europe; Sven Mangels, Explore & Help, Fabian
Ritter, Meer e. V.; Julia Neider, WDCS; Kundri Böhmer, Hauser Expeditions; Dina Bauer,
Forum Anders Reisen; Werner Schröder, Nabu, Marina Shakyas, DED, Elke Gernsmann;
Travel Journalist, Anne Schierenberg, Europarc Germany; Felizitas Romeiss Stracke, Future
Reserach; Peter Parwan, Lohas.de; Stephen Wehner, Bergwaldprojekt; Gabriele Wutz,
Timberland; Dr. Matthias Hammer, Biosphere Expeditons, Volker Häring, China by Bike,
Katrin Kohlstädt and Jana Lüth, Goxplore by Gebeco and many more, just to mention a few
that made it possible to gain insights into the topic from both the practical and academic side.
Thanks also goes out to researchers like Nancy McGehee, Sally Brown in the U.S as well as
Stephen Wearing from Australia who helped me and were so kind as to send me articles, which
I could not otherwise have got so easily within Germany.
Introduction
"Voluntouring programs are incredible journeys through remarkable destinations,
combining unique travel opportunities with meaningful volunteer work"
Source: AquilaTours, Canada, www.aquilatours.com
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 (The
Time, 2007:49-51; Forbes, 2006:189-190). 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 (2005) 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".
1
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 increasing range of volunteering
1
Voluntourism.org (2007): A non-profit organization dedicated to the dissemination of information for
travelers and suppliers. Voluntourism.org´s mission is to educate through its quarterly newsletter and global
education opportunities, to empower destinations, operators, supplies and non-profits/NGOs through training
options. There are volunteer tourism experiences offered for singles, students, families and
even retirees, as well as for people searching for a meaningful career break, the "career
gappers". But even companies are supporting their employees by sending them on
corporate volunteering expeditions, known as Corporate Social Responsibility Travel, in
order to help team building processes and to motivate employees.
2
The diversity of products available reflects the needs of different target groups within this
emerging market. Players in the market consist of for profit organisations ranging from
small tour operators as well as "mainstream tour operators", both of whom are integrating
volunteer activities into their travel products. In March 2007, the holiday giant First
Choice, UK bought I-to-I, one of the biggest companies specialised in what it calls
"meaningful travel", in order to enhance and diversify their product range. Nonprofit
organizations and charities in the environmental or social sector are also becoming
involved in the volunteer tourism sector by integrating tourists into their activities. This
market dynamic is, as of yet, not evident in the German market: the concept is more and
more in the media, but the market structure is not that diverse and has a limited perception
of target groups for combining volunteering and holiday.
But the Volunteer Tourism industry and the volunteers are not only getting praise, they are
also attracting criticism. "Are Volunteer Vacations (...) merely overpriced guilt trips with
an impact as fleeting as the feel good factor? " Or do they offer individuals a real chance
to change the world?" asked The Times in 2007. The booming industry in pre-packaged
volunteer programs is being criticized more and more. Taking into account the broad
spectrum of issues referring to the concept of Volunteer Tourism, this master's thesis has
the following objectives.
Objectives
This master's thesis aims to help understand the global phenomenon of "Volunteer
Tourism" as well as the volunteer tourism market while including the aspect of supply and
demand. For this purpose, the theoretical background as well as the research situation on
this topic has to be reviewed. Although I will primarily focus on the supply side and the
players involved, I will also briefly touch on the demand side as the two cannot be
separated when one wishes to fully analyze the situation. The findings will then be used to
analyze the potential of volunteer tourism in Germany.
Due to the complexity of this topic, this master's thesis cannot provide a comprehensive
coverage of the subject but rather will highlight important aspects and reflect on the
2
www.trekforceworldwide.com
2
complexity of the issue. The following sub-research questions will be answered and
discussed and will be a guide throughout this master's thesis on volunteer tourism.
!
What is behind the phenomenon "voluntourism"?
!
How do we define it and place it within other tourism segments?
!
What are volunteer tourists looking for? What is their motivation?
!
What is the motivation and desired benefit for tour operators and charities to get
involved in this market?
!
How can volunteering be incorporated into existing tourism products? How can new
and innovative products be designed?
!
How can uncontrolled growth and development in volunteer tourism be controlled to
ensure sustainable business practices?
! What are the potentials of the concept as well as the limitations?
!
Where does Germany stand and how will the volunteer tourism market develop there?
! What about the future of volunteer tourism in general? Will this become a global
trend?
And finally: Does the concept of volunteer tourism provide a platform for product
innovations as well as supporting new cross sector partnerships for sustainable
development in tourism?
Structure of the work
The work is divided into four main parts. Part A focuses on the concept of volunteer
tourism. It will introduce the concept by deconstructing this term and delivering definitions
as well as categorizing this segment of travel within other tourism segments while also
looking at the historical background of this phenomenon. This first part will provide the
conceptual framework needed as a basis for the master's thesis and the following chapters.
After setting the context and establishing the theoretical framework in Part A, I will turn
my attention to the complex issue of understanding the volunteer tourism market.
The purpose of Part B is to investigate the volunteer tourism market. Though the focus will
be on the supply side, the aspects of both supply and demand will be taken into account.
3
The question of volunteer tourism, its sustainability, the opportunities for product
innovations as well as new cross sector partnerships will be discussed. To conclude Part B
"Understanding the Volunteer Tourism Market" the main findings will be summarized and
the research questions connected to this first part of the master's thesis will be answered.
before taking the German Market and its potential into account.
Part C will discuss the current role of volunteer tourism in Germany. From the analysis of
the current situation in Germany, hypothesis will be developed in order to predict the future
of volunteer tourism as a concept and a trend in Germany and how volunteer tourism is
going to develop over time.
