Volunteer tourism programs: A stakeholder matrix
File version
Accepted Manuscript (AM)
Author(s)
Ong, Faith
Lockstone-Binney, Leonie
King, Brian
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2014
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
As the volunteer tourism phenomenon grows, there is an urgent need to understand the operating environment of the programs delivered by tour operators. While previous researchers have proposed linear approaches to classify volunteer tourism programs and program participants, the present paper proposes a more sophisticated matrix-based approach. This is constructed around two factors, namely the depth of commitment shown by volunteer tourists and their contributions to the host community. When data about the volunteer tourism programs is incorporated, the matrix presents an information source that volunteer tourists and host ...
View more >As the volunteer tourism phenomenon grows, there is an urgent need to understand the operating environment of the programs delivered by tour operators. While previous researchers have proposed linear approaches to classify volunteer tourism programs and program participants, the present paper proposes a more sophisticated matrix-based approach. This is constructed around two factors, namely the depth of commitment shown by volunteer tourists and their contributions to the host community. When data about the volunteer tourism programs is incorporated, the matrix presents an information source that volunteer tourists and host communities can use to make informed decisions about participation. It also provides a potential input for the operators of sending organisations to evaluate their positioning within the wider industry context and align their program portfolio mix with their organisational objectives and competitor offerings.
View less >
View more >As the volunteer tourism phenomenon grows, there is an urgent need to understand the operating environment of the programs delivered by tour operators. While previous researchers have proposed linear approaches to classify volunteer tourism programs and program participants, the present paper proposes a more sophisticated matrix-based approach. This is constructed around two factors, namely the depth of commitment shown by volunteer tourists and their contributions to the host community. When data about the volunteer tourism programs is incorporated, the matrix presents an information source that volunteer tourists and host communities can use to make informed decisions about participation. It also provides a potential input for the operators of sending organisations to evaluate their positioning within the wider industry context and align their program portfolio mix with their organisational objectives and competitor offerings.
View less >
Conference Title
CAUTHE 2014: Tourism and Hospitality in the Contemporary World: Trends, Changes and Complexity
Copyright Statement
© 2014 the Authors. This is the pre-peer reviewed version of this paper. Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. Please refer to the conference's website for access to the definitive, published version.
Subject
Impacts of tourism
Tourism management
Tourist behaviour and visitor experience