Wild Asia - Talking Points: Voluntourism

Talking Points: Voluntourism

by Jules Ong

In this second installment of Talking Points, we tackle the ethics of volunteer tourism, or 'voluntourism', a term that is becoming vogue with gap year students in developed countries. Do-gooders on vacation call it volunteer tourism, but can it truly help disadvantaged communities or is it just another tourism product?

In our first Talking Points, we tackled the debate over Palm Oil: destructive villain or vital cash crop? We received several well-informed views, mostly taking a balanced approach and acknowledging the complexity of the issue. As the mainstay of many economies, readers argue that there are benefits in engaging with the palm oil industry to help nudge it towards utilising more sustainable operations. The question is, is that enough and is there political will to do it before it is too late!

In this installment, we take a look at volunteer tourism. Volunteer tourism is a fast growing industry that takes advantage of people's yearning to contribute as they travel. Companies which arrange volunteer placements target students on their gap years, promising them a unique "life-changing" or "world-changing" experience for a fee.

That appears to be a win-win situation. Disadvantaged communities from developing countries get volunteers to help out, and travelers get hands on experience within the community.

But lately, there have been issues about the ethics of voluntourism. Some question if is it just another tourism product that benefits placement companies more than anyone. Some companies charge a hefty sum for arranging placements, and while some volunteers were fortunate to have meaningful engagements, others may not be that lucky.

And what about the communities? Do they really benefit from these short-termed voluntourists who more often than not are young people who do not have working experience and life skills? Is it a fair exchange? Some activists in the South have called voluntourism a new form of neo-colonialism.

Let's take a look at three different viewpoints: Brett, the voluntourist, Erma, the activist, and Sally, the placement company manager.

What do you think? Join the discussion here!

	Brett: What better way to see the world then to give my service to the local community? We get to learn from each other in a real and meaningful way.
	Erma: Voluntourism markets itself to young people wanting to gain experience and boost their CV using negative stereotypes of the Third World. It's a continuation of colonialism.
	Sally: Placement companies fill a much needed service for the community and travelers who want to engage and contribute to the places they're visiting. We also help the local economies as voluntourists directly use the services within the community.

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Original URL: http://www.wildasia.org/main.cfm/library/Talking_Points_Voluntourism

Published: 12 April 2010