Contextualizing the complexities of managing alternative tourism at the community-level: A case study of a nordic eco-village

To shed light on the complexities of fostering sustainability through alternative tourism, we explore the managerial contradictions and difficulties that arise as alternative tourism is developed in the name of sustainability at Sólheimar eco-village in Iceland. Following a focused ethnographic approach, we establish that those behind the management of volunteers, students and other guests regularly struggle to coordinate these respective groups in a manner that balances economic objectives with those relating to the environment and social equity. This is because limited human resources and strategic knowledge exist to fulfill all the host community's goals through alternative tourism. The findings reveal the need to conceptualize alternative tourism as a forum for discussion between host and guest over the complexities of generating sustainable development. This highlights the need for knowledge transmission over matters such as conflict resolution, critical reflection and cultural communication associated with the tourist experience at the community.     

Applying a transformative learning framework to volunteer tourism

This paper applies the educational theory of transformative learning to reconceptualising the practices of volunteer tourism. The theory of transformative learning posits a 10-step process to experience a radical shift in consciousness that dramatically and irreversibly alters how participants see their place in the world. Volunteer tourism has commonly been seen as a form of alternative tourism that provides a cathartic experience for the volunteer tourists and benefits to the hosting organisation and the natural and/or social environment of the project. Existing research suggests that these outcomes have not, as yet, been achieved by current practices in this sector. In referring to the theory of transformative learning we note that some, but not all, of the 10 steps have been applied and that we might therefore expect volunteer tourism to fall short of its promises. We conclude that the theory of transformative learning offers a useful framework for volunteer tourism, providing insights into the need to create opportunities for participants to complete the transformative process. We suggest that volunteer tourism organisations redesign their activities to include the remaining steps of transformative learning to improve their product for both the tourists and the sustainability outcomes of the projects.     

Re-conceptualizing volunteer tourism organizations roles: A host perspective

While volunteer tourism organizations (VTOs) remain important intermediaries in the practice of volunteer tourism, questions remain on the role they play in serving the interests of host communities. This paper explores the role(s) of VTOs in a rural volunteer tourism hub in Ghana from a host community perspective using a phenomenological inquiry. An integrated framework of Critical/Institutional Analysis and Development (C/IAD) was used to examine host community experience with VTOs' role. Data was collected through focus group discussion and in-depth interviews with 43 residents of Asebu - Ghana. The study revealed that while VTOs act as facilitators and interpreters of local culture, issues of over-regulation and protectionism isolate guests from the host as well as rob some host of any meaningful socio-economic benefits and interactions.     

A Cultural Encounter through Volunteer Tourism: Towards the Ideals of Sustainable Tourism?

International volunteering is increasingly recognised as a form of alternative tourism. However, the nature of the ‘alternative’ experience gained, and the ensuing narrative between host and volunteer, remains under-explored in published research, especially in volunteer tourism research within a cultural context in a developed nation. This paper examines the nexus between volunteer tourism and cultural tourism in the search for alternative and sustainable experiences through tourism. Qualitative research using in-depth interviews, diaries and participant observation was conducted to examine the pre-, during and post-trip experiences of 12 Australian visitors undertaking organised volunteer activities in an indigenous Maori community in the North Island of New Zealand during January 2005. Members of the indigenous Maori community were also interviewed to provide an important host perspective. Findings suggest that the nature of the interaction and cultural experiences gained were perceived as mutually beneficial and seemingly different from those gained from traditional cultural products. In particular, the volunteers experienced an alternative Maori cultural product and engaged in a different narrative with their Maori hosts through their volunteer work, one rich in authentic cultural content, genuine and reflective of modern Maori life in New Zealand society.     

Volunteer tourists’ perceptions of their impacts on marginalized communities

Abstract

Using a phenomenological approach, this study examines the experiences of volunteer tourists in host communities using social representations theory. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with volunteer tourists on perceived impacts on favela (slum) communities of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This study was developed to address a need for further research that critically looks at the social impacts of volunteer tourism in marginalized communities. It addresses the following question: How does volunteer tourism influence a marginalized community from the perspective of the volunteers? Notably, the majority of the volunteers in this study had difficulty describing how volunteer tourism has benefited the community beyond their own individual contributions, and it was difficult for them to see broader implications of volunteer tourism in general. Recommendations of management actions that will help to maintain and enhance the benefits and alleviate the negative consequences and obstacles that were perceived by volunteer tourists are given.     