In Part D Experts, who cover the range of existing and potential players within the
volunteer tourism industry, as well as stakeholders, are interviewed to further investigate
the German market. As a result, a picture of volunteer tourism in Germany will be
presented. In order to conclude the initial question "
Is the German market ready?" an
outlook of the German market will be given on the basis of the hypothesis and the findings
of the exploratory study conducted for the purpose of considering driving forces as well as
barriers for the concept of volunteer tourism.
Finally an outlook on potentials of the concept of volunteer tourism as well as the
limitations will be provided. Additionally suggestions as well as future research questions
will be formulated due to the remaining gaps in the research in this field.
Methodology
Due to the broad nature of the volunteer tourism phenomenon, a multidisciplinary approach
will be used in order to answer the research questions and to explore this phenomenon from
different perspectives and disciplines including tourism and leisure studies, sociology and
psychology as well as economic studies. In order to set the context and create an
understanding of the concept of volunteer tourism from a theoretical perspective, an
international literature review was done. Due to the popularity of this travel segment in the
UK, U.S as well as Australia, the analysis will mainly be based on literature from and
research conducted in these countries. Due to the fact that research sources on volunteer
tourism have been very limited and fragmented and come mainly from the UK, US and
Australia, this master's is written in English. The choice of this language also takes into
account the fact that volunteer tourism as well as its research community seems to be a
global phenomenon.
Because of the fact that volunteer tourism is a very new research discipline, different
methods of research are applied from secondary research to primary research. Web based
research has had to be added, specifically in regards to the analysis of the supply aspect of
4
the volunteer tourism market. Travel literature as well as press coverage on the topic were
an important research source as well. Due to the lack of empirical and theoretical
exploration, there was the need to draw on broader tourism literature as well as literature
and research on volunteerism. Various approaches have to be considered along with their
practical applications. Secondary research on both, the supply and demand side, will be
taken into consideration in order to get a complete picture of the volunteer tourism market.
However, the main focus will be on exploring the supply side of this emerging market.
Therefore, no consumer primary research will be provided.
For the German market, an exploratory study with expert interviews on
the basis of semi-
structured questionnaires was conducted in order to forecast the path of volunteer tourism.
This kind of primary research was needed in order to conclude the initial question "Is the
German market ready for the volunteer tourism Market?"
This qualitative study aims to
gain insight into the views and attitudes of experts and stakeholders on the new concept of
volunteer tourism. On the basis of the findings of the exploratory study, conducted for the
purpose of considering driving forces as well as barriers for the concept of volunteer
tourism, an outlook on the German market will be given. This exploratory study aims to
provide a data basis for further research to be conducted for the German market.
One has to take into consideration that this master's thesis is not aiming to provide a global
study on volunteer tourism. Nevertheless, in order to illustrate the diversity of products
offered and organizations providing a volunteer tourism experience, international examples
are used in order to illustrate its diversity as well as to bridge theory with practice.
5
Part A: The Concept of Volunteer Tourism
In this first part the concept of volunteer tourism will be introduced by deconstructing the
term volunteer tourism, providing definitions and putting volunteer tourism into its
historical context as well as reviewing how it is embedded into other tourism segments.
WHERE
Context
WHO
Characteristics
WHY
Motivation
WHAT
Definition
The objective of this chapter is to provide a theoretical foundation which subsequent
chapters can refer to and build on to form an overall picture that will help to demonstrate
the scope and diversity of volunteer tourism. In order to accomplish this, a literature review
is presented to clarify and analyze this new trend in tourism from a theoretical perspective.
1. Defining Volunteer Tourism and Setting the Context
"To have a holiday and actively contribute to the destination you are visiting."
Source: Go Differently (2007): www.godifferently.com
This short and very simple description of the nature of volunteer tourism taken from the
website of a provider demonstrates the general concept. For marketing purposes, a new
term has been created "Voluntourism", combining both terms: volunteering and tourism.
This term highlights the connection of two worlds that are not usually perceived together.
What is behind the phenomenon of volunteer tourism? What makes it difficult to get closer
to the nature of volunteer tourism is that this interdisciplinary research field has attracted
very little systematic research and no readily agreed upon definition currently exists. There
is a lack of scholarly attention given to volunteering by leisure studies specialists.
Therefore, research on empirical data and on many aspects of volunteer tourism are lacking
within this relatively new research field. Tourism literature has generally neglected the
6
growing area of this tourism phenomenon. There is obviously a gap between the practical
relevance of this phenomenon as an emerging market and its importance as the subject of
academic research. As Wearing states: "Volunteer tourism has been the subject of selective
pragmatism rather than a specific definition or method (...)" (2001: 1). However, some
literature and research has been published in Australia, the U.S as well as in UK due to the
popularity of this segment of the travel market in these countries.
Compared to the lack of theoretical research on volunteer tourism, there is a huge amount
of media coverage as well as web pages and travel guides to be found. When thinking of
volunteer tourism, one usually has different areas in mind like International Volunteering,
alternative tourism, social work and conservation corps work. Contemporary volunteer
tourism suffered from a lack of differentiation from other forms of tourism or volunteering.
What is missing is the recognition of its more specific identity. Due to the lack of
empirical and theoretical exploration, there was the need to draw on broader tourism
literature as well as literature and research on volunteerism.
The term volunteer tourism has to be deconstructed in order to understand the nature of the
concept combining volunteerism and tourism in order to gain a clearer picture of the
concept. The following section will fill this gap by deconstructing the term volunteer
tourism into its various components and then putting volunteering in the tourism context. In
order to set the context by deconstructing the term volunteer tourism and providing a
theoretical framework, we will start with the definition of the term tourism itself.
Tourism is described as "the activities of persons traveling to and staying in places outside
their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and
other purposes
" (WTO, 1995: 30).
