Index
ATLAS Special Interest Group
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Index
Call for Papers - Travel Philanthropy, Volunteer and Charity Tourism
Download brochure: Conference announcement and call for papers
Special Stream on: Travel Philanthropy, Volunteer and Charity Tourism at the International Conference on Sustainable Tourism: Issues, Debates & Challenges,
22th - 25th April 2010 in Crete & Santorini, Greece
More information can be found at: http://sustainablecrete.com
Co-convener: Volunteering and Tourism Symposium, June 2009, Singapore.
More information can be found at: http://www.besteducationnetwork.org/ttix/symposium_voluntering.php
Editorial Board: Journal of International Volunteer Tourism and Social Development
More information can be found at: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/1754-6362
Convener: Volunteer Tourism Research Group. An ATLAS Special Interest Group
More information can be found at: http://www.atlas-euro.org/
Scientific Committee: European Conference on Research Methodology for Business & Management Studies 2009
More information can be found at: http://academic-conferences.org/ecrm/ecrm2009/ecrm09-home.htm
Special stream convener:
Angela M. Benson
Principal Lecturer
Discipline Head - Tourism and Travel
University of Brighton
School of Service Management
Darley Road
Eastbourne
East Sussex
BN20 7UR
Tel: 01273 643621
Fax: 01273 643949
E-mail: amb16@brighton.ac.uk
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1st International Symposium on Volunteering and Tourism
Developing a Research Agenda - Linking Industry and Academia
14th - 15th June 2009
ATLAS and CAUTHE Networking together
The conveners of the symposium are delighted to announce that Robert A Stebbins and Stephen Wearing will be the keynote speakers at the forthcoming Volunteering and Tourism Symposium, to be held in Singapore at the James Cook University Campus.
Robert A. Stebbins, FRSC, is Faculty Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Calgary. He received his Ph.D. in 1964 from the University of Minnesota. Author of 30 books and monographs as well as over 150 articles and chapters in several areas of social science, his most recent works include: New Directions in the Theory and Research of Serious Leisure (Edwin Mellen, 2001), Exploratory Research in the Social Sciences (Sage, 2001), and The Organizational Basis of Leisure Participation: A Motivational Exploration (Venture Publications, 2002). Between Work and Leisure (Transaction Publishers) appeared in 2004 and Challenging Mountain Nature (Detselig), a study of three mountain hobbyist sports, will be published in fall, 2005. He is presently writing for Indiana University Press (with David Horton Smith and Michael Dover). A Dictionary of Nonprofit Terms and Concepts. Stebbins was elected Fellow of the Academy of Leisure Sciences in 1996 and, in 1999, elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Of his 33 books published or in press, 19 centre exclusively or substantially one aspect or another of serious and casual leisure.
Stephen Wearing is an Associate Professor at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). He has taught at a variety of University's in his 23 year career. He has received awards from Industry and Governments for his work in the Leisure and Tourism fields. In teaching he has a UTS excellence in teaching award and special mention for his teaching at the World Leisure and Tourism International Centre of Excellence (WICE) and Australian Conservation Training Institute (ACTI). He served as Chair and on the Board of Youth Challenge Australia (YCA) for 17 years and currently on the Kokoda Track Foundation Board for the last 2 years. He is a Fellow and Life Member of Parks and Leisure Australasia, editor of its Journal for 8 years, in 2007 received its Frank Steward Award for contribution to the Parks and Leisure industry. He has conducted numerous projects and lectures worldwide and is the author of 8 books and over 100 articles dealing with issues concerning leisure and tourism.
More information on the meeting
See this link for more information on the meeting in a brochure.
See this link for the conference website.
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Proposal for New ATLAS Special Interest GroupThe concept of volunteering has a long and established history in many subject areas; the volunteering literatures closest to (and often overlapping) tourism are: Leisure (Parker 1992; Stebbins 1992; Stebbins and Graham 2004); Sport (Sport England 1996; Cuskelly and Harrington 1997; Gratton and Kokolakakis 1999; Coleman 2002; Sport England 2003) and Events (Johnston, Twynam et al. 1999; Solberg 2003; Ralston, Lumsdon et al. 2005). The volunteering experience from these subject areas tends to be from the concept of 'traditional volunteering'. The notion of traditional volunteering is supported by Cnaan et al., (1996) who outline four key dimensions: free choice, remuneration, structure and intended beneficiaries. The definition offered by Stebbins and Graham (2004:5) is built from these four dimensions
Volunteering is uncoerced help offered either formally or informally with no or, at most token pay done for the benefit of both other people and the volunteer
Volunteering in tourism also has examples in the literature from this traditional route. For example Graham and Foley (1998) discuss volunteers working in museums in Glasgow and similar work has been done by Orr (2006). Unlike volunteering in other sectors, the opportunities available for volunteering in the tourism domain usually encompass the notion of 'payment' ((Wearing 2003; Benson 2004; Tourism Research and Marketing (TRAM) 2008). The extent to which this influences the concept of 'volunteering' from both the demand and supply side has yet to fully theorised.
