What is Voluntourism?
Julianne Shenk
JBS Nonprofit Consulting
19 February 2018
What is Voluntourism? It is a word
that my Microsoft Office® routinely wants to autocorrect as it still hasn’t
made it into their mainstream dictionary of words. In a nutshell, Voluntourism is:
vol·un·tour·ism
noun
DEF: a form of tourism in
which travelers participate in voluntary work, typically for a charity.
"at the core of
voluntourism is the desire to help others"[1]
Figure 1
Voluntourism is “the
practice of individuals going on a working holiday, volunteering their labor
for worthy causes”.[3] Examples
of voluntourism include, “aiding or alleviating the material poverty of
some groups in society; the restoration of certain specific environments or
research into aspects of society or environment”, “for various reasons”, “in an
organized way”[4]
in conjunction with perceived touristy, or vacation like events.
Voluntourism
is often advertised as a way to experience authenticity under the framework of a
“vacation” to (sometimes exotic or popular) destinations, leading to
expectations of a responsible tourism philosophy, creating “better places for
people to live in, and better places to visit”.[5] A popular argument FOR voluntourism, “How
great is it that I can go to an exotic location and enjoy the culture, while
also helping those in need in that locale?” A popular argument AGAINST
voluntourism, “How can you exploit the poor citizens of vacation spot X? If you
are going to help, help. If you are going to soak up the sun on the beach, go
to the beach”. Many people think that
voluntourism is exploitative to the local citizens and should not be promoted.
Many countries spend massive amounts marketing voluntourism all over the world,
and detractors feel the money could be better spent directly on the issues of
the citizens at hand. On the flip side,
many people believe that any tourism flowing into the country will benefit the
citizens and gladly promote voluntourism as well as main stream tourism.
As you
can see, voluntourism can be complicated. I am all for volunteering anywhere,
anytime you can. As with any charitable organization, do your research. Read
all you can about the organization, the country or area, the needs of the
people of that region, and where, how, and when you will be helping. Does the
information match up? Will you spend thousands of dollars and leave not knowing
if you helped? Will it make you feel happy, satisfied, fulfilled? Will the people
you helped feel helped, understood, and grateful, or will they feel exploited
by another tourist? It is a commitment.
A big commitment that takes you out of your comfort zone and in the position to
help someone hands-on far from home. Take it seriously, research, research some
more and then share your experiences with others.
If you have had a voluntourism experience,
please share your thoughts and experiences with me! I would love to hear about
it. Good, bad or otherwise!
