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Can ‘voluntourism’ outgrow the white saviour stereotype and make a positive change post-pandemic?

<p>As the tourism industry emerges from pandemic shutdowns and border closures, so too is “voluntourism”, the sometimes controversial combination of overseas volunteer work and more traditional tourist experiences.</p> <p>Although hard to measure, pre-pandemic estimates suggest voluntourism was worth <a href="https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/mje/2022/01/22/the-paradox-of-voluntourism-how-international-volunteering-impacts-host-communities/">US$2 billion annually</a>, with up to <a href="https://www.cbi.eu/market-information/tourism/save-tourism/market-potential">ten million volunteers</a> globally. While COVID shut the practice down for the duration, it remains a <a href="https://roadbook.com/opinion/negative-effects-of-voluntourism/">multi-billion-dollar industry</a>, now poised to <a href="https://www.sbs.strath.ac.uk/blogs/SBS/post.aspx?id=1420">return and rebuild</a>.</p> <p>But volunteer tourism has met with considerable criticism. Voluntourists have been accused of putting <a href="https://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/109983663/nz-school-students-pay-thousands-to-visit-orphanages-and-volunteer-overseas">vulnerable people at risk</a> (<a href="https://drivingchange.org/do-no-harm-the-dark-side-of-voluntourism/">including children</a>), <a href="https://tourismteacher.com/commodification-volunteer-tourism/">commodifying volunteer work</a>, perpetuating <a href="https://darbymatt.medium.com/voluntourism-is-neo-colonialism-56b6a25f6924">neo-colonialism</a> and <a href="https://www.euronews.com/travel/2022/02/21/how-white-saviour-voluntourism-gets-you-famous-on-tiktok">reinforcing</a> a “white saviour” complex.</p> <p>Voluntourism is also <a href="https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/2021/06/14/travel-opens-again-aid-voluntourism-needs-get-real">largely unregulated</a>, raising important <a href="https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/voluntourism/2019-09">ethical questions</a> about who it really aims to serve – travellers or hosts. These issues are now being felt in the Pacific, where voluntourism is a relatively new but growing industry. As <a href="https://e-tangata.co.nz/reflections/the-problem-with-white-saviours/">Simone Kaho wrote</a> of her experience in Tonga:</p> <blockquote> <p>In many cases, voluntourism asks the local community to stand back, and allow themselves to be helped. It turns helping into a business model.</p> </blockquote> <p><a href="https://blog.geographydirections.com/2019/09/03/global-encounters-voluntourism-in-fiji/">My research</a> in Fiji has also highlighted the problems associated with the commercialisation and commodification of volunteering. These are real and important issues that need close examination as tourism in general picks up.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">End voluntourism and the white saviour industrial complex <a href="https://t.co/gMHkZfTlsf">https://t.co/gMHkZfTlsf</a> via <a href="https://twitter.com/mailandguardian?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@mailandguardian</a></p> <p>— NGO Watch Africa (@NGOWatchAfrica) <a href="https://twitter.com/NGOWatchAfrica/status/1582376611449491457?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 18, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p><strong>Behind the ‘bula smile’</strong></p> <p>The Fiji case study – conducted with an international, for-profit, specialist voluntourism agency – tells a complex story about the benefits and downsides of voluntourism.</p> <p>Volunteers are hosted by local families and included in household life, attending church or religious functions, learning to cook Fijian food, and spending time with children and other family members. Through this, they gain an understanding of life behind the famous “bula” smile. As one staff member said:</p> <blockquote> <p>The host may get angry with you if you leave the light on, you may feel like you are back living with mum and dad because they may give you a lunch box, things like that. But it’s important that they see the person who is paid to smile at the Hilton, what they are like at home with their kids, how they make ends meet, how they eat.</p> </blockquote> <p>Hosts often put considerable energy into sharing their way of life and teaching volunteers Fijian culture. Most hosts and staff took pride in helping travellers find their way around and teaching them Fijian ways. In turn, this helped Fijian staff build knowledge and pride in their own culture.</p> <blockquote> <p>Also the good thing is that we keep up with our culture. Because if you are talking about it every day and you show them and try to talk about it, then the history remains […] Now when we go to the village we do the <em>sevusevu</em> [kava ceremony] and all those things, and we go with the elders. It was our mothers that did that, but now we are doing it, the next generation.</p> <p>When we have volunteers in a Fijian village we will go to any lengths to give them what they want, to try and serve them […] But of course then the volunteers change to become more Fijian!</p> </blockquote> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Are you itching to start travelling, but want to do it with care?</p> <p>Listen to this week's <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WisdomWalks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WisdomWalks</a> to discover how you can avoid traps like voluntourism and greenwashing when travelling.</p> <p>🎧 27 mins.<a href="https://t.co/f366FJcyQG">https://t.co/f366FJcyQG</a></p> <p>— Curio (@curioio) <a href="https://twitter.com/curioio/status/1587821837932797953?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 2, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p><strong>A chance to improve voluntourism</strong></p> <p>The growth of voluntourism in Fiji follows half a century of <a href="https://medium.com/tourism-geographic/paradise-the-noble-savage-and-the-white-savior-in-fiji-7ac7e302e5ec">mass tourism</a>, in which contact between Fijians and tourists has been largely limited and manufactured. Hosts embrace the opportunity to interact with tourists more directly and to build connections across the globe.</p> <p>However, the commercial nature of the encounter has the potential to significantly undermine these connections. The large fees paid by voluntourists mean they – like any tourist – are consumers.</p> <p>Volunteers have certain expectations, ranging from the mundane (internet access, good food and logistical support) to the more profound (a sense of accomplishment, a feeling they’ve made a difference). They will complain if these expectations aren’t met.</p> <p>The pandemic also raised questions about the sustainability of voluntourism. The organisation I studied cut its global workforce significantly. In Fiji it had provided jobs for about a dozen Fijian staff, as well as home-stay income for many households.</p> <p>While there is evidence that <a href="https://theconversation.com/traditional-skills-help-people-on-the-tourism-deprived-pacific-islands-survive-the-pandemic-148987">reliance on customary knowledge, systems and practices</a> helped tourism workers to survive and even thrive during the pandemic, the future for many is uncertain.</p> <p>COVID-19 has been something of a wake-up call that we need to move beyond voluntourism as a pseudo-development practice or as a commodified, profit-making experience. This is an opportunity for the industry to take on board the criticisms, examine past practice and reassess the role and impact of volunteering.</p> <p>Rather than rush back to business as usual, this is the perfect moment to look at reconfiguring the industry in line with the principles of sustainability and <a href="https://medium.com/activate-the-future/understanding-the-opportunity-of-regenerative-tourism-894136cafd3b">regenerative tourism</a>. In the process, perhaps voluntourism’s strengths – building cross-cultural relationships, learning and solidarity – can contribute more to meaningful social and environmental change.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195719/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /></p> <p><em>Writen by Sharon McLennan. Republished with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-voluntourism-outgrow-the-white-saviour-stereotype-and-make-a-positive-change-post-pandemic-195719" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.</em></p> <p><em>Image: Getty Images</em></p>

International Travel

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How to become a volunteer tourist

<p><strong><em>Betsy Goldberg writes for <a href="http://blog.virtuoso.com/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Virtuoso Luxury Traveller</span></a>, the blog of a <a href="http://www.virtuoso.com/" target="_blank"><span style="text-decoration: underline;">global luxury travel network</span></a>, and she enjoys nothing more than taking a holiday.</em></strong></p> <p>Have you ever thought about volunteering on vacation?  Teaching English, building a house, or cleaning up the environment?</p> <p>If so, you’re not alone. Volunteer tourism – or voluntourism – is growing in popularity. A 2008 study by Tourism and Research Marketing put the number of volunteer tourists at 1.6 million per year.</p> <p><strong>Why voluntourism?</strong></p> <p>“Folks are waking up to the fact that tourism is a massive industry with the ability to change landscapes, and thus how one travels matters,” explains Betty Jo Currie, a Virtuoso travel advisor in Atlanta, Georgia. “They don’t want their children to see their travel experiences as simply privilege. They want them to learn about the places they go, the people, and the ideas.”</p> <p><strong>One voluntourist’s experience</strong></p> <p>Pamela Lassers, with Virtuoso partner Abercrombie &amp; Kent, recalls a marketing communications executive who used her talents to benefit an organization supporting Mount Kilimanjaro porters. Porters ascend with climbers on expeditions, carrying gear and supplies.</p> <p>“The client asked us to find a volunteer project in Tanzania after a bike trip she was doing,” Lassers relates. “She helped the Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project develop their website, write press releases, and find university partners to provide an ongoing source of PR interns.”</p> <p><strong>Where to go, what to do?</strong></p> <p>Sybil Ford, a Virtuoso travel advisor in New York City, says Kenya and Cambodia are two of the most popular voluntourism destinations. “Those places allow you to combine sightseeing you wouldn’t do on a regular vacation with the ability to help someone,” she notes. “Cambodia is popular with Vietnam war veterans, because Vietnam is not that far from Cambodia.”</p> <p>Ford finds clients are also interested in other African regions, particularly with water-related projects. “Something else I’ve seen tour groups incorporate is support for women’s groups,” she continues. “There’s a certified area with women who are supporting their families with the funds used to purchase their crafts. This is a safe environment where you can actually see the women working.”</p> <p>Through Abercrombie &amp; Kent trips, travellers can educate street children in Delhi or provide pillows and blankets to kids in Peru, for example. These programs encourage human connections, allowing clients to play soccer or attend classes with the children they help.</p> <p>“It makes me feel good when I do things like that,” confides Elaine Carey, a Virtuoso travel advisor in Raleigh, North Carolina, of a charitable orange-picking excursion she participated in on a cruise through Israel. “It sets something off deep inside me and makes me want to help even more.”</p> <p><strong>How to have a great voluntourism experience</strong></p> <ul> <li>Think about your skills/interests and ask your travel agent to find an experience that fits.</li> <li>Have an idea of the kind of project you want to do and how long you want to spend doing it.</li> <li>Often hotels, cruise lines and tour operators have partnerships with charitable organizations, including their own non-profit arms that improve the lives of people in the regions they serve. Your travel advisor can arrange an experience for you through them.</li> <li>Have realistic expectations. You’ll likely meet locals and gain a new perspective, but you won’t witness huge changes from a brief project.</li> </ul> <p>Have you ever volunteered on an overseas trip? How did you find the experience? Please share your story in the comments section below.</p> <p><em>First appeared on Virtuoso. <a href="http://www.virtuoso.com/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Click here</span></strong></a> to visit their website for more information.</em></p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/travel/travel-tips/2016/03/teen-saves-flying-sheffield-to-essex-via-germany/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>Teen saves money by flying from Sheffield to Essex via Germany</strong></em></span></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/travel/travel-tips/2016/05/controversial-idea-to-shorten-airport-queues/"><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Controversial idea to shorten airport queues</strong></span></em></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.oversixty.co.nz/travel/travel-tips/2016/05/5-ways-to-avoid-being-stuck-in-the-middle-seat/"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><em><strong>5 ways to avoid the middle seat on planes</strong></em></span></a></p>

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