Online Resource: Voluntourism.org

By Kate | Permalink | No Comments | July 21st, 2007 | Trackback

Voluntourism.org is a website which brings together resources for individual travelers, non-profits interested in getting involved as host organizations for voluntourists, and corporations considering voluntourism team-building meetings or other activities. What’s unique about Voluntourism.org is that it provides both a practical look at the details of voluntourism and more academic viewpoints from professionals in related fields.

I should confess that I have another reason to appreciate Voluntourism.org: the newsletter recently published my own piece on the “not so black and white”-ness of volunteer vacations, which in turn was a response to The Downsides of Voluntourism by Our Man In Granada. If you (manage to) read my article in Voluntourism to the end, you’ll find I believe that voluntourism does in fact have positive benefits, even if they are not always the direct ones that many people expect. Still, I think it says something good about Voluntourism.org that, while it is obviously an organization dedicated to voluntourism, it is willing to include an article which deals with some of the potential downsides.

This issue of the newsletter includes a look at voluntourism in Australia, a good compilation of current web articles and blogs on the theme of volunteering, and a short history of tourists as advocates and witnesses for justice adapted from the newly published book “Toxic Tourism” by Indiana University professor Phaedra C. Pezzullo.

The newsletter archives also provide a plethora of academically-oriented yet practical information. For example, one article by Mary Merrill, an Ohio State University professor, details a few specific obstacles to non-profit organizations incorporating voluntourism: first of all, they may just not see something with the word “tourism” as part of their mission… they may also have concerns about funds considered “unrelated business income” which can cause tax difficulties.

There is much more to be found at Voluntourism.org – you can also subscribe to the monthly newsletter, which now also includes podcasts.

Home » Resources

If you found "Online Resource: Voluntourism.org" useful or interesting, please share it with others by bookmarking it at any of the following sites: