International Volunteer Tourism. Stephen Wearing
begin to accept things as being normal and respond accordingly (Hansel, 1993: 97). As the volunteer tourist learns and interacts more with the people and the culture of the place in which he or she is living, the surrounding environment becomes more familiar and so they naturally absorb, integrate and adopt elements of that environment. Being able to accept and deal with one’s environment is an important element in the development of self and it can be through volunteer tourism experiences that an individual must learn to rely on him or herself.
Seeking out the new and unfamiliar, and going beyond our daily concept of self is an essential step in the development of self. Such ‘rites of passage’ (Withey, 1997: 3) see that each individual is tested through arduous, and sometimes painful, ordeals (Craik, 1986: 24). Tourism can be considered an excellent example of such a test, as many situations encountered whilst embarking on touristic activities can be fraught with problems — problems often borne out of ignorance for one’s surroundings (Montuori & Fahim, 2004). However, a number of tourists ‘actually pay to be put in uncomfortable and dangerous situations’ (Craik, 1986: 25) so they can feel a sense of achievement and reward once it is over.
Despite such suggestions, volunteer tourist experiences do not necessarily have to be dangerous in order to be beneficial. Darby (1994) and Wearing (1998) both suggest that an examination of travel experiences such as volunteer tourism endured by people during the stage of late adolescence can provide a clearer understanding of how an individual goes about developing their sense of self. A common element of late adolescence seems to be that each person needs to feel independent and be able to handle any difficulties that they encounter without the aid of others. As Darby (1994: 131) has suggested in relation to YCI volunteer tourist participants: ‘breaking away from previous social groups and perceptions … gave the participants a chance to review their self; the relation to other people; and their goals and aspirations for the future’. Therefore, it may be argued that separation from ‘the familiar’ can provide an excellent opportunity for an individual to seek new challenges and expand or reconfirm their identity.
Evidence suggests that a high percentage of participants are between the ages of 18 and 25 (Lyons & Wearing, 2008a; Andereck et al., 2012). This is an important consideration, as this is a period when young adults are solidifying their identities and beliefs. The experience of being away from their familiar culture as a volunteer tourist is imperative in the sense that one is able to begin focusing on what they, as an individual, desire in their lives independent of their peers and parents or other reference groups (Hattie, 1992: 18). Hewitt (1979: 74) maintains that each person is assigned a character both by others and by themselves (whereby they are expected to act in a particular way in all circumstances). However, one may feel trapped or stifled by the boundaries of this character and force them to seek out a new environment. Iso-Ahola et al. (1994: 53) makes a valid point:
Given the essence of perceived freedom to leisure and the positive relationship between perceived freedom and perceived control, much of leisure has to do with exercise of personal control over one’s behaviour and environment … leisure develops self-determination personality and thereby helps buffer against stressful life events.
This freedom and resulting self-determination (Iso-Ahola, 1994: 53) may have the effect of providing an individual with the opportunity to develop their sense of self. Through being largely in control, not feeling pressured to act in any specific manner, taking ‘time out’ from normal daily life and adopting different roles, volunteer tourists may become more aware of what they are seeking and be better equipped to deal with the challenges they face when they return home (Kottler, 1997: 29).
These studies reinforce the belief that tourism does, in fact, improve the mind and overall character of its participants. Tourism, as it is known today, is thought to include certain elements of pilgrimage (Mustonen, 2005; Devereux & Carnegie, 2006). This implies that through the travel experience, a person can hope to discover things about the world around them and their particular place within it. Through the self-testing element of tourism, people gain knowledge and confidence about themselves, their abilities/limitations (Darby, 1994) and possibly an insight into the direction that they feel their lives should take.
Analyses of tourist destinations as image in tourist advertising and tourist research assumes that each individual’s experience of the tourist destination will be similar (Echtner & Ritchie, 1991; Gartner, 1993; Cohen, 1995; Bramwell & Rawding, 1996; Palou Rubio, 2006; van Gorp & Béneker, 2007). There is, however, a significant body of research that indicates that such a conceptualization is, in fact, counterproductive (Rowe & Stevenson, 1994; Dann, 1995). Thus, this book seeks to explore the possibility of a more useful conceptualization of the tourist: that is, as someone who is influenced by the subjective meanings impressed upon them, constructed in interaction with the space and people that form the destination site. It is the experience of the interaction in this specific space that affects the socially constructed self who travels between specifically bounded spatio-temporal coordinates; this is the core of the volunteer tourist’s experience. Therefore, the alternative tourist as a wanderer seeking simply to repudiate established tourism experiences (Cohen, 1995: 13) is critiqued as still failing to incorporate or recognize elements that may provide for an understanding of the experience.
Ecotourism Operators, Communities and Volunteer Tourism
Many, but not all, volunteer tourism operations find their roots in ecotourism. As a result, it is important to recognize the relationship with ecotourism and volunteer tourism. The ecotourism literature has a tendency to focus on cases in marginal or environmentally threatened areas. These communities often recognize the connection between economic survival and the preservation of their natural resources through ecotourism development. One of the ways this can be achieved is by finding assistance through organizations that offer volunteer programmes to work on such projects.
Significantly, it could be claimed that ecotourism — and in many cases volunteer tourism — is actually mass tourism in its early pretourism development stage (Wearing et al., 2005). However, it is not essential to have a singular view of what occurs. If the criteria used to describe the various components of ecotourism are applied to each particular tourism situation, it becomes clearer that a range of views of the type of tourist activity being undertaken can be taken and at the other end these activities may also conform to what Wallace (1992: 7) describes as ‘real’ ecotourism. More essential to this is the understanding of the two-way interactive process between host and guest, and this suggests that the social organization and culture of the host community are as much at risk from tourism as the physical environment (Robinson & Boniface, 1999). Both volunteer tourism and ecotourism aim to sustain the well-being of the host community. Volunteer tourism can be viewed as a sustainable development strategy that strives to be beneficial for the environment, local residents and the visitor, and both ecotourism and volunteer tourism then can be viewed across a spectrum that might place them as mass tourism or at the other end of the spectrum alternative tourism.
One of the key questions this book will address is: can a philosophy and practice of volunteer tourism exist outside the market priorities defined and sustained in the global market place of tourism? The global commodification or commercial globalization of ecotourism, for example, is almost complete in many international tourist markets. As Campbell (1983) observes, consumption can become an end in itself. This commodification can be seen in the ambiguity over definition as to what ecotourism is and, as such, the profit objective has perhaps led to ecotourism’s misinterpretation by the industry and to the inclusion of a range of unethical products. R.W. Butler (1990) believes that for this reason a general understanding must be arrived at so that ecotour-ism is not just purely defined by commercial activity but also by ethics and a coherent philosophy. Some form of volunteer tourism may be able to offer an iteration of ecotourism where profit objects are secondary to a more altruistic desire to travel to assist communities.
It is hoped that the developing networks between volunteer tourists, sus-tainably driven ecotourism operators and local communities, ideally aligned with national conservation/development strategies, can serve as examples for the tourism industry to become more sensitized to the role of tourism in the local-global