This definition of tourism has been chosen as a starting point for this chapter because it
takes a slightly broader view of the purpose of tourism. It does not just focus exclusively
on leisure or recreational purposes and therefore offers a platform to integrate other aspects
and purposes of tourism like volunteering while being on vacation.
Volunteer tourism has its roots in "volunteerism", which implies that individuals offer their
service and devote leisure time in order to do something meaningful and participate in
goodwill activities without receiving pay. It is relatively rare in both the study of leisure
and the study of volunteerism and citizen participation to find these two concepts
considered together. The reason for this could be that volunteering is seen "as somewhat
more lofty as (...) the fun and frivolity often associated with leisure" (Henderson, 1984: 58
cited in Stebbins/Graham 2004: 9). Nevertheless, the perception of volunteering has been
broadened by some scientists. Very early Boulding (1973:31 cited in Stebbins/Graham,
2004: 8) theorized that voluntary service borders on leisure, frequently even overlapping it.
Alex Dickson observed that leisure is seen as part of voluntary action and does in fact
"carry this spare-time connotation" (1974:.xiii cited in Stebbins/Graham, 2004:8). As an
7
example of empirical research, Parker reported findings from research on a group of peace
workers. Even if they worked for the serious cause of peace they considered this work to be
part of their leisure (1987, cited in Stebbins/Graham 2004: 8).
This allows the perception of volunteering as a leisure experience. With an international
assessment "Volunteering as Leisure and Leisure as Volunteering", Stebbins/Graham
(2004) contributed to the leisure perspective of volunteering. This international assessment
provided a perception that has substantial cross cultural validity and applicability. The
perspective that volunteering is a form of serious leisure (Stebbins, 1997) which offers a
distinct set of rewards like self expression and self-actualization that has challenged as well
as relocated researchers in the field of volunteering who are of the opinion "that conceiving
of volunteering as leisure trivializes the former, implying in the extreme case that
volunteers are, at bottom, selfish, unreliable and prone to giving least effort" (Stebbins,
2004:3). In the past, volunteering was more tied to the experience when volunteering was
readily explained as that of unselfish service to the community:
"A volunteer must have some altruistic motive" (...) to be considered a volunteer, altruism
must be the central motive where the reward is intrinsic to the act of volunteering. The
volunteer's motive is a self-less on" (Bussel and Forbes, 2002:248).
Chamber on the other hand defines volunteering as "a work- like activity wherein a person
accomplishes a task without renumeration and at the same time, the activity, which is non-
coercive, provides many a satisfying experience" (1987, cited in Stebbins/Graham, 2004:
9).
Considering both definitions it is clear that even if altruistic associations with volunteering
seem to be dominant when talking about volunteers and their motives, there are a variety
of social and personal rewards available in volunteering. But it has to be taken into account
that perceived stereotypical images of volunteers and ideological assumptions have been
reproduced and continue to colour perceptions about volunteers, preventing them from
being fully understood. To illustrate this, the Britain's volunteering traditions serves as an
example. The altruistic label of respectability that remains attached to volunteering in UK
can be traced back to pre-industrial society. Volunteering activity emerged from the church
and was delivered as acts of selfless duty. During the rise of rapid industrialization and
urbanization, the British Voluntary Sector became a distinct, value laden tradition. The
attitude towards volunteering can still be coloured by stereotypical labels that associate
volunteering with the older middle class community. Britain's more serious volunteering
tradition can be viewed from two perspectives: either as a duty undertaken by privileged
people with leisure time to support worthy causes or alternatively as a pursuit to further
enhance privilege and social status (Kendall and Knapp, 1996 cited in Graham 2004: 16).
8
As the example of the Britain's volunteering tradition shows and illustrates: preconceptions
and stereotypes have become attached to volunteering thus making it difficult to
conceptualize and define volunteering. The following definition of voluntary action and the
motivation behind it offers an umbrella under which a wide range of volunteer contexts,
like volunteer tourism, fit and allow for new patterns of volunteerism:
"Voluntary action can be explained as acts of active citizenship that provide some form of
benefit to the community without reciprocal financial reward being the primary
motivator"(Graham, 2004: 18).
Volunteerism and its importance in society, even the where, when and why to volunteer, is
constantly changing. It is obvious that volunteering and its perception require a dynamic
approach in order to understand its current role in society. Therefore, we will now look at
changing patterns of volunteerism. The following quotation illustrates the need for a
dynamic approach with respect to volunteerism:
"
Volunteerism is like a living organism: grows, declines, changes in response to the stimuli
surrounding it. Driving forces and factors are the way we work, the way we view work,
changes in the society in general, changes in the availability of free time, changes in
motivation and attitude, all this has direct effects on volunteering, some patterns are
gaining importance while others fade away"(Arnova, 2005).
A new trend that shifts away from collective volunteerism to individualized volunteerism
as well as away from long-term commitments towards short term, are project based
assignments known as episodic volunteerism. Macduff identified episodic volunteering
almost 18 years ago as "service of short duration", performed on a one time only basis, or
work on a specific project or assignment that reoccurs annually" (Macduff, 1990).
As a newly emerging area of volunteering, we have to mention corporate volunteerism. In
the last 20 years there has been a growth in employee volunteering through, for instance,
workplace programs in the USA. By the 1970´s corporations were using their philanthropy
strategically to form alliances in the community to position themselves as good corporate
citizens. Corporate volunteerism begins in the 1980´s when IBM intentionally linked
philanthropy and volunteerism to its Human Resource Strategies. Corporate volunteering is
one element of the Corporate Social Responsibility strategy with the following benefits for
the company: a better relationship to the community, a better public image, increased
employee retention, better recruiting and the position of a good corporate citizen.
(Kotler/Lee, 2005: 175-185).
