The Concept of VolunTourism - Essay Example

VolunTourism THESIS MENT The essay discusses about VolunTourism and the preparation for making such trips. Basically, VolunTourism is regarded as travelling with the purpose of volunteering at the same time. It necessitates certain skills and preparation along with the aspiration for making a difference. Based on this aspect, the essay describes about the preparation of such tourism and post trip activities related to it. Furthermore, it also provides summary of five articles onVolunTourism subject area. The objective is to gain an understanding on this field of tourism. 1. GETTING STARTED What Is My Personal Minimum Requirement For Accommodations? In order to make a VolunTourism trip, the first and primary requirement is accommodation. For this, my personal minimum requirements would be running water, a place to rest, requisite apparels, electricity and other important tools such as cell phone and electronic equipment. How Much Money Can I Truly Spend To Pay For A Voluntourism Trip? In order to make a successful VolunTourism trip, I can afford to pay nearly about US$ 3000. How Much Time/Percentage Of My Trip Do I Want To Dedicate To Volunteering And How Much To Travel & Tourism? In VolunTourism, I desire to dedicate most of the time for travel and tourism activities i.e. 65% of the total tourism time and the remaining i.e. 35% of the time on volunteering. How Sensitive Am I To Deprivation, Poverty, Starvation, Health Issues, Etc.? I am moderately sensitive with respect to certain health aspects such as deprivation or starvation. To a certain extent, I can deal with the issues of hunger or bad food. What Tolerance Do I Have For Extremes In Climate? I possess high tolerance with respect to freezing cold weather or humidity climate. However, I cannot tolerate extreme heat such as in dessert or near volcano among others. What Food Preferences And Aversions Do I Have? Concerning vegetable items, I do not possess any aversions. However, with respect to non-veg items, I have certain preferences and cannot eat every type of non-veg food. How Good Are My People Skills In Relation To Travel? I bear good interpersonal skills that might help me while travelling. I can speak with anyone at any place irrespective of any racial difference. However, at times, language barrier hinder my communication process. Moreover, I feel quite uncomfortable to travel alone. What Travel Experience Do I Have? With respect to travelling, I have experiences only on domestic travels. What Volunteer Experience Do I Have? I have several volunteering experience. To cite some few, I have volunteered activities such as charity works and assisting in performing medical responsibilities among others. What Voluntary Service Would I Like To Perform? I would prefer to perform charity activities such as providing medical assistance to those who are in need, helping people who get affected by any disaster and supporting people who are interested in education. 2. TRIP PREPARATION This section is based on providing information about the tasks that should be undertaken in order to make a trip. I have gained three important insights while preparing for a trip. The first insight is to generate a checklist before departing for the trip. It would help to arrange the trip in an organized manner. The second insight of trip preparation is to gain better understanding about the culture of the trip destination. In order to gain positive experience throughout the trip and communicate with the people, there is need to understand the culture. Thus, a small research would be helpful for adjusting myself into the new culture. The third important insight of trip preparation is to manage the expectations. It is vital to possess sufficient knowledge regarding the voluntary services and the organizations that provide such services (VolunTourism International, “Trip Preparation”). 3. PROCESSING EXPERIENCES The processing experience section provides me with valuable understanding about what I might face during the VolunTourism. Since I visit numerous places and face different adverse situations, I require certain preparation of my own. Through this section, I learned that in order to make the trip successful, I need to consider various techniques for processing as in certain destinations, my individual preference might not be available. Furthermore, this section also provides me an idea about preparing the toolbox before departing for the trip. The advice provided in this section is also valuable as it helped me to select such a program, which is suitable for me. I have three insights after reading this section. The first insight is the expectation of adverse condition in VolunTourism. The second insight is the importance of understanding life challenges from others’ viewpoint and the third insight is identification of the best possible options for making VolunTourism trip successful (VolunTourism International, “Processing Experiences”). 4. POST TRIP The post trip section deals with the activities that should be performed after returning from the trip. Since, the VolunTourism would provide a unique experience, certain tasks need to be completed. Three critical insights have been gained from this section. The first insight is re-entry. Re-entry signifies the narrative experiences that are framed by certain period of time spend in the tourism. In general, the more in-depth interaction with the local citizens, the lengthier would be the re-entry stage. The second valuable insight is inspiration to do something. The VolunTrip would provide valuable knowledge regarding the lifestyle of individuals. Thus, this section provides the idea to get time for relaxation and reflection regarding the immediate discovery. The third insight is to tell the story about the trip. Being obsessive and excited, it is obvious that the experiences gathered through the trip are to be told and shared with people (VolunTourism International, “Post-Trip”). 5. SUMMARY OF ARTICLES Article 1: The Events That Shaped & Influenced VolunTourism In Decade 1.0. The article is based on the events that encouraged development of various VolunTourism initiatives by different organizations around the world. Basically, the aspect of VolunTourism is itself regarded as a valuable event, which transformed the tourism segment. VolunTourism advertising has become quite renowned throughout the world and is promoted in various magazines, travelling websites and newspapers. One example of VolunTourism given in the article was Travelocity. This organization initiated a program named ‘Travel for Good’ in the year 2006, which established a trend for travelling and at the same time providing community services (Via International, “The Events That Shaped & Influenced VolunTourism in Decade 1.0”). One significant aspect, which shaped VolunTourism was publication. However, events such as natural disasters or crisis are also acted as intense encouragements for VolunTourism. VolunTourism also became renowned as a strategic level program for supporting the recovery of society and economy after any devastation. In present decade, VolunTourism has become a popular event after delivering assistance in various disaster relief incidents and it is expected that