Editorial

Citation

Teare, R. and Benson, A.M. (2015), "Editorial", Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, Vol. 7 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/WHATT-01-2015-0003

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, Volume 7, Issue 2

Gap year volunteering has grown in popularity in recent years, but how do young people (and other age groups) choose among many organizations that provide international volunteer tourism opportunities? As far as we know, this is the first dedicated journal issue on the topic and specifically on the quality of provision in this sector with its wide spectrum of operators from commercial to charitable organizations. I should like to thank Angela Benson and her team of writers from education and industry for their in-depth analysis of the key issues and concerns and for identifying some of the ways in which the international volunteer tourism experience could be improved.

Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes (WHATT) aims to make a practical and theoretical contribution to hospitality and tourism development, and we seek to do this by using a key question to focus attention on an industry issue. If you would like to contribute to our work by serving as a WHATT theme editor, do please contact me.

Richard Teare - Managing Editor, WHATT

Why and how should the international volunteer tourism experience be improved?

International volunteer tourism is a relatively recent phenomenon, with rapid growth occurring since 2000. At the same time, the level of criticism voiced by academics, practitioners and the media has been building. Initially viewed as a “saving the world” concept, this notion has been overtaken by broad-based concern about the ethical status of international volunteer tourism. In view of this, the aim here is to examine why and how the international volunteer tourism experience could be improved for volunteers and the host communities they visit.

To investigate and respond to our theme issue question: “Why and how should the international volunteer tourism experience be improved?”, the issue presents both research-based and viewpoint articles and the blend of academic analysis and practitioner insight – initiated at a conference on this topic in 2013 and extended here – provides the most comprehensive and authoritative review to date. The collection spans analysis of international projects in developing countries with case studies from Botswana, Nepal, Guatemala and Peru and a range of different types of project: wildlife and conservation, orphanages and both child and health-related volunteering. In each article, the authors examine the underlying and current criticisms from a range of stakeholder perspectives. Arising from this are a number of common strands related to the “why” of our strategic question which draw on a range of sources: a growing body of academic literature, numerous media articles, popular volunteer travel books and social networking tools. The more challenging aspect of our question relates to addressing the “how” and the extent to which mechanisms are, or could be, put in place to challenge the status quo and encourage the adoption of best practice. There is still more to explore and much that can be done to ensure that this sector is sustainable for all stakeholders, but we hope that you will agree that this theme issue provides a really useful starting point.

Angela M. Benson - Theme Editor

About the Theme Editor

Angela M. Benson, PhD is a Principal Lecturer in Tourism at the School of Service Management, University of Brighton, where she has worked since January 2004. Prior to this, she was a Senior Lecturer at the Southampton SOLENT University (1995-2004). She previously worked for 13 years in leisure and recreation, managing a range of facilities and events. Angela has published more than 40 articles and chapters in the areas of Volunteering, (Tourism and Mega Events) Best Value, Sustainability and Research Methods. She is the Founding Chair of the Association for Tourism and Leisure Education (ATLAS) Volunteer Tourism Research Group; Adjunct Associate Professor of the University of Canberra; Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society with IBG and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.