TIME and Research

In case you haven’t read the TIME article about luxury voluntourism that came out this week – here you go: Room Service and a Shovel: The Rise of Voluntourism – http://bit.ly/2cy7yd

It also seems that there have been a lot of new stats circulating out there about the industry but none of them have been sourced in any way so, here below is a little refresher of the Volunteer Travel Insights Survey we did with GeckoGo as well as the report on the State of the Industry. Not perfectly scientific but they both give a great pulse!

	State of the Volunteer Travel Industry 2009

Adventure Travel World Summit Coming Up, You Going? You Should Be.

It’s that time of year for conferences, but one you shouldn’t miss is the Adventure Travel World Summit that’s in Quebec Oct 19-22, hosted by the Adventure Travel Trade Association. What makes it different from other conferences is the almost absolute lack of voluntourism representation. Earthwatch will probably go, as will PEPY Ride, but not many others have shown up in past years. It’s a missed opportunity.

Almost all of the adventure travel companies are looking to combine some voluntourism into their offerings, instead of creating projects themselves many are looking to partner with volunteer companies – THEY JUST DONT KNOW YOU’RE OUT THERE!

So if you’re looking to expand your reach and network – this is the one conference I highly recommend attending (and no, they dont pay me).

Here are a couple selections from last year:

Learnings from the Summit in Norway – Take One

Learnings Take Two

Tax Deductibility and Voluntourism – Should it Stay or Should it Go?

The debate has always been around, should volunteer vacations be tax deductible? Does the mere word ‘vacation’ being used in marketing take away from the level of service that volunteers do in country? Or is the deduction in fact a marketing tool?

Journey Etc wrote an article on this topic addressed at travelers, what do you think about it? Let’s start the debate again.

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Voluntourism – A Vacation with Tax Benefits

You probably know that business travelers can often deduct all or a portion of their travel, even if they are having some fun. But did you know that  you can also get a tax benefit from your vacation? You can  if you are willing to do a bit of work as a volunteer with a non-profit organization.

“Voluntourism” is becoming a popular option for travelers that want to make the most of their vacation.  By volunteering with a non-profit organization a person can travel to almost any global destination, experience the  culture of an area in a whole new way, and have a sense of purpose and of doing good with their vacation time.   And then to top it  off, some or all of their vacation expenses can be deducted on their income tax returns.

To get the tax deduction on your US  Return you must volunteer with a US non-profit corporation.  Habitat for Humanity is one organization that has volunteer opportunities both local and abroad. You could also contact an organization that specializes in voluntourism such as  Cross Cultural Solutions in New York or Global Volunteers which is based out of Minnesota.

There are a number of factors that determine if you can deduct some or all of your travel expenses.  In general the amount deductible will depend upon how much time you spend doing strictly volunteer activities, versus how much time you spend doing strictly vacation activities.

Whatever your skills or talents, there is a volunteer opportunity for you. You can help children and adults with their English. You can provide medical services, or you could help build a home.  You can work, with children, seniors, teens and adults.

When working with a volunteer agency expect to pay your own airfare, plus a program fee that will generally include lodging and meals.   Prepare to be flexible and open to new experiences. Do not expect classy hotels and fine dining.  To save money volunteers are often housed with local families or budget hotels and eat the local food.

If you want a vacation with a purpose, one where you get to really know the local people and culture, and one that comes with a tax benefit, consider voluntourism.  You’ll be glad you did!

Projects Abroad Volunteering as Crowdsourcing?

Interesting take on volunteering, nice essay from the folks at Projects Abroad – thanks Will for sending over.

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Projects Abroad Volunteering as Crowdsourcing, By Thomas Pastorius

The most famous example of Crowdsourcing is Wikipedia.  By accepting the input from random web surfers, Wikipedia has built an Encyclopedia that rivals Britannica.  Less famous, but more important, has been crowdsourcing’s impact on computer programming.  Open Source programs like Firefox and Linux, which were created and tested primarily by amateur volunteers in their free time, have changed the business models of Microsoft and Cisco.

Crowdsourcing is about more than just computers: it’s about using groups of amateurs to solve a problem.  In fact, crowdsourcing is the very same concept that Projects Abroad uses in setting up its self-funded service projects.  Like the makers of Wikipedia and Firefox, Projects Abroad defines projects and creates the infrastructure that enables motivated amateur volunteers to do their work.  By collecting and focusing the group’s efforts, Projects Abroad creates effective solutions at a fraction of the cost of traditional international development agencies.

