Volunteer tourism: Evidence of cathartic tourist experiences

Abstract

The study involved in-depth interviews with participants of an Australian non-government organization (NGO) that organizes projects in which young volunteers aged between 17 and 26 years from Australia and New Zealand participate in welfare projects with partner NGOs in developing countries. The welfare projects provide on the ground assistance to communities; these may not lead to longer-term sustainable development through longer-term skills training but engage the volunteers and community in a mutual exchange. Typically, participants will be engaged in short term courses in health and hygiene, micro-enterprise management skills, assisting in community health projects, community service with children with disabilities or orphans, painting, construction of school playgrounds and classrooms, guest teaching in schools, cultural exchange and disaster relief. The Australian NGO provides no financial assistance for participants; it primarily organizes and facilitates the travel, project and community work. Each project lasts between two and four weeks and are thus typically short-term in duration. As such, participants can be considered 'shallow volunteer tourists' (Callanan and Thomas 2005).