Volunteer tourism and intercultural exchange: Exploring the 'Other' in the experience

Abstract

Volunteer tourism as a form of international development has been posed as an alternative mechanism which has the potential to achieve different socio-cultural outcomes. In this guise it aims ’to establish direct personal/cultural intercommunication and understanding between host and guest’. This chapter explores the volunteer tourist and their interaction with the host community. It is argued that the relationship between the volunteer tourist and the community gives shape to a richer understanding of the volunteer tourism experience, where more equal power relationships are evolving and where the experience is more inclusive of the ’Other’. Where tourism in less developed countries is frequently criticised as creating development that results in power inequalities between host and guest it is important to examine this issue for volunteer tourism. The cultural exchange with those who are ‘othered’ by the mainstream tourism experience is the basis for a discussion that highlights the complexity of the relationship between hosts and guests. Within the limited literature on volunteer tourism, it is suggested that these tourists have very different motivations for travel compared with the more traditional tourists or mass tourists. This chapter will begin by providing background on volunteer tourism and follow on with presenting a theoretical understanding of the ‘other’ and cultural exchange under an inclusive research paradigm in the context of tourism. This will be supported by a case study of Youth Challenge Australia volunteers. Finally, a discussion is offered with reference to the alternative mechanisms that are developed to engage youth in volunteering for development.

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