15
Apr
Volunteer Tourism – An Experience With a Difference
By William Davis Posted in Travel / No Comments »
As people increasingly started to explore other nations and their cultures, opportunists struck gold by satisfying the urge of holiday makers looking to experience the world. It was a win-win for both travellers and tourism organizations; while one made money, the other felt satisfied that S/He added to the economy of the country that they visited. Little do they know that theirs was a negative influence on the local residents, their culture and of course their environment!
Tourism corporations trying to eliminate this negative PR then cultivated a niche market by way of volunteer tourism. Students from developed nations who were hoping to add something of value to their host countries were introduced to the local people who needed help to rise above the circumstances that they were sadly placed. They build faculties, dug ditches, laid water pipes and even tutored kids in the nations that they visited. Volunteer travellers were also engaged to help the cause of the environment that they are exploring. So, you could travel to New Zealand and help locals preserve the kiwis, or track iguanas in the Grand Caymans, even as you join in some whale watching or diving. You can also customise the package, choosing as much or as little as you want to volunteer even as your stay in luxury resorts!
But this kind of tourism finally came under criticism because in contrast to what volunteer travellers thought, they didn't actually add value to the place they were visiting. Actually they were taking away jobs that would have otherwise been given to the locals. Rather than concentrating on the well-being of the local community, tourist corporations were driven by profitability, thereby taking advantage of well meant volunteers.
Although not all volunteer corporations can be classified under the same verdict. Gap Year South Africa, for example, are fashioned on the lines of the Peace Corps volunteer programs. The projects are conducted in coordination with the local community, where the local members are made to take ownership of the projects, thus ensuring a two way commitment. Locals are taken into confidence when a project is undertaken to be certain that nothing is detrimental to their culture, environment, or the economy.
Everyday features included in Gap Year Programs include:
- Project during goes from 3 weeks to up to 3 months. This is done to make certain that the volunteers get to spend some time with the natives to appreciate them and empathize with them.
- Volunteers are not made to stay at high-end resorts. They are sometimes made to live with the locals in their houses, so the money stays inside the local community. Such an arrangement is in contrast to the luxury voluntarism disseminated by a few gape year corporations.
- Project coordinators undertaking the Gap Year Programs help volunteers select the right type of program- one that's best suited for their abilities and interests.
Besides Gap Year South Africa, there are a few other companies that have really accepted the basis of volunteer tourism and are trying to work for the people from whom they've made progress.
The writer of this article has years of experience in the discipline of volunteer tourism and has been writing reviews on these corporations including Gap Year Projects. For people that still have to be instituted, Gap Year South Africa are volunteer and gap year programs organized in and around South Africa and also cater for Gap Year Africa.