Why volunteer teaching tourism? Empirical evidence from China

Volunteer teaching tourism, as a particular type of volunteer tourism supported by China government, has become an effective supplement to and acceleration for education development in the regions of China where education resources are limited. The motivation and experience of volunteers have a direct impact on the healthy and sustainable development of volunteer teaching tourism. This study therefore aims to identify motivation of Chinese youth participating in volunteer teaching tourism in China, and the relationships between motivation, satisfaction, and behavioral intention are further examined. Empirical results show that in addition to the six motives advanced by Clary et al. (1998), two unique motives are further identified: love of children and desire to travel. Among these eight motives, three have significant effects on post-trip satisfaction, and post-trip satisfaction further influences behavioral intention. The implications benefit both organizational and governmental bodies who seek to develop both national and international volunteer teaching tourism.     

THE POLITICS OF AESTHETICS IN VOLUNTEER TOURISM

In this paper I address the “politics of aesthetics” in volunteer tourism. By “aesthetics,” I mean two things. First, I adopt Jacques Ranciere’s notion of aesthetics as the structured way human sense is organized. I argue that volunteer tourism perpetuates an aesthetic structure that systematically depoliticizes the global economic inequality on which the experience is based. Second, drawing on recent scholarship in critical tourism studies as well as 16 months of ethnographic research in Chiang Mai, Thailand, I illustrate how volunteer tourists aestheticize the host community members’ poverty as authentic and cultural. This reframing contributes to the legitimization of volunteer tourism as a celebrated cultural practice that perpetuates the aestheticization rather than the politicization of poverty in the encounter.     

An Opinion Piece. A response to the Special Issue on volunteer tourism: the performative absence of volunteers

This short Opinion Piece reflects on the construction of volunteers in the Journal of Sustainable Tourism's recent Special Issue on Volunteer Tourism, Volume 22, Issue 6, 2014. The Issue indicates directions for future research and presents some productive cases of applied modes of knowledge production. This Opinion Piece notes that, despite the good work in the Special Issue, more research on the impacts of volunteer tourism on host communities is still overdue. But most importantly, however, running through the papers in the Issue, there is a problematic construction of volunteers as passive subjects of capitalism. As “consumers” or “clients”, it is argued that the Special Issue papers perceive volunteers through the very same logic of commodification that much of the research intends to push against. Drawing attention to the performativity of language and research outputs, the case is made for more careful attention to the ways researchers in volunteer tourism address subjects so that critical attention might be better aligned with our practices of representation. We should seek to preserve the potential of volunteers to bring about change, and resist the temptation to reproduce the very deleterious discursive realities we seek to bring to account: volunteers, before all else, volunteer.     

A triple lens measurement of host–guest perceptions for sustainable gaze in tourism

This paper investigates perception of self and others by hosts and guests, which may be critical for sustainability of a destination receiving tourists with different cultural backgrounds. Specifically, the study investigates self-perception of hosts and reciprocal perception between hosts and guests on several service personnel characteristics using importance and performance analysis. Thus, a triple lens of hosts’ evaluation of self, hosts’ evaluation of the guests, and hosts’ evaluation by the guests is involved in a multi-cultural tourism experience context. Results report differences between the lenses, hosts’ self-evaluation being harsher than guests’ evaluation of hosts. Suggestions are provided for destination marketing and management organizations to design effective tourism experiences for both hosts and guests for a more sustainable gaze between hosts and guests.     