Having reviewed some of the emerging styles of volunteerism we have to look into its
developments. Changes in volunteerism development are a result of larger societal shifts as
argued by Hustinx/Lammertyn (2003). In the first half of the century, the reasons for
volunteering were strong social and civic bonds that encouraged and promoted volunteer
9
commitment. Strong social connections, such as religious and civic associations, fostered
and promoted a form of volunteerism that no longer exists because there is no longer an
emphasis on or tendency towards collective action. Furthermore, Hustinx & Lammertyn
(2003) argue that society's change leads to reflexive volunteerism that is individualized
rather than collective:
"Nowadays, willingness to participate in volunteering seems to be more dependent on personal
interests and needs than on service ethic and a sense of obligation to community. Motivated by a
search for self realization, volunteers demand great freedom of choice and clearly limited
assignments with tangible outcomes. Volunteer activities have to be spectacular and participate for
the sake of belonging to group-bound organizations, but are more pragmatically focused on the
service offered or activities undertaken" (Hustinx/Lammertyn, 2003:168- 17).
As a result, this framework of episodic volunteering and the shift from collective to
individualized volunteerism primarily focuses on personal interests and allows a greater
freedom of choice. While offering limited assignments, it could serve as a framework and
lead the way to explaining volunteer tourism as a newly emerging style of reflexive
volunteerism. The pattern of episodical volunteering is an individual approach to
volunteering that is characterized by limited assignments and more flexibility in
which volunteer activities are built around availability, interests, skills, motivations and
commitment. It provides a platform under which the new style of volunteerism, called
volunteer tourism, fits.
Volunteer tourists do merge volunteerism and travel with the
purpose of creating a unique tourist experience as well as travel in a way which makes a
difference and gives something back to the destination and the community they travel to.
Defining episodic volunteers as those preferring short term volunteering assignments or
tasks, it becomes apparent that specific volunteering opportunities overlap in the perception
of volunteer tourists and episodic volunteers.
While keeping the pattern of episodical volunteering as a sign of change in volunteer
lifestyle in mind, with this theoretical approach of volunteering as a serious leisure
perspective we go a step further, merging volunteerism with travel, thus defining the
phenomenon volunteer tourism as a newly emerging pattern of volunteering. In one of the
first and most comprehensive treatments of volunteer tourism focuses on the volunteer
tourism experience. Wearing (2001) provided a definition on volunteer tourism that
integrates the leisure perspective, the holiday context, as well as the variety of activities in
the field of environmental work, research and community development.
"The term volunteer tourism applies to those tourists who, for various reasons, volunteer
in an organized way to undertake holidays that might involve aiding or alleviating the
material poverty of some groups in society, the restoration of certain environments or
research into aspects of society or environment"(Wearing, 2001: 1).
10
The volunteer tourist experience is defined as " a direct interactive experience that causes
value change and changed consciousness in the individual which will subsequently
influence lifestyle, while providing forms of community development that are required by
local communities" (Wearing, 2001: p.x). Wearing pointed out that there are various
reasons, not just altruistic motives, why people get actively involved in delivering a service
to the destination:
"They are seeking a tourist experience that is mutually beneficial, that will contribute not
only to their personal development but also positively and directly to the social, natural
and/or economic environments in which they participate."(Wearing, 2001:1).
When referring to the definitions on volunteering mentioned above, an additional aspect
has to be highlighted when referring to contemporary volunteer tourism: These volunteers
not only not receive a financial reward for their voluntary action, volunteer tourists even
have to pay to get this kind of experience and are willing to do that (Singh,2002). After
deconstructing the term volunteer tourism into its components, tourism and volunteerism,
the following definition will highlight the nature of volunteer tourism perceived as a new
kind of tourist experience serving as an add on to the typical holiday experience. The
typical holiday experience is enhanced by integrating a proportion of voluntary service as
an add on to the existing holiday package "as a seamlessly integrated combination of
voluntary service to a destination and the best, traditional elements of travel-arts, culture,
geography and history in that destination."(Voluntourism.org: 2007). This definition
successfully eliminates the contradiction of putting volunteering and tourism together and
adds a key word in its definition: Service. From this point on one can state that Volunteer
tourism can be considered "Service Tourism" (Aabo, 2006:9).
The definition of volunteer tourism provided by Wearing, however, does not differentiate
in age of participants, skills and qualifications needed, level of involvement, duration of
involvement in a project and the extend to which the project focuses on self development
and/or altruistic contribution as the underlying motivational factor. Volunteer tourism is
becoming increasingly ambiguous in definition and context. According to Callanan
/Thomas (2005), it is therefore necessary to deconstruct the concept and include
these factors. A new framework for volunteer tourism was developed that provides a
general conceptualization of the range of volunteer tourism projects and the volunteer
tourists involved. The table below gives an overview of the classification of Volunteer
Projects ranging from category to shallow, intermediate and deep. The shallow volunteer
project promotes the experience to be gained from the trip, offers flexible duration and
short term assignments and does not require specific skills or qualifications. It furthermore
has to be mentioned that the volunteer project itself is promoted as secondary to the
destination.
11
Table 1: Conceptual framework for Volunteer Tourism projects (Callanan/Thomas: In: Novelli,
2005: 198)
The deep volunteer tourism project, on the other spectrum, seeks individuals with specific
qualifications and skills, actively encourages volunteers to commit to as long a time period
as possible and provides pre-departure training material about the project. The destination
is promoted too, but this is secondary to the information of the project itself. The
intermediate volunteer tourism project is in the middle of this spectrum and focuses on
promoting both the project and the additional travel opportunities available to the volunteer.
