Voluntourism

Explore the hidden risks of voluntourism and the complex history shaping conservation in the Galápagos Islands. Intercultural educator Lena Papadopoulos and researcher Dr. Elizabeth Hennessy reveal why responsible travel requires deeper awareness, community-led action, and a clear understanding of the islands’ past.

A new kind of volunteer tourism has entered the travel industry with an innovative approach; Volungearing, conceived by TribesForGOOD, taps an individual’s skills to pair him or her successfully in the social impact sector.

Discover an animal lovers paradise while helping with a worthy cause at Magic Mountain on Greece's Andros Island.

Our trip could be labeled volunteering since the primary purpose of the trip was to serve. “Voluntourism” - tourist travel with a volunteering component - has become increasingly popular in recent years as a way to make travel more meaningful and give back to the places visited. 

The photograph that appeared on the front page of newspapers throughout the world following the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was heartbreaking: it sent me to Sri Lanka.

Tanzania is not just a friendly and affordable country in which to volunteer but also the kind of place that lets the imagination run wild. For instance, it is here in Tanzania that you can climb the tallest mountain in Africa or perhaps take a wildlife safari in the most famous national park in the world.

There are only two schools exclusively for the Deaf in Burundi (the other, also founded by my husband’s family, is five hours away). Without the chance to go to school and learn sign language, these kids would never have the chance to learn any language at all, a situation that direly impacts Deaf individuals in a country that struggles with poverty.

For many people, including myself, while travelling the world is a passion, it is important to simultaneously make a positive change in communities and the environment in which we are exploring. This is known as social impact travel.

Voluntourism can be a benefit to communities, but if done improperly, it can actually be more harmful than helpful. And unfortunately, it can be hard for an outsider to know the difference. So what can socially-conscious travelers do to make sure their efforts make a positive, rather than a negative, impact? 

All around the world natural disasters ruin people’s lives. It often takes months if not years for a community to recover. The need for volunteer work in these areas is thus essential.

Rick Webster , VP of Public Policy at the US Travel Association, joins Travel'n On Radio to talk about the Travel Promotion Act and his Associations efforts to promote tourism in the United States.