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The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in home-stay arrangements in Ghana’s cultural city, Kumasi, and further assess NGO intermediation of home-stay from home-stay operators’ and international volunteer tourists’ perspectives.

A mixture of quantitative and qualitative approaches is used to target three main stakeholders of volunteer tourism including international volunteer tourists, home-stay operators, and local NGOs.

There are seven major roles played by volunteer NGOs in the home-stay arrangement. However, from operators’ perspective, NGOs may hinder the economic viability of home-stay through inadequate/low payment.

The study highlights the unexplored brokerage role of NGOs in volunteer tourism in home-stay intermediation and its implications for sustainable tourism.

This paper aims to examine volunteer tourism (VT) experiences of three stakeholder groups in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The guiding research question is: how does VT influence marginalized communities from the perspectives of different stakeholders? This study was developed to address a need for further research that critically looks at the social impacts of VT in vulnerable communities and analyze the nature of VT by reviewing concepts related to sustainable tourism and social representation theory (SRT).

Using a phenomenological approach, this study is founded on SRT to understand the lived experiences of VT and the perceptions of its impacts on favela (slum) communities. This paper describes and interprets these meanings with a high degree of depth and richness using interviews, observation and document analysis. The experiences of community residents, voluntourists and non-governmental organization (NGO) staff are considered.

Study findings indicate that the different groups expressed several benefits and obstacles to VT. Voluntourists had a difficult time interpreting what influences VT has in general for the community focusing more inwardly on their personal experiences. Community residents experienced VT differently than the other groups. They identified the most benefits from VT and felt that they had the ability to create representations of themselves and of their community overall. NGOs expressed positive aspects of VT such as more community participation but noted concerns with voluntourists’ commitment.

This study is one of few to consider and compare the VT perceptions of three different stakeholder groups in vulnerable communities.

Two major obstacles to tourism development in India have been identified as shortage of skilled manpower and dearth of rural tourism projects. Through the provisions under Section 135 of the new Companies Act 2013, the Indian government has initiated a reform process on how private companies, including leading hospitality businesses, should conduct their corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. Recognizing this opportunity for action, this paper looks at the opportunity for tourism growth under the new CSR regime by reviewing the barriers for hospitality companies falling under the ambit of Section 135 to make CSR investments toward tourism development. Upon establishing these barriers, the argument reviews the current CSR trends and the absence of diversification in spending CSR funds. Finally, the paper discusses the need for enhancing the capacity of tourism NGOs in India and for developing strategic partnerships between these institutions and hospitality companies.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the perceptions of tourism-related non-governmental organization (NGO) managers on overtourism trends in Antalya, Turkey.

Focus group study was implemented and three focus group interviews were undertaken with 34 NGO managers in total as a sample. The population of the research consisted of 65 tourism-related NGO managers in Antalya.

The results of the research reveal that Antalya was perceived as neither in a tourism development stage nor afflicted by overtourism by NGO managers. NGOs are one of the major stakeholders in the tourism industry, and hence their perceptions of overtourism would probably be the stimulating force for further sustainable development in the destination.

The limitation is that the research was realized voluntarily by 34 NGOs in Antalya. It would have been better to have more volunteer respondents.

The viewpoints of stakeholders about their perceptions of tourism development in Antalya would be a helpful next step to refer back to practitioners so as to develop further strategic plans from their perspectives.

As social exchange theory states, communities benefiting from tourism development will support further improvement in tourism. Hence, in their role as spokespersons for the community, the perceptions of NGOs will influence decision-makers to draw implications from the study for wider consideration.

As a consequence, a model was proposed according to the results of the research. The findings of the research paper highlight the evolution of high-flow tourism in the destination.

Tourism, a critical economic sector for Small Island Developing States (SIDS), is extremely vulnerable to climate change. It has been becoming increasingly evident that strategic planning is essential for the sector to manage future impacts of climate change. This study examines the climate change considerations in the tourism sector of The Bahamas with a specific focus on adaptation policies by exploring the perspectives of key actors. Facing similar climate vulnerabilities as many other SIDS, The Bahamas was chosen because it is a mature tourism destination that provides an avenue for existing policy innovations. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight policy actors from the government, tourism associations, and nongovernmental organizations in the country. The findings revealed that these stakeholders have a good knowledge of climate change. However, planning for tourism and climate change is fragmented, with most climate policies formulated with the scope of mitigation, such as greenhouse gas reduction strategies. In addition, the policy implementation faces many gaps common to SIDS, such as funding and human capacity. At present, the strategic planning for future tourism targets sustainable eco-tourism markets. Based on our findings, we provide recommendations such as leveraging public officials' knowledge of climate change, steering locally relevant adaptation measures, and directing immediate attention toward projects in the pipeline to ensure timely, long-term, and effective planning. The study adds to the current knowledge of climate change in the tourism policy context for The Bahamas with implications for other SIDS.

The purpose of this paper is to examine value change and changed consciousness with reference to three projects operated by a Guatemalan volunteer organization.

An extreme case field study design is used. It was extreme in terms of Hofstede’s cultural dimension individualism versus collectivism. Semi-structural interviews were held with 28 staff members in local projects, 43 volunteer tourists and the Guatemalan Country Manager. Two tests to measure cultural psychological concepts were held with 151 children (M = 12.26, SD = 2.96) and the volunteer tourists (M = 25.54 years old, SD = 13.07 years). Finally, an ethnographical analysis was made through volunteering at each of the three projects for one month.

All but two volunteer tourists had positive volunteer experiences. The culture clash did not influence the positive experience of each other, but neither did value exchange occur.

It is crucial for volunteer tourists to address the needs of the host community, for the volunteer organization to offer projects wherein people really are in need and for researchers, media and non-governmental organization watchers to generate more transparency at the volunteer organizations.

This paper focuses on all stakeholders in relation to the volunteering experience. More specifically, it focuses on the cultural differences of stakeholders to examine the relative influence on volunteering. Furthermore, this paper introduces new concepts like the hidden fact and awareness change.

This study aims to apply the appreciative inquiry approach (AI) to develop a tourism strategy for poverty alleviation in marginalised communities. The focus is to provide practical insights for leveraging tourism to drive positive socio-economic change for the impoverished, using Rosetta, a port city in Egypt with cultural and historical significance, as a case study.

This qualitative applied study uses the four-D phases of AI and thematic analysis to strategise tourism development in Rosetta. Through interviews, focus groups and field visits, the study identifies tourism potential, stakeholder aspirations and actionable strategies for sustainable development. The approach prioritises a bottom-up, community-centric and stakeholder-involved process, aiming for inclusive and equitable growth.

The study revealed Rosetta’s underutilised tourism potential, emphasising heritage tourism. Although tourism offers some economic benefits, its impact on alleviating poverty in Rosetta remains limited. A holistic strategy for tourism development in Rosetta is proposed for economic growth and poverty reduction, focusing on sustainable management, local empowerment, enhanced marketing, improved infrastructure and diversified tourism offerings.

While AI is not new in qualitative studies, the novelty of this study lies in its application to tourism planning for poverty alleviation in a marginalised community like Rosetta, introducing a comprehensive tourism strategy with an original framework applicable to comparable destinations. The study’s significance is emphasised by providing actionable strategies for policymakers, valuable insights for practitioners and enriching the discourse and methodology on pro-poor tourism for academics, representing a step towards filling the gap between theoretical concepts and practical strategies.