These projects focus on the financial support of the project as well as the project's
contribution to the local community or /and environment (Callanan/Thomas 2005: 196-
199). The conceptual framework provided for volunteer tourism projects and the
classification helps to clarify and can be used as the basis for further future primary
research. Having deconstructed the term volunteer tourism within a dynamic environment
and defining the term volunteer tourism within the discussion on new emerging patterns of
volunteerism and new styles of volunteerism, the next chapter will provide an overview of
the historical context of volunteer tourism and the factors that have driven its development.
2. Historical Context of Volunteer Tourism
Tourists wanting to "give back" as an integral part of their vacation experience is not a
completely new concept: tourists have involved themselves in scientific or academic work
projects, donating money to the destination they visit or visiting schools or orphanages
while on tour. But how does one explain this development? If volunteer tourism is not a
totally new concept, what are the roots? The ethics of volunteer tourism reflect a longer
12
tradition of non-commercial social movement activism also called advocacy tourism
(Pezullo, 2007: see www.voluntourism.org). There are many organizations, especially
environmental organizations that have used tours as a way of providing opportunities to
bear witness and to serve as advocates for environmental and social justice. It is important
to consider that volunteer tourism is not something new or an isolated development, it is a
part of a longer history of grassroots efforts that realize that tourism can do more and draw
people's attention to environmental as well as social issues.
The modern phenomenon of traveling overseas as a volunteer in order to get actively
involved appears to have begun in about 1915 and has involved a variety of organizations
and groups throughout the world.
3
The Peace Corps, United Nations Volunteers and
Voluntary Service Overseas (UK), just to mention some, have been sending volunteers for
many years as a kind of cross national volunteerism. However, the development of
organizational volunteering and specifically international volunteering has occurred without
it having been considered as a form of tourism (Wearing in Stebbins, 2004: 210).
To consider and understand the current popularity of volunteer tourism, it is obvious that
the media played a key role in promoting volunteerism. The success of international
initiatives like Live Aid provided a new promotional outlet for the voluntary and charity
sectors as well as resulting in an increased and improved image of voluntary work.
(http://www.makepovertyhistory.org). This growing attention offered new opportunities to
charities to promote their cause as well as create new opportunities for motivated people to
get involved (Callahan/Thomas, 2005: 185).
Volunteer tourism is a new style of volunteering, open to a wide range of potential
volunteers, individuals as well as corporations with reference to corporate volunteer
programs. Volunteer tourism is not a new concept but rather is based on the long tradition
of cross national volunteering: what is new is the blending of service oriented activities and
direct hands-on involvement with the traditional tourist diversion (Xola Consulting, 2007).
Contemporary volunteer tourism is new as a growing commercial trend: the marketing term
"Voluntourism" illustrates the mass marketing approach to service. Factors like growth in
volunteer projects, the variety of destinations promoted, diversity in target markets, the type
of players involved, from charities to tour operators as well as the increasing competitive
nature of this sector have facilitated the growth of this sector (Callanan/Thomas,
2005:186).
After deconstructing the term volunteer tourism, examining new emerging patterns of
volunteerism and the historical context of volunteer tourism the next chapter focuses on the
question of how volunteer tourism is embedded into other segments of tourism. How does
one place volunteer tourism within other tourism segments and how can the volunteer
tourism experience be distinguished from the mass tourism experience? Can we draw the
3
see Gillette, 1968; Clark, 1978, Australian Volunteers Abroad 1989, Beigbeder, 1991; Darby, 1994
13
line and separate volunteer tourism from mass tourism? These questions will be the focus
of this chapter. Different approaches will be introduced and then put together in order to
understand how the concept of volunteer tourism can be embedded into other tourism
segments.
3. Volunteer tourism within other tourism segments
"Volunteer tourism appears able to offer an alternative direction where profit objectives
are secondary to a more altruistic desire over profit motives in order to assist
communities" (Wearing 2001:12).
As the quotations illustrate Wearing formally categorizes volunteer tourism as a form of
alternative tourism and as an alternative to mass tourism. While defining the volunteer
tourism experience as an alternative to the mass tourism experience, he identifies the
ecotourism element as well as the serious leisure element as interactive elements within the
volunteer tourism experience (Wearing, 2001: 46-50). The following figure provides a
framework in which to locate the volunteer tourism experience as a kind of alternative
tourism experience.
Figure 1 on the following page illustrates the division of tourism into two broad categories:
mass and alternative tourism. The category of alternative tourism is broad and flexible in
order to provide an umbrella for various forms of tourism having one thing in common: all
are to be seen as alternatives to mass tourism considered as conventional, standard and
large scale tourism. Volunteer tourism is defined as a form of alternative tourism that
overlaps with a variety of other alternative tourism segments. Therefore volunteer tourism
could be embedded into other tourism segments like cultural, educational, scientific,
ecotourism, rural tourism as well as adventure tourism. The variety of options and overlaps
do not make it easy to separate it clearly, but it shows the interferences with other niches as
well as the complexity.
14
Figure 1: Conceptual schema of alternative tourism (Wearing, 2001:30, adapted from Mieczkowski
(1995: 460)
Figure 2 shows that volunteer tourism can also be linked to social tourism and moral
tourism (Butcher, 2003) as well as serious leisure (Stebbins, 1992).
Figure 2: Categorizing volunteer tourism (Callanan/Thomas, 2005:185)
As the next step I would like to analyze the relationship between mass tourism and
alternative tourism in reference to volunteer tourism. Figure 3 helps to understand how
volunteerism, serious leisure and volunteer tourism are embedded in alternative and mass
tourism as well as its overlaps into other tourism segments.
15
Figure 3: Conceptual schema of alternative tourism and its relationship to ecotourism, serious
leisure and volunteering (Wearing, 2004, in Stebbins/Graham, 2004:211)
With this more integrated approach I will go a step further by introducing the concept of
niche tourism. The concept of niche tourism has emerged in recent years in counter point to
what is commonly referred to as "mass tourism". Referring Novelli "Niche tourism is an
economy of imagination, where individual preferences and practices are coordinated,
packaged and sold" (2005: 4).
