Volunteer Tourism

Challenges and Opportunities; Attitudes and Perceptions

Master's Thesis from the year 2012 in the subject Sociology - Work, Profession, Education, Organisation, grade: 1,0, Technical University of Munich (Lehrstuhl für Forstwirtschaft und Ressourcenmanagement), language: English, abstract: Since the 1970ies volunteer tourism has sparked academic as well as public interest and debate. This thesis consists of a concise analysis of current theories and research interests in this field. It points out challenges and opportunities of international volunteering, using a case study from South Africa, especially focusing on the area of research volunteering in a conservation context. The analysis of attitudes and perceptions of the volunteer as well as potential benefits the experience may have on their future life in general and career especially has been carried out by means of online survey. Further similarities and differences between 'general' volunteers and research volunteers have been established and analyzed, leading to the insight that altruism combined with the desire to travel and experience a different culture are central motivators to both groups and similar perceived benefits are attributed to volunteering. This study concludes that research volunteering can be especially beneficial to all parties involved if design and realization of the project are given great consideration and suggests further research into the complex task to develop mutually beneficial volunteering projects despite ongoing commodification of this area of sustainable tourism.