Voluntourism Self-Interest or Altruism - 1973 Words

Volunteer Tourism: Self-Interest or Altruism? Abstract The idea to traveling, of seeing new places, cultures, and hearing new languages has fascinated humanity for centuries. Today, one can travel physically, just about any place in the world, or electronically. The ease with which society has created technological linkages between incredibly disparate cultures and people is something at which one can truly marvel, and something quite successful, the result of which has been to unify the world, in a metaphorical, highly technological way. Yet tourism is still in vogue. Undoubtedly, many travel for fun, on business, or voluntarily. While one may understand the previous two concepts fully, one must wonder at the third. This paper will talk about volunteer tourism, thus, to better understand it, as well as to better explain it and examine whether it is done in the promotion of self-interest or simply through altruistic ideals. Introduction Definition of Voluntourism In order to be able to speak about volunteer tourism one must first understand what it means. This concept goes by many different names, one of the most common of which is voluntourism. In essence, what this type of tourism implies is that an individual could travel some place, at a discounted rate, in exchange for some sort of favor, volunteer capacity, etc. and in this way, one could theoretically afford to go wherever he or she wishes, as well as help that community in some way. The formal definitionShow MoreRelatedvolunteer tourism Essay9739 Words   |  39 Pages 2004). The research generally accepted that the volunteer tourist sought altruistic experiences that were different from the mass tourist. Furthermore, the research identified a number of positive motivations for volunteer tourism, including altruism, self-development, giving back to the host community, participating in community development, and cultural understanding (Brown, 2005;Brown Morrison, 2003;Callanan Thomas , 2005;Coghlan, 2008;McIntosh Zahra, 2007;Stoddart Rogerson, 2004; Wearing