The concept of niche tourism, in comparison to the approach to mass tourism, implies a
more sophisticated set of practices that distinguish and differentiate tourists and therefore
the potential to provide this alternative tourism experience. According to Novelli (2005:4)
niche tourism represents diversity and ways of marking differences in a globalised world of
increasing "sameness". For the purpose of this paper I will argue that volunteer tourism
can be analyzed and placed under the umbrella of niche tourism that is viewed as a form of
specialty tourism. By taking into account the consumer's perspective and needs when
looking at the components of the volunteer tourism experience, we are more apt to look at
the concepts from the consumer's perspective which enables us to go beyond the
categorization of mass and alternative tourism that is often coloured with moral
considerations.
As the following Figure 4 shows, the starting point of this analysis is tourism activity and
not the separation of mass and alternative tourism. The term alternative tourism is replaced
by niche tourism which is described as special interest, culture and/or activity based
tourism involving small numbers of tourists in authentic settings. There are a variety of
16
micro niches, including volunteer tourism emerging from specific tourist's interests. Other
sub-categories belong to these niches. For example: the micro niche environmental tourism
has sub niches like nature and wildlife, ecotourism as well as adventure tourism. One could
argue that there are other ways of categorizing tourism activities under micro tourism
niches.
Figure 4: Niche Tourism Components Novelli (2005: 9)
However, one thing that must be taken into consideration is that these kinds of tourism
niches containing a variety of sub niches demonstrate an alternative tourism development
resulting from the change in consumer's needs and the need of diversification of tourist
products. Callanan; Thomas (2005: 183) argue that volunteer tourism is a major growth
area in contemporary tourism and the consequence of "a restless society, jaded from the
homogeneous nature of traditional tourism products, and seeking alternative tourism
experience". Niche tourism is a growing segment of the tourism industry with a growing
diversity of niche tourism products and services. To come back to our initial question:
Where to place Volunteer Tourism? This chapter showed that in literature, the volunteer
tourism experience is perceived as an alternative tourism experience that overlaps with
other tourism segments. But this separation of mass and alternative tourism bears the
problem of definition and implies the dilemma of value and morale. Therefore we have
chosen the niche marketing approach in order to explain the differences between
conventional and alternative tourism from the consumer's viewpoint. Volunteer tourism is
a niche tourism component and, for the tourism industry, a market to be served. Focusing
on the consumer needs it becomes clear that the niche tourism approach indicates the need
for product innovations and diversification in the tourism industry.
17
Having examined volunteer tourism within the mass and alternative tourism market and
detecting much interference with rural, ecotourism, cultural tourism and research tourism,
we will now review where volunteer tourism and adventure tourism intersect. The growth
of the adventure travel industry is matched by an increased variety and types of activities
available to consumers. Adventure tourism is an increasingly widespread phenomenon with
no agreed-upon definition. A general consensus regarding a definition of adventure tourism
is lacking, but there are certain activities that clearly fit within the adventure travel
category. Adventure literature has been limited to studies that primarily focus on physical
risks, neglecting the subjective nature of adventure (Sung, Morisson/O´Leary, 1997).
Research has largely focused on physical forms of adventure tourism and leisure, but there
are also non physical types of adventures that are primarily emotional, spiritual and
intellectual and therefore could be perceived as non physical forms of adventure.
Swarbrooke (2003) examined the diversity of adventure tourism based on activities as key
product, pointing out that the picture of what an adventure is has to be broadened to
understand the nature of adventure tourism ranging from physical adventures, like climbing
and trekking but also non physical adventures that are recognized as mental challenges or
emotional adventures under the umbrella of personal growth.
To go more into detail and illustrate this, according to Swarbrooke adventure tourism "
appeals to an expanding proportion of the population who are seeking self- fulfillment and
excitement through participating in physically and mentally stimulating activities, traveling
to remote destinations or engaging in "adrenaline-rush" experiences as part of their
tourist experience" (2003: 55). These activities could range from whale watching to white
water rafting, research expeditions, trekking but also to self discovery holidays or volunteer
holidays perceived as mentally stimulating activity with an opportunity to engage in
cultural exchange, social or environmental work as well as searching for a meaningful,
adventurous holiday experience.
These categories reflect the broad nature of the adventure tourism phenomenon and the
many links it has with other forms of tourism. Adventure tourism clearly overlaps with
other tourism types, but still adventures have a number of distinguishing attributes: they
take risks and thrive from mental or physical challenge, they "seek out stimulation
experiences and they sometimes engage in adventure for personal development or reasons
of self esteem" (Swarbrooke, 2003:57). Adventure tourism's broad nature makes it possible
to put volunteer tourism, as an activity based form of tourism focusing on a non physical
challenge, under the umbrella of adventure tourism.
By setting the context, analyzing and defining the term volunteer tourism and its
components in Part A, the theoretical framework were built in order to provide an
understanding of the diverse and complex nature of the concept of volunteer tourism. Due
to the broad nature of volunteer tourism as well as the lack in research in this area, it was
not easy to systematically explore this new phenomenon. It became clear that volunteer
18
tourism is not a totally new concept when looking at the historical context and the history
of international volunteering. What are new are new emerging patterns shifting to short
term volunteering opportunities as an integral part of the holiday experience and the shift in
commercialization. Looking at other tourism segments, we found that there are overlaps to
other alternative forms of tourism. Volunteer tourism could be described as a niche
segment in the tourism market that fits under the umbrella of adventure tourism with
reference to adventures of the category of non physical but intellectual and emotional
challenges. Having provided a theoretical framework and a literature review in Part A, we
will go a step further taking into consideration the supply and demand perspective in order
to understand the volunteer tourism market in part B of this master's thesis.