Islamic pro-poor and volunteer tourism — The impacts on tourists: A case study of Shabake Talayedaran Jihad,Teheran — A research note

For the most part, researchers of pro-poor tourism have focused on the issues of poverty alleviation, and the recipient communities at the visited destination. By comparison relatively little has been said about the effect of travel and the tourist experience on the tourists themselves; a gap this study aims to correct. The present research is based on questionnaires from, and interviews with participants in the Shabake Talayedaran Jihad who were engaged in volunteer tourism in Iran. It was been found that pro-poor volunteer tourism has positive effects on attitudes about poverty, life attitudes, and personal and social skills. Further, based on the interviews, 16 other effect indices have been found which relate to the above classification. This paper contributes to the literature by filling a gap in the English language academic literature that relates to Iranian volunteer movements and its volunteers.     

Chinese international students’ psychological adaptation process in Korea: the role of tourism experience in the host country

This study aims to shed light on the effect of international students’ lifelong learning and dining experience during the trip in a host country on their psychological adaptation, place attachment, and sharing of tourism experience. Employing responses from 247 Chinese students in South Korea, a SEM (Structural Equation Modeling) technique was used for the analysis. The study found that lifelong learning positively influences dining-out flow experience, which in turn placed positive effects on psychological adaptation, place attachment, and sharing of tourism experience, whereas place attachment mediates the relationship between flow experience and both sharing of tourism experience and psychological adaptation.     

Mobilizing affect in the search for self-transformation: A case study of volunteer transformation in orphanage tourism

Emerging work in tourism has focused on the affective dimensions of student volunteer experiences across diverse cultural landscapes. Affect shapes how volunteers interpret their experiences in the developing world and make sense of themselves through these engagements. Synthesizing theoretical approaches of affect management/mobilization and frame analysis, this research contributes to affect theory by presenting a case study on how affect is managed and mobilized by a charismatic leader to elicit particular responses within the volunteer experience. Through intimate engagements with orphans and other American volunteers on the trip, participants visiting Malawi experience a poor, Christian yet joyful place that the leader contrasts to American inauthenticity. The leader prepares students for an emotionally charged experience meant to lead volunteers to self-transformation.     

Transformative tourism organizations and glocalization

This paper investigates how self-described transformative tourism practitioners engage with tourists and local stakeholders to provide what they perceive as a transformative experience for tourists via the use of glocalization strategies. Transformative tourism practitioners are constantly in search of nimble and sophisticated processes that acknowledge the viewpoints of both travelers and the local communities. They do this through glocalization strategies, which focus on designing experiences that celebrate the local cultural context while also taking the travelers' worldviews into consideration. An analysis of 37 in-depth interviews and organizational documentation reveals 16 glocalization strategies used to achieve three objectives: establish legitimacy in the local community, break down cultural barriers in the organization, and stage transformative encounters.     

Visitor centre staffing: Involving volunteers

Volunteer involvement in visitor centres has received little attention by tourism researchers despite the critical role staff play in welcoming tourists to a destination and promoting tourism activities. The community function of visitor centres - of which volunteering is part - has also been underplayed in previous research. Using data from a survey and interviews with visitor centre managers in Australia, this paper investigates the rationales for staffing visitor centres with volunteers and/or paid employees and, related to motivations for volunteering, the factors influencing the attractiveness of visitor centre volunteer programmes. The dominant rationales for involving volunteers are need, community involvement, visitor experience, and the personal qualities and motivations of volunteers. Visitor centre volunteering is attractive because of location and local pride, interactions with tourists and social relationships with other volunteers, and the reputation of the visitor centre and its volunteer programme.     

Volunteer tourism: On-the-ground observations from Rwanda

Volunteer tourism is the combination of leisure travel and voluntary work. Although it is increasing in popularity, one area that remains underexplored in the literature is the centrality of project facilitators in the on-the-ground experiences of volunteer tourists. This study, therefore, interrogates the relationship between facilitation and implementation of volunteer tourism experiences and the volunteer tourists’ lived experiences. By placing in conversation on-the-ground volunteer tourism experiences in Nyakinama, Rwanda with current literature in volunteer tourism, this study finds that volunteer tourism is a gratifying experience, especially as it relates to self-development, bonding with local people and experiencing of local lifestyle. The study, however, suggests that certain managerial actions and transparency measures must be introduced so as to maximize the social role of volunteer tourism.     