Self-funded volunteering is changing the way that we think of international service work, just as open source software is changing the computer business.  We’re both bringing down costs, involving a broader community of people, and creating a generation with real connections to a project that is bigger than any individual.  As with most changes, some groups stand to lose in the revolution, and those groups will naturally fight against it.  For example, Microsoft complains that Open Source programming does not produce quality products, that it exploits the contributions of individuals, and that it has a higher failure rate than other software endeavors.  In the same way, traditional development charities and aid organizations complain about the quality and values of self-funded volunteering.

Contrary to their claims, the results speak for themselves.  To start, take just the economic benefits of Projects Abroad: our 5,500 volunteers will create over $45 million of local expenditure in 2009 alone.  Since this expenditure is not touristic or administrative, but is used mainly on locally provided services, a significantly higher than average multiplier effect should also be expected.

Moreover, the service work provided by our volunteers is well received.  In fact, this week Dr. Peter Slowe, Founder and President of Projects Abroad, is presenting at the Conference on Tourism and the Third Sector in Neuchatel, Switzerland on this very topic.  Dr. Slowe’s research indicates that 70% of our placements view the impact of our volunteers’ work as either “positive” or “strongly positive,” while only 11% considered it “negative” or “strongly negative.”

I believe that the 2000s will be remembered as the time when we discovered, as one of my idols James Surowiecki called it, The Wisdom of Crowds.  We discovered that a group of motivated amateurs, when organized into the right structure, can effect enormous positive change and create innovative new solutions.  Projects Abroad is an important part of this movement because it brings the power of crowdsourcing out of the computing world and into – not just the real world but – the parts of the real world that need it most.

Abercrombie & Kent Offers Luxury Voluntourism

First the Ritz, now Abercrombie & Kent – ‘luxury’ voluntourism seems to be on the rise, but is the phrase an oxymoron in itself? How do you successfully merge giving back while charging a high price tag? The Ritz has been criticized but A&K seem to be making the most responsible shot at it that i’ve seen – what do you think? $9,995 for 11 days in East Africa, 4 projects and a safari.

Here is an excerpt from their recent press release:

“It began with a commitment to preserve whatever we found, wherever we went.”  Thus begins the introduction to a new Abercrombie & Kent Philanthropy web site (www.akphilanthropy.org), which showcases opportunities for travellers to become involved with 50 pioneering projects worldwide.

“As travel increasingly becomes about the things money cannot buy – shared experiences and treasured memories – more and more of our guests want to make a personal connection and a positive contribution to the places they visit,” says Abercrombie & Kent Vice Chairman Jorie Butler Kent, who guides Abercrombie & Kent Philanthropy. “We hope to use this new web site to multiply the impact of what our guests have started.”

Working through A&K’s offices around the world, Abercrombie & Kent Philanthropy identifies and supports proven grassroots organizations. Guests who want to give something back can contribute to one of these local projects with a tax-deductible donation which can be made directly through the secure AKP web site. 100% of all donations go directly to the chosen project.  Guests travelling on many of A&K’s small group escorted journeys, private Signature itineraries or Tailor Made programs can visit projects in person, learning more about their destination through the work of its most dedicated people

http://abercrombieandkent.com/press/press_releases/How-Travel-Can-Make-a-Difference.cfm

Voluntourism Effective Practice Guidelines Published

A great piece of work by the good folks at PEPY Ride and Karina Kloos, what are your thoughts on the guidelines? How can they be improved?

Read the whole version here: http://lessonsilearned.org/2009/09/voluntourism101/

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Volunteer Tourism Effective Practices

Volunteer Tourism Effective Practices is designed for tour operators who are looking to or already incorporating volunteer projects into their trips. Additionally, we hope it will also serve development organizations, volunteer tourism participants and community members in helping to identify and engage in great volunteer projects. We gathered research, input and experience from many people working in the areas of voluntourism, development, and traveler’s philanthropy to create this guideline and are grateful for those who have contributed their input. This is a working, living resource, meaning that we are continually seeking feedback in the form of opinions, experiences, lessons learned and anecdotes relating to the outlined effective practices, and responses to the design and content of this guideline. Through our collective efforts, we hope to minimize potentially damaging consequences of volunteer tourism and maximize the good intentions of everyone involved.

I. PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS AND HOST COMMUNITIES

1. Responsibly identify partner organizations

This section is intended to help tour operators identify volunteer project partners (NGO, nonprofit, social venture). For tour operators organizing and offering their own volunteer projects directly to participants, the same indicators and questions apply with regard to the projects and host community relations.

Locally Run Community Programs

• Are project leaders based locally?
• Are project leaders working in close collaboration with the local community?
• Are project leaders familiar with the region: local businesses, organizations, government officials; customs, traditions, and laws?

Community Buy-In

• Was the volunteer project/ community interaction designed in consultation with the community based on community interests and needs?
• Does the project have the ongoing support and involvement of the community?

Long-Term Program Sustainability

• Does the partner organization have a stable relationship with the community?
• Can the partner organization be relied upon throughout the planning and implementation of the project involved?
• Is the project geared toward building capacity within the community to manage its own long-term development?
• Was the volunteer project/ community interaction designed to further progress on a larger goal, which existed before volunteers arrive and will continue after they leave?

Corruption Mitigation

• Has the partner organization developed relationships with community members?
• Has the partner organization set up a monitoring and evaluation system, which involves checks and balances as well as outsider input and assessment?
• Does the partner organization have a deep understanding of local customs and laws?
• Do project leaders speak the local language?
• If there are select beneficiaries (certain members or families within a community, or one community rather then another) of the program, is the selection criteria transparent?

Documentation and Reporting Structures

• Can the partner organization demonstrate reliable documentation, measurement and reporting about their organizational operations?
• Is the partner organization legally registered in the areas in which they work?
• Are they actively measuring and reporting the short- and long-term effects of their projects?
• Are the financial reports of the organization transparent, both annual and project-specific reports?
• Is the partner organization willing to openly discuss the use of the program budget?

Ethos and Ethical Alignment

• Do you share the social, environmental, and development values of the partnering organization?
• Do you have a similar philosophical approach towards community development, and ecological / heritage preservation?
• Do you share the same project goals?
• Is there clear discussion and understanding of any cultural or organizational differences?
• Have you consulted references from your own sources (not only sources provided by the partner), to better understand perceptions and impacts of the partnering organization?

2. Build relationships based on collaborative project management and assessment with the partner organization

The impact volunteer tourism trips have on the volunteers and host communities will depend largely on the partnership between the organization and tour operator. Miscommunication, misunderstandings and any problems that exist could potentially undermine the efforts of everyone involved and so it is important to think of how best to manage the communication and responsibilities of the organizers.

Project Monitoring and Assessment

• Are there communication channels in place for any project updates or changes?
• Are there monitoring structures in place to evaluate volunteer impact and the capacity to make any necessary adjustments?

Project Follow Through

• Are there clear expectations of how long the tour operator will provide volunteer support and how that aligns with the expected duration of the project needs?
• Are there built-in protections in the volunteer projects design against unpredictable fluctuations in the number of volunteer participants? (how might a decline in tourism affect the outcome of the project?)

Volunteer Planning

• Is it clear who is responsible for providing to volunteers any necessary pre-trip information regarding the issues the volunteer project addresses, the volunteer project itself the partner organization and the host community?
• Is the partner organization provided with information about volunteers?
• Is it clear who is responsible for any follow up information or activities with volunteers?

Memorandum of Understanding

• Have you developed a clear understanding of responsibilities and expectations for both organizations?
• Do you have in place structures for continual assessment and re-evaluation of partnership relations, project goals, volunteer experiences and community impact?
• Do you have documentation of all agreements?

3. Ensure beneficial relationship for partner organization and host community

With increasing interest in volunteer tourism, there are increasing demands on tour companies to incorporate volunteer projects in their tours. Tour operators “and volunteers “ should keep in mind how their efforts are actually contributing to the needs of the recipient organization and community.

Volunteer Contribution

• Do volunteers provide valuable services to the organization and community? (Some questions to consider: Do volunteers provide locally unavailable skilled labor? Do volunteers provide services that would otherwise be costly for partner organizations? Are volunteers taking the place of local jobs?)
• Does volunteer participation in the project contribute negatively to the local environment?
• Is volunteer participation culturally appropriate?
• Will the volunteer be employed in a position, which will create dependence or create a void when the volunteer leaves? Alternatively, will their position build the capacity of local people and programs to better sustain themselves once the volunteer is gone?  (For example, is the volunteer teaching English directly to children? Or teaching teachers how to improve their English thereby providing capacity building to the teachers?)