Part B: Understanding the Volunteer Tourism Market
Spending meaningful holidays by combining holiday and volunteer work is becoming more
and more popular among vastly different demographic categories of people. As motivation
plays a major role in the holiday decision and behaviour, the first part of Part B
"Understanding the Volunteer Tourism Market" aims to learn more about the motivational
factors in order to understand the volunteer tourist. The second chapter of Part B will then
focus on the supply side aiming to understand the Volunteer Tourism industry as provider
and "producer" of the volunteer tourism experience and its structure as well as the
players involved.
1. The Demand Side: Understanding the Volunteer Tourist
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. Why would somebody spend one's vacation time, or at least part of it, as
well as money to travel someplace to do what most consider work? Newsweek
International (2005) 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 (...). But is it all
about purely altruistic motives or are there other motives to explain the behaviour of
volunteer tourists? What needs do they want to satisfy by adding a volunteer component to
their vacation? How do we differentiate the volunteer tourist from the mainstream tourist?
This question will be answered in order to understand the Volunteer Vacation Tourist. This
chapter aims to provide a conceptual framework of volunteer tourists, based on their
motivations as well as give an outlook at the development of the demand for volunteer
tourism by reviewing surveys as well as changing consumer patterns. Direct or indirect
19
indicators will be presented in order to predict the future and the growth potential of this
niche travel segment.
It has to be mentioned that no primary research or consumer survey will be provided, as
this is not the focus of the master's thesis. Nevertheless, understanding the supply side of
the volunteer tourism market is not possible without looking deeper into what motivates the
consumer. I will therefore draw on research done in the volunteerism sector as well
as review a selection of motivational models in tourism and the research done, if available,
on the motivation of volunteer tourists. Due to the fact that little research has been done on
the motivation of volunteer tourists, we will try do adapt and transfer findings from
adventure tourist motivation research. It has to be mentioned that volunteers cannot be
considered to be one large, homogenous group, as they are of all ages and diverse
backgrounds: Volunteers are diverse group, active in a wide variety of contexts. This makes
it difficult to understand them and their motives.
1.1. Motivation of Volunteer Tourists
In order to understand the volunteer tourist motivation, I will start with reviewing the prior
research on volunteerism that has been done on volunteers and their motivations in
different contexts. A great deal of work on volunteering has been carried out in the United
States with many studies examining volunteerism in specific organizations or among
particular groups of people.
4
In order to find out more about the motivational factors of
volunteer tourists, we will first of all look again at one definition on what a volunteer in
general is:
"A volunteer must have some altruistic motive" (...) to be considered a volunteer, altruism
must be the central motive where the reward is intrinsic to the act of volunteering. The
volunteer's motive is a self-less on" (Bussel/Forbes, 2002:248).
The definition above seems to be too narrow, particularly when taking into account our
objective to review what factors do motivate volunteers in the context of holiday volunteer
work. There is evidence that altruism exists in many types of voluntary activity (Unger,
1991 cited in Bussell, Forbes, 2002). But as Cnaan and Goldberg-Glen (1991) demonstrate
as well as an altruistic motive, volunteers tend also to act on egoistical motives. Research in
volunteerism acknowledges that volunteers seek to gain considerable personal benefits,
including self satisfaction and social and personal well being.
5
Individuals and
organizations volunteer for reasons other than purely altruistic motives (Bussel/Forbes
(2002). Altruism plays an important role but it is more complex. Therefore, it is important
to develop a greater understanding of the motives for volunteerism or the psychological
"functions" (Clary et al., 1999) that volunteering serves.
4
see Smith, 1994
5
see Henderson, 1981, 1984
20
Clary and Snyder (1998) have identified six personal and social functions potentially
served by volunteering by drawing on functional theorizing about the reasons, purposes and
motivations underlying human behaviour. This functionalist research has lead to the
development of a scale, called Volunteer Function Inventory (VFI). The VFI measures
psychological functions associated with volunteering. The six functions which were
identified concerning the generic motivations of volunteerism are the following: Value,
Understanding, Social, Career, Protective, and Enhancement. The following Table 2
describes details the various functions:
Value expression
function
Individuals who volunteer in service do so in order to express values
that are related to altruistic and humanitarian concerns for other
Under-standing
Volunteer
Function
Opportunity for new learning experiences
Social Functions
The relationship the volunteer has with others, Volunteer
experience offers a variety of opportunities for individuals to engage
in an activity being viewed favorable by others
Career Volunteer
Function
Volunteering may also serve the function or satisfies the need of
career related benefits. It may be a means of preparing for a new
career or maintaining skills
Protective
Function
This function is concerned with processes related to the function of
the ego. An individual may volunteer to reduce guilty feelings of
being more fortune than others or confront their own personal
problems
Enhancement
Function
In contrast to the protective function of trying to eliminate negative
feelings related to the volunteers ego , this function is served by a
motivation for the growth of one's ego, through individual personal
development
Table 2: Six Functions: Functionalist perspective to understand volunteers, adapted from Clary,
Snyder, 1998 in Stebbins/Graham, (2004: 90)
This functional framework of volunteerism could be used as basis in order to explore other
meaningful variations of functions or needs being met based on differences in volunteer
activities and settings (Clary et al., 1998). It could be argued that the functionalistic
perspective to understanding volunteers has implications for the understanding of volunteer
tourists. Therefore the functionalist approach could be utilized in research specific to
volunteer tourist experience and provided a theoretical framework. The set of functions
proposed by the functionalist theorist are all relevant to understanding the motivations of
volunteers and the motivation of the volunteer tourists.
