Tourism

1. Volunteer tourism and nepal as
a case study
Submitted by – abhijeet v. tiwari

2. • A subset of non-traditional/non-mass tourism – alternative
tourism (community involved).
• Field of tourism in which travellers visit a destination and take
part in projects in the local community.
• Projects might be conservation work or development work.
What is volunteer tourism ?

3.  “Volunteer Tourism” is the intersection of
international volunteering and tourism, also called
variously “voluntourism”, “volunteer holidays” and
“volunteer travel”.
 It is “the practice of individuals going on a working
holiday, volunteering their labour for worthy causes” such as
“aiding or alleviating the material poverty of some groups in
society; the restoration of certain specific environments or
research into aspects of society or environment”, “for various
reasons”, “in an organised way”, “alongside touristic activities”.
What is volunteer tourism ?

4.  Visitors whose work is remunerated at a destination are excluded from
tourism (UNWTO, 1998), thus paid working holidays or international
development volunteering differs from voluntourism. Rather, voluntourism
usually involves some fee to participate. According to the UNWTO definition
(1995), tourism thus voluntourism, can be domestic or international, from any
originating market and up to one consecutive year.
 At the crossroads of volunteering and tourism is volunteer tourism or
“voluntourism”. While there is no single accepted definition of what
constitutes volunteer tourism, generally it involves the inclusion of a
volunteer component to a vacation experience. According to one academic,
to be a voluntourist is to “volunteer in an organized way to undertake
holidays that may involve aiding or alleviating the material poverty of some
groups in society, the restoration of certain environments or research into
aspects of society or environment.”
What is volunteer tourism ?

5.  The idea of combining voluntary service with travel is
not a new concept. In fact, it can be traced back for
many thousands of years in various cultures and
religious orders throughout the world.
 Missionaries, healers and/or medical practitioners,
sailors, explorers, and countless others have rendered
service in conjunction with their travels.
2. HISTORY OF VOLUNTEER
TOURISM

6.  Significant developments in volunteering abroad
occurred in the spirit of international cooperation
and compassion after the Second World War, with
the formation of charitable international
development assistance organizations .
2. HISTORY OF VOLUNTEER
TOURISM

7.  Volunteerism, either on its own or involving travel,
contributes to overall development on a global level. The
United Nations has stated that “volunteerism is an
important component of any strategy aimed at poverty
reduction, sustainable development and social
integration.”
 Globally, the number of individuals participating in
volunteerism continues to rise. In Britain, 73% of adults
participated in at least one volunteer activity in 2007.4 In
Australia, 4.5 million individuals reported participating in a
volunteer activity in 2006.
3.GROWTH OF VOLUNTEER
TOURISM

8.  The two largest groups participating in voluntourism are
college students (including alternative spring break
activities) and Baby Boomers who were born between
1946 and 1964 and are now entering their retirement years.
 Surveys and interviews show that people choose to
participate in volunteer activities for a range of reasons.
Tourists are motivated because of purely altruistic reasons;
social desirability; career enhancement; cultural immersion;
comradely; and education or bonding with children, among
other reasons.
Growth of Volunteer Tourism

9.  Volunteer tourism typically involves people traveling from
developed countries to developing countries in Africa,
Latin America, and Asia.
 Its activities often involve a myriad of players including
government, private sector and civil society. Volunteer
Managing Organizations(VMO) are those organizations
that are involved in managing volunteer tourism activities,
either as the organization sending the volunteers
(Volunteer Sending Organization, VSO) or the organization
receiving the volunteers (Volunteer Receiving
Organization, VRO).
STRUCTURE OF VOLUNTEER
TOURISM INDUSTRY

11. • Conservation work : travel to varied locations in different
geographic places such as Africa, Asia and South America, etc. to
help environment issues
• Development work : offer medical assistance, get involved in
economic and social development, and help restore
heritage/culture, etc.
What is volunteer tourism ?

12. • The participation is self-motivated
• The mission is self-developed
• The travel/tourism components included
• Pursuing a high level of self actualization
Characteristics of volunteer tourism

13. • Self actualization
• Development of local community
• Sense of making a difference .
Benefits of Volunteer Tourism

14. • Wedged between the high Himalaya and the steamy Indian
plains, Nepal is a land of snow peaks and Sherpas, yaks and yetis,
monasteries and mantras.
• Kathmandu in the capital of Nepal
• The population of Nepal is 27.8 million.
Nepal as a Case Study

15. • Nepal is one of the least developed countries in the world and
relies extensively on foreign aid. The main sector of the economy
is agriculture, which employs over 70 percent of the population
and accounts for 33 percent of GDP(19.29 billion). As Nepal is
home to the highest mountains in the world, tourism has been
steadily growing in importance and is an important source of
revenue. Also, the country has been working on exploiting
hydroelectric power. Although Nepalese economy has been
steadily growing in recent years, lack of governmental
institutions, growing population and remnants of social
instability are sources of concern.
• The recent earthquake on 25th April 2015 killed almost 9000
people in Nepal and destroyed all major infrastructures
Why nepal ?

16.  Assessment of Volunteer Tourism as a tool for developing and
rebuilding of Nepal as Volunteers can play following roles
• Community Work with Orphans
• Teach English at summer camp
• Animal rescue
• Build Homes for the Underprivileged
• Cultural Preservation
• Disaster Relief
• Medical Assistance
• Architects and Civil Engineers .
Future study