The growth in volunteer tourism has produced a range of resources and publications from descriptive books that offer lists of companies offering volunteer projects; to an extensive range of websites offering information, support services and projects. More recently academic activity has grown with the emergence of academic books, journal articles and the recently launched (2007) Journal of International Volunteer Tourism and Social Development.
This sector has seen a proliferation of organisations moving into this market place. Whilst many of the volunteering opportunities are often linked to charitable organisations, it is also evident that some of the growth in this sector is by profit-making companies, and whilst some of these can be linked to social entrepreneurship others are purely commercial. The projects on offer are wide ranging: social, community conservation, ecological health and educational. The marketplace is already becoming segmented with programmes being directed towards, individuals, families, groups, students (in particular the gap year students), career breaks and the corporate market. With an ever growing myriad of pricing structures, for example, organisations are now advertising: free projects (although you have to buy your own flights); discounted projects; and low cost projects, whilst other organisations just quote a price.
There are concerns that this growth brings ethical and moral dilemmas. Volunteer tourism has tended to concentrate on international tourism from rich western countries (UK, USA and Australia) to developing countries. To what extent is it beneficial to host communities? Do volunteers possess the skills to 'make a difference'? Or is any advice/help better than not at all? To what extent is volunteer tourism subject to 'green wash' marketing by industry in order to capture a larger percentage of the travel market?
The voice of the volunteer will be important in such (and many other) discussions; already there is growing evidence that volunteers are concerned over what their payment contributes towards. Does it aid host communities development? Concerns over the type of organisation they travel with and the extent to which these organisations consider surplus profits or the triple bottom line. The role of fundraising within the payment made to organisations and the extent to which this is ethically sound are all part of a growing rhetoric by volunteers.
Consequently, the Volunteer Tourism Special Interest Group's overall purpose is:
To provide a network for critical discussion on volunteering within the tourism sector
Main Aims:
Possible topics:
Refinement of the above topics and identification of additional topics will be developed through SIG meetings
Main Activities:
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References
Benson, A. M. (2004). Research Tourism: professional travelling versus useful discovery. Niche Tourism: Contemporary Issues, Trends and Cases. M. Novelli, Elsevier: Butterworth Heinemann.
Cnaan, R. A., F. Handy, et al. (1996). "Defining who is a volunteer: conceptual and empirical considerations." Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly 25: 364-383.
Coleman, R. (2002). "Characteristics of volunteering in UK Sport: Lessons from Cricket." Managing Leisure 7(4): 220-238.
Cuskelly, G. and M. Harrington (1997). "Volunteers and Leisure: evidence of marginal and career volunteerism in sport." World, Leisure and Recreation 39(3): 11-18.
Graham, M. M. and M. Foley (1998). Volunteering in an Urban Museums Service: A Definitional Reassessment. Tourism and Visitor Attractions: Leisure, Culture and Commerce. N. Ravenscroft, D. Philips and M. Bennett, Leisure Studies Association.
Gratton, C. and T. Kokolakakis (1999). "Show of hands." Leisure Management 17(10).
Johnston, M. E., G. D. Twynam, et al. (1999). "Motivations and Satisfaction of Event Volunteers for a Major Youth Organisation." Leisure/Loisir 24(1-2): 166-177.
Orr, N. (2006). "Museum Volunteering: Heritage as 'Serious Leisure'." International Journal of Heritage Studies 12(2): 194-210.
Parker, S. (1992). "Volunteering as Serious Leisure." Journal of Applied Recreation Research 17(1).
Ralston, R., L. Lumsdon, et al. (2005). "The Third Force in Events Tourism: Volunteers at the XVII Commonwealth Games." Journal of Sustainable Tourism 13(5): 504-519.
Solberg, A. H. (2003). "Major Sporting Events: assessing the value of volunteers' work." Managing Leisure 8(1): 17-27.
Sport England (1996). Valuing Volunteers in UK Sport: a Sports Council Survey into the voluntary sector in UK Sport. London, English Sports Council.
Sport England (2003). Sports volunteering in England 2002. Sheffield, Leisure Industries Research Centre.
Stebbins, R. A. (1992). Amateurs Professionals and Serious Leisure. Ulster, McGill - Queens University Press.
Stebbins, R. A. and M. M. Graham (2004). Volunteering as Leisure/Leisure as Volunteering. Wallingford, Oxon, UK, CAB International.
Tourism Research and Marketing (TRAM) (2008). Volunteer Tourism: A Global Analysis, ATLAS Publications.
Wearing, S. (2003). Volunteer Tourism, CABI publishing.