this type of tourism will become much popular in upcoming years (Via International, “The Events That Shaped & Influenced VolunTourism in Decade 1.0”). Article 2: VolunTourism 2020 Vision. This article briefly discusses about the trend of VolunTourism. According to United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), it is expected that the number of voluntary tourists will become 160 million by the end of the year 2020. In a more precise form, it can be affirmed that about 1.6 billion people are volunteering in the entire world. The organizations that provide VolunTourism services are expected to accomplish such increased number of tourists due to two motivational approaches. The first approach is to create ‘Destination Specific VolunTourism Web Portals’ in order to accomplish second-hand experience and understanding directly from those who have journeyed to selected unique travel destination. This process will comprise establishment of collective website portal for delivering appropriate information for those who intent to travel to various destinations (Via International, “VolunTourism 2020 Vision”). The second motivation approach is ‘Dragonfly effect’. ‘Dragonfly effect’ is a method to stir social change and to generate desire among people to participate in VolunTourism. This method is subjected to four requisite skills that comprise increasing concentration on objectives, grabbing the attention, involving in establishing individual connection and taking actions through empowering others. The analogy of this method arrives from the thought that one traveler is equivalent to one volunteer, who tends to stimulate the dragon to fly. The information regarding VolunTourism can spread quickly by social media and it is forecasted that the impact should increase by the year 2020 (Via International, “VolunTourism 2020 Vision”). Article 3: Wisdom and Insight: Brain Fitness, Cognitive Health and VolunTourism. This article discusses about brain fitness and inducements to the VolunTourism society with respect to brain capability and intellectual health. When volunteering in a foreign nation, it is advantageous to involve with the local community and positioned in individual comfort zones. The brain requires renovating itself and adjusting to the neighboring changes in the habituated environment, which is also termed as ‘neuroplasticity’ (Via International, “Wisdom & Insight”. The CEO of ‘SharpBrains.com’ provides insight regarding the significance of exercising the brain in order to learn new language, experience and new methods of volunteering. In this context, it can be stated that working out the brain and nurturing the mind are of equal significance as taking care of the body (Via International, “Wisdom & Insight”). Article 4: The Age of the Transformation Economy. This article states that VolunTourism has been transformed into a new dimension wherein volunteer tourists intend to support, grow and learn from their experiences. The host societies evoke such aspirations among people to undertake volunteering activities. As a result, volunteer tourists no longer perform in accordance with their preferences and interests and accordingly transform themselves into new directions. Instead of just gaining external satisfaction through VolunTourism, individuals start to seek for internal growth. Specially mentioning, the number of volunteer tourists is increasing dramatically in each financial year (Clemmons, “Have We Reached the Age of The Transformation Economy”). There are several individuals who desire to assist the society during travelling, rather than just travelling for vacation and recreation. Many individuals have transformed themselves with respect to lifestyle and journey due to VolunTourism. In future, VolunTourism will certainly transform the economy into a better position due to having themes of active involvement, objective and meaning. This transformation will also provide greater advantages to people in terms of creating unique experience and value (Clemmons, “Have We Reached the Age of The Transformation Economy”). Article 5: Here Comes the Sun. This article was written by Larry Beck, wherein his experience of VolunTourism specifically in Peru has been portrayed. Beck selected ‘Globe Aware’ as making a VolunTrip program based organization, providing journeys that concentrate on cultural understanding and sustainability. During the VolunTourism, Beck involved in several projects that comprised interacting with children and teaching them the subject ofEnglish. Beck stated that in comparison with regular tourism, VolunTourism has several advantages. For example, regular tourists have certain limitations with respect to communication with the citizens of the visiting nation and regular tourism does not permit the tourists to imbibe themselves with the culture and the tradition of any destination country. On the other hand, VolunTourism permits to experience new culture with volunteering opportunities along with tourism enjoyments. The travelers can avail the chance to make a difference in their lifestyles and other people and also to gain knowledge about the destinations (Beck, “Here Comes the Sun”). 6. VOLUNTOURISM FOR ME VolunTourism is certainly an interesting aspect, which I will consider for my future travelling program. At first, when I gain knowledge regarding VolunTourism, I was immediately attracted on this aspect. I also have the urge to learn more regarding VolunTourism. Personally, I have always desired to assist people as much as possible as it provides greater pleasure for me to make a positive impact in someone’s life. VolunTourism would also provide me an opportunity to incorporate the component of social responsibility with travel. I have always interested in meeting new individuals and sharing my interests. Thus, VolunTourism would allow me to gain such pleasure, which cannot be acquired if I select usual tourism activities. For myself, I know that I had a passion for travel, but it would be very pleasurable for me if such passion is merged with performing something good for other people. Furthermore, VolunTourism will also help me to travel several destinations throughout the globe. It provides unique experience than other usual tourism and by involving in this type of tourism, I would be able to experience great adventurous trips. Works Cited Beck, Larry. Here Comes the Sun. VolunTourism International, 2008. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. Clemmons, David. Have We Reached the Age of The Transformation Economy? Via International, 2011. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. “Trip Preparation”. VolunTourism International, 2009. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. “Processing Experiences”. VolunTourism International, 2009. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. “Post-Trip”. VolunTourism International, 2009. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. “The Events That Shaped & Influenced VolunTourism In Decade 1.0”. Via International, 2010. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. “VolunTourism 2020 Vision”. Via International, 2011. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. “Wisdom & Insight”. Via International, 2011. Web. 6 Apr. 2014. Read More