21
When analyzing volunteerism, no matter in which settings and context, one has to bear in
mind that "acts of volunteerism that appear to be quite similar on the surface may reflect
different underlying motivational processes" (Clary et al., 1998, cited in Stebbins 2004,
90). Though different people can engage in activities that on the surface seem similar, they
may be doing so for very different reasons and serving very different psychological
functions with regard to context and setting.
Now we will introduce the Travel Career Ladder Model, based on the Maslow's Hierarchy
of needs, in order to understand tourist motivation and review what implications the model
has on explaining the motivation of volunteer tourists. The ladder is an adaptation of
Maslow's original five fold hierarchical system of human motivation (Maslow, 1976) and
is based on the approach that individuals have a "travel career" in their tourist behaviour.
During their travel career, people seek to satisfy higher level needs or motives through their
holidays.
Figure 5: The travel career ladder, in Swarbrooke, (2003: 68)
There are five motivational levels ranked from low to high-level needs:
!
concern with biological needs including relaxation
!
Level of stimulation/ safety and security needs
!
Relationship development
!
Self development needs
22
The theory distinguishes between intrinsic and extrinsic motivations at the four level of the
system. The highest level, fulfillment, is only based on intrinsic motivation and purely self
directed (Pearce, 1996: 13 in Swarbrooke, 2003:68). When we apply this framework to
volunteer tourists, it is evident that the majority would strive to accomplish high level
needs. It is about peak experiences that could lead to dream fulfillment or inner harmony.
These are all motives which can be found at the top of the travel career ladder. Dream
fulfillment could be experienced when combing holiday and volunteering. This kind of
adventures that are non physical, like volunteer adventures, can result in the actualization of
high- level needs. The Travel Career Ladder Model developed by Pearce (1993) provided
an expansive framework to identify the needs that a tourist is fulfilling when traveling. This
model has implications to the analysis of the motivational factors of volunteer tourists.
Now a motivation travel model of volunteer tourists, developed by Brown, will be
introduced to help explain the volunteer tourist's motives. This model is based, similarly to
the travel career ladder model on the Maslow's Hierarchy of needs, but this motivational
model is more a process oriented model (Brown, 2001). Those participating in volunteer
tourism have fulfilled their physiological and safety needs. Volunteer tourists like the idea
of belonging to a group and team-oriented activities. They aspire to fulfill their self esteem.
B = Basics
The basics in someone's life must be fulfilled prior to having the luxury of considering a
vacation on a regular basis. Similar to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, focusing on life's
basic needs is the main concentration at this level: security, job/career, food, home, health.
R = Relaxation, Rest, and Renewal
On this level of the Brown scale an individual has life's basics under control and they are in
need of rejuvenation. They need to get away and have a change of scenery from their
regular routine. Vacations that encompass the three "Ss", sun, sand, and surf, are often
pursued to meet the needs of this individual. It is bringing life back into balance by taking
a physical and mental rest from every day life.
O = Oneness
At this level an individual is looking for something more than just relaxing. They want to
connect with themselves, family, friends and the world community at large. "Oneness"
brings life balance socially, emotionally, and possibly even spiritually.
W = Wanting
The wanting level is the desire to seek something different. Tourists want to make a
difference and are searching for a meaningful experience and they want to have a new
experience. They want to be more of a "traveler" than just a tourist.
23
N = Now
The person at this level is not living in the past or dwelling on the future. They are
enriched by living in the present, the "now" state. They don't need a fantasy vacation to
escape reality, but they want to experience the way things truly are in the world. In normal
day-to-day life, one is too busy to appreciate the moment.
It become clear that volunteer tourists seek something different and want to fulfill high
level needs. However, more research is needed in order to understand the decision making
process of volunteer tourists. Step by step I went on further to understand the motives
of volunteerism in the context of holidays providing the functional framework of
volunteerism, the travel career ladder model by Pearce and the Brown Motivational Model.
Now I will review the "push" and "pull" factors as central in motivating tourists. Dann
(1981, cited in Stebbins/Graham 2004: 216)) did motivational research in tourism and
identified "push" and "pull" factors as central in motivating tourists.
"Push factors are motives concerned with the social and psychological status of the
individual while pull factors, on the other hand, are motives aroused by the destination
rather than emerging exclusively from the traveler himself" (Crompton, 1979:410 cited in
Stebbins/Graham, 2004:216).
The theory of push and pull factors illustrates that based on their psychographic
characteristics, push factors are necessarily ranked higher for volunteer tourists than
mainstream tourists. Defining a tourist's motivation using the push and pull model is more
complex when applied to a specific market niche such as volunteer tourists, rather than
mainstream travelers. Internal push motives for volunteer tourists, like discovery,
enlightenment and personal growth, are important but the destination is more than simply a
pull motive to this group. A combination of volunteer tourist needs and the image they
have of the destination creates expectations that a volunteer tourist will have in order to be
satisfied. Kretchmann and Eagles (1990) found that the motivations of, for example,
ecotourists and those of the general tourist differed in relation to intrinsic versus extrinsic
motivation for travel. The general tourist is in most cases liked to feel at home when being
on holiday Volunteer tourists are also attracted by many of the elements that make up a
mainstream tourism experience, namely an attractive holiday destination. Therefore, we
can see similarities but also differences when comparing the importance of pull and push
factors for volunteer tourists on the one hand and mainstream tourists on the other hand.
But the adding of volunteering to the analysis of alternative tourism experience enables us
to differentiate volunteer tourism from forms of mass tourism that are solely focused on
relaxation and excitement. Although relaxation and excitement are of course also
components of alternative tourism experience, the volunteering here is a significant
differentiating component. This provides a strong platform for expanding the
conceptionalization of tourist experience (Wearing in Stebbins, 2004:214).
24
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- , 2008, Volunteer Tourism, Hamburg, Bedey Media GmbH, https://www.diplom.de/document/228355
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