Financial Contribution

• Might the financial contribution be more effective than volunteers?
• Are the financial costs of hosting volunteers considered?
• Would a financial contribution help to sustain ongoing project needs?
• Would a financial contribution potentially create any dependencies?

II. VOLUNTEER PROJECTS

4. Design projects based on local needs and input as well as volunteer sustainability

Again, the increasing demands on tour companies to incorporate volunteer projects in their tours can potentially lead to poorly designed projects that cater to volunteers’ interests rather than – and sometimes at the expense of – the needs of the host organization and community. This section is intended to help ensure that projects are designed on a needs basis.

Project Planning and Design

• Is a representative from the partner organization and/or community involved in all steps of the volunteer project planning and implementation?
• Is the community directly contributing to the project in any way?  Did beneficiaries have to earn these contributions in some way?
• Does the short-term project contribute to the long-term goals and needs of the organization and community?
• Are volunteer projects adaptable? ie: if project timelines or community needs change, can the volunteer project be altered to meet the new demands?
• Are projects adaptable to changing tourism trends? ie: might  the project discontinue if tourism declines in that area?

Volunteer Contributions

• Are volunteers’ skills appropriately matched to the projects’ needs and activities?
• Are there valuable tasks accessible for non-technical or “unskilled” volunteers, especially if the trip is being solicited to unskilled volunteers?

Timing

• Does planning allow for flexibility if/when the project needs change?
• Would the timing of the volunteer project potentially keep the progress of the project or other related project on hold?
• If the trip is designed to be repeated, is there time allowed for potential changes to the volunteer interaction based on the assessment of previous volunteer projects?

Read the whole version here: http://lessonsilearned.org/2009/09/voluntourism101/

Research Project Seeks Voluntourists!

Dr. Jess Pointing is doing research on the transformative effects of voluntourism, if you want to help send this survey on to past travelers and let’s see what sort of results we get.

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Did your volunteer experience transform you? That’s the question being asked by Dr. Jess Pointing, Assistant Professor of Sustainable Tourism at San Diego State University.

There is just one question. You may write as much or as little as you wish.

Think about your volunteer tourism experience and ask if you think it has changed you in some way.  This could mean changes in the way you see yourself, changes in the way that other people see you, or changes in how you see the world generally.  Don’t rush your answer.  Take some time and think back to your experience and consider whether the person who has returned is in some way different from the one prior to departure.  When you have reflected on this and thought of something, please describe it in as much detail as possible.  You might begin by describing a specific event and then following up with an analysis of how it changed you.  Describe as many events and personal reactions as you feel are meaningful from your experience.

Please send your response directly to : jess.ponting@sdsu.edu

The information you provide will be analyzed and used as the basis for a major academic journal article. Your response will remain anonymous, you will not be identified in any way in published materials resulting from the study. You are free to withdraw from this research at any time without explanation. If you have any questions please direct them to Dr. Jess Ponting, jess.ponting @ sdsu.edu,  Ph: 619 594 8499.

Another Voluntourism Bashing Article

Articles like this hopefully help operators reflect on the quality and sustainability of their projects. Real Gap and i-to-i, to name a couple, get called out – what have you done to ensure one traveler’s bad trip doesn’t end up as front page news?

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Frances Jaine was going to Thailand for her gap year with a friend. She had worked for months to save funds, and took care to book the trip with a firm that specialised in organising volunteering abroad.

“We hadn’t travelled without our parents before, and southeast Asia was a long way away,” she said.

The idea was that Jaine, then 19, and her friend would help out in a school in a remote Thai village for a month. They wanted to do something positive on their travels, rather than just loll around on a beach.

When they arrived they were in for a shock. They learnt that they were supposed to teach Thai culture, for which they were not obviously well equipped. “We ended up just doing drawing most of the time,” recalled Jaine last week, now 21 and a student at Leeds University.

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Worse, the school closed every day at lunchtime and Jaine and her friend were left with nothing to do. There was no sign of the local travel rep, who, it was promised, would guide them in local customs.

So just two weeks into their contracts they left the village. It was a bitter disappointment. Not so much for the money they had wasted — they had paid the firm £750 each to sort out the placement — but for the sense that they had been no help at all in the village.

Each year some 200,000 young people undertake gap-year projects, spending on average about £4,000 each. Many are drawn to “voluntourism” — a specimen of well-meaning travel that also attracted princes William and Harry.