Host-Guest Dating

ABSTRACT

This article argues for the potential use of lifestyle segmentation in order to achieve psychographic matching between hosts and guests in Bed and Breakfast and homestay accommodation. The discussion draws on research conducted in home-hosted accommodation in New Zealand and Scotland that highlighted the central role that the host-guest interaction plays in guest experience and satisfaction. The idea is then developed as to the potential for tourism boards and other promotional bodies to conduct psychographic profiling on homestay hosts so that potential guests might match themselves for potential com-patibility with hosts. Whilst points of caution are noted, it is argued that such profiling could increase the possibilities of successful host-guest interaction and thus the quality of experience of both guests and hosts.     

Conceptualizing transformative guest experience at retreat centers

Transformative experience in a hospitality service setting is an under-addressed area. The aim of this study was to understand the transformative guest experience at retreat centers and highlight the mechanism that helped trigger the changes. The analysis of 119 online guest reviews about four popular retreats in Thailand dissected the transformative retreat experience, including guests’ pre-trip state of mind, domains of changes, retreat activity participation, and stimuli in the service environment. The changes were further conceptualized on a series of spectra based on durability, magnitude, and tangibility. The findings may serve as an integrative framework to understand the mechanism by which the retreat experience acts as a functional means to guests’ well-being and personal transformation. Theoretical and managerial implications of the findings were discussed, followed by recommendations for future research.     

志愿观光的体验研究:广州亚运信使观光团案例

20世纪80年代,志愿旅游在西方兴起,分为度假为主的志愿观光和志愿为主的志愿旅游两个类别。目前,国内外研究集中于后者,而文章则聚焦前者的体验。根据志愿经验和意愿以及志愿活动的组织水平,志愿观光者被划分为四类,拥有不同的观光和志愿体验组合,而志愿活动也被划分为四类,带来不同的体验。搭便车者和失望的信使更靠近大众旅游者,旅途信使感受到团队互动的归宿感和凝聚力,但真正信使的志愿感受最为丰富,触及到志愿精神的本质。志愿活动能否对旅游者产生影响取决于两个因素:志愿的需求和经验是首要因素,其次是志愿活动的设计和管理。文章最后为旅行社开发类似产品提供了营销策略。     

Tourist transformation: Towards a conceptual model

Despite growing interest in transformative tourism and its benefits, there is not yet a precise understanding of tourist transformation. This study contributes to fill this research gap by reviewing the contexts where transformative tourism research has emerged, and the main theories employed. Through a multi-disciplinary approach, the paper discusses key dimensions of transformative tourism experiences. The discussion suggests that liminality, cultural shock and challenges faced at the destination initiate transformation by provoking peak episodes, dilemmas and new performances. Contextual stimuli can lead tourists to reflectively interpret the experience and acquire skills, values and knowledge, with consequences on attitude, habits, and behaviour. A tourist transformation model is created, which provides a conceptual foundation for future research, and is relevant for designing and marketing transformative tourism experiences.     

Resident perceptions on cross-cultural understanding as an outcome of volunteer tourism programs: the Bahamian Family Island perspective

This paper examines the perceptions toward volunteer tourism from the viewpoint of Bahamian Family Island residents with a specific focus on cross-cultural understanding as an outcome. Cross-cultural understanding reflects the idea that there is a greater opportunity for exchange between tourists and residents as a result of volunteer tourism. Utilizing social exchange theory (SET), this research examines whether residents’ perceived benefits, positive impacts, negative impacts and support for volunteer tourism activities predict their support for cross-cultural understanding. Additionally, this study reveals factors contributing to residents’ motivation to participate in volunteer tourism activities within their community. A mixed-method research design that employed face-to-face interviews and quantitative surveys revealed eight major themes: Community Involvement, Empowerment, Sustainability, Education, Dependency, Neglect of Community Needs, Community Involvement and Communication. Multiple regression analysis results suggest partial support for SET and reveal new predictions for the support for cross-cultural understanding. Implications for volunteer tourism programs, host communities and national tourism organizations are discussed. Future research evaluating the volunteer–host relationship is warranted.