Does volunteer tourism promotes citizen engagement and empowerment?

Volunteer tourism is a rapidly growing form of alternative tourism with potential to benefit communities and facilitate development in resource poor and developing country contexts. This paper explores the complex... [ view full abstract ]

Volunteer tourism is a rapidly growing form of alternative tourism with potential to benefit communities and facilitate development in resource poor and developing country contexts. This paper explores the complex relationships that exist between volunteer tourism organizations and host communities. The objective was to understand the potential of volunteer tourism to promote community development and empower host communities to take control of their development process. An online questionnaire and telephone interviews acquired the perspectives of many organizations within the volunteer tourism industry, including organizations that recruit volunteers for service abroad and in-country organizations that receive international volunteer tourists. The on-line sample consisted of 134 volunteer tourism organizations based in the U.S.A., Canada, the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand that send volunteers to international destinations to work on environmental conservation or community development projects and 49 volunteer tourism organizations based in Latin America that offer or coordinate environmental conservation or community development programs for international volunteer tourists. Surveys were entered in to SPSS for data analysis. Twenty-one respondents from the on-line survey volunteered to be interviewed. The telephone interviews provided and in-depth examination of the nature of the relationship between volunteer tourism organizations and host communities. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and coded using NVIVO software. Themes within the data consist of how volunteer tourism organizations select host communities and volunteer projects, how they collaborate with host communities, how they evaluate the impacts of their programs, and how they view their role in the development process. Nuances of the interface between the volunteer tourism organization and host community are identified and discussed. Their implications for host community engagement, empowerment and development are structured using a spectrum of public participation that frames this paper. Recommendations for additional action and research are designed to enable volunteer tourism organizations to better understand how their programs engage, empower and benefit host communities.