The government recently announced plans to send hundreds of new graduates on similar trips — with the additional effect of keeping them off benefits in recession-hit times. These taxpayer-funded gappers will help to build schools and improve sanitation in remote communities.

That’s the idea, at least. A Sunday Times investigation has shown that the goodwill of young volunteers is exploited by some companies sending them overseas — and that the work young people carry out while there is increasingly regarded as positively unhelpful.

IF YOU Google “volunteer gap year” the company that comes top of the search is Real Gap, which has seen rapid growth recently and was sold last year to Tui Travel as part of a deal worth £43.8m. Real Gap offers would-be voluntourists projects teaching in schools, raising awareness of Aids, working with orphans, and turtles, and injured wildlife, learning medical skills at a bushman clinic and helping elephants and landowners to live in harmony.

The projects offered by other companies are similar. They appear attractive, but people who sign up are not infrequently disappointed.

Sarah Byrnes went with Real Gap to an orphanage in Thailand in 2006. The firm’s reps, she says, had promised locals that the volunteers would help to rebuild the orphanage and put in water systems. But the volunteers were surprised when the local co-ordinator asked them to contribute £200 towards this.

Read the full article: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/travel/news/article6788628.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1

Voluntourism Catching On – Early Show with Peter Greenberg

Woo hoo – yet another morning show has covered voluntourism with our great advocate Peter Greenberg. Some of the stats he used to prove that voluntourism is a growing trend came from the very survey you all participated in months ago on the state of the volunteer travel industry. So well done everyone for coming together and providing some stats on the industry. I just got a call from another morning show wanting to feature voluntourism, so woo hoo, here we go!

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(CBS) About 100-thousand people each year take vacations focused on volunteer work, and that number is growing.

What’s behind the trend — and might such vacations be for you?

Travel guru Peter Greenberg observed on “The Early Show” Monday that volunteer vacations are one of the fastest growing segments of the travel industry.

Despite a tough economy, or maybe because of it, more and more Americans are taking a “volunteer vacation.” Some do it to give back to others, and some do as a result of a sort of indirect guilt trip, feeling it’s not right to spend big bucks on big vacations, so they get their reward through giving back.

YOU SAY THERE IS A VOLUNTEER VACATION OUT THERE TO MEET EVERYONE’S NEEDS. HOW DO WE DEFINE A VOLUNTEER VACATION?

You can dedicate a whole trip to volunteering or you can actually bookend the trip, meaning you can have a regular vacation and then do a few days volunteering at the end of the trip. Working or volunteer vacations are a great way to get a deal on a trip and also make a difference-without having to serve two years in the Peace Corps. Whether it’s helping to save Leatherback sea turtles in Costa Rica, delivering crucial medical supplies to an orphanage in El Salvador, helping to build a hospital in southern Thailand, or helping in the continuing efforts to rebuild the ninth ward in New Orleans nearly four years after hurricane Katrina,each trip allows us to make a real difference while exploring the world, getting immersed in a different culture and even learning a new language

WHY DO YOU THINK THESE TYPES OF VACATIONS ARE SEEING AN UPSWING?

It is one of the fastest growing segments in the travel industry, and despite a tough economy, or perhaps because of it, more and more Americans are opting to travel a little differently this year…they are taking a volunteer vacation. Part of the reasoning, of course, is to give back, to help others. And another driving force behind the growth of volunteer vacations is that they have in essence become a sort of indirect guilt trip — many travelers these days don’t feel right about spending ten solid days at a spa so they bookend their pampering with another kind of feel-good activity — giving back. Also, many of them are tax-deductible.

ARE THEY USUALLY CHEAPER THAN A REGULAR VACATION?

Depending on the organization they can be, but sometime they aren’t……it depends what type of trip you take…you can have some like the Airline Ambassador program which allows you to get most of the same perks that the airline employees get on airfares/hotels and then you have some that are much more high end-like the Earthwatch institute that can end up being quite costly.

WHERE DO YOU SUGGEST PEOPLE GO TO FIND OUT ABOUT THE ORGANIZATIONS THAT SPONSOR THESE TYPES OF VACATIONS?

The first thing to do is Google “volunteer vacations.” Narrow the many that come up based on your own personal interests.

Read the full story: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/08/03/earlyshow/living/travel/main5205891.shtml

Call for Data – Media Request

PeterGreenberg.com is researching a story on voluntourism and they called asking if I knew an exact number of people that took a voluntere vacation last year within the US. I have numbers for those going abroad, but none for the US, anyone have any ideas?