VolunTourism Activity - Coursework Example

VolunTourism OVERVIEW Volunteer tourism is an activity through which individuals volunteer themselves for a charitable purpose. It has been determined to be one of the most rapidly growing sectors in global adventure travel. According to Wearing and McGehee, volunteer tourism can be delineated as “those tourists who, for various reasons, volunteer in an organized way to undertake holidays that might involve aiding or alleviating the material poverty of some groups in society, the restoration of certain environments, or research into aspects of society or environment” (120-121). Conversely, tourism is completely different from volunteer tourism. In order to describe tourism, it can be explained as a hobby or activity business which provides mental relaxation as well as self-satisfaction. Thesis Statement. With these considerations, the study intends to derive an understanding regarding what VolunTourism is by reviewing different perspectives associated with the website voluntourism.org. The analysis will consider the aspect of preparation for VolunTourism along with evaluating five articles related to the area of study. 1. THE DIFFICULT QUESTIONS In order to derive an understanding regarding the suitability of VolunTourism, there is a need to respond to certain compelling questions. Question #1 What Is My Personal Minimum Requirement for Accommodations? In order to address the requirement of participating in VolunTourism, one of the key necessities will be to prepare my mental condition in a realistic manner about the available accommodation. According to my opinion for a voluntary trip, I would like to stay on my self-developed camp or tent in case the duration of the trip is for a short period such as five days. However, for more than that period I might require certain minimum amenities including my own place to rest beyond my base camp and electronic gadgets such as mobile phone to communicate with outside world. Question #2 How much money can I truly spend to pay for a VolunTourism trip? I am willing to spend and can also afford to spend around US$2000 for a VolunTourism trip. Question #3 How much time/percentage of my trip do I want to dedicate to volunteering and how much to travel & tourism? I would like to dedicate around equal proportion of time i.e. 50% each for travel & tourism and volunteering in order to make the trip a success, primarily because I have realized that the prime cause of VolunTourism trip is to aid people in need in a different place through my charitable contribution thus, significant priority should go to volunteering and it should not be neglected in lieu of traveling purpose. Question #4 How sensitive am I to deprivation, poverty, starvation, health issues, etc.? I am relatively sensitive to such as issues that are increasingly being suffered by a number of people in certain deprived places in the world. However, I can physically and mentally deal with the challenge of living amid them if my action aids them in alleviating their suffering. Question #5 What tolerance do I have for extremes in climate? I can certainly tolerate humidity in Rainforest or stern level of heat such as desert heat, however I am quite sensitive to freezing cold weather condition. Question #6 What food preferences and aversions do I have? I am not restricted to eating only vegetarian foods, even though I prefer them the most. Correspondingly, I am quite averse in terms of eating any kind of food placed in front me especially related to non-vegetarian items. I have certain preferences regarding non-vegetarian items beyond which I might feel discomfort. Question #7 How good are my people skills in relation to travel? I generally like to travel with at least one of my known companions. However, owing to possessing a pleasant personality, I feel that I can get along and speak with any individual, in any nation easily through showing sensitivity towards their feeling. Question #8 What travel experience do I have? I have mainly travelled in my domestic environment as of now. Question #9 What volunteer experience do I have? I have participated in a few voluntary tours as a part of non-governmental organizations. My performed activities include alleviating the suffering of rural children through providing them medical aid in terms of a disease outbreak and helping the older adults to take proper healthcare initiative in their village. Question #10 What voluntary service would I like to perform? In keeping with my past experience, I would like to perform voluntary service related ensuring wellbeing of children and older adults in terms of health and education. 2. INSIGHTS ABOUT TRIP PREPARATION Trip preparation is one of the most important factors for a vacation tour or in case of a voluntary tour. It has been recognized that irresponsibility in terms of preparation for a tour can spoil the entire trip. Especially before a voluntary trip, preparation can be the key to success. As the significance of a voluntary tour is very high, the primary objective of the tour is not only to get metal satisfaction and relaxation but also to serve for the people and for their future. In order to meet those primary objectives, I need to visualize the entire tour in front of my closing eyes and also try to identify the essential insights about the trip preparation. I would like to focus on three crucial insights on trip preparation. For preparation first of all, I require to focus on my health and fitness, through going for a short medical checkup. This checkup should entail identification of any food allergies among others. Otherwise on the specific time period during the tour, I may face severe hindrances which can affect my successful participation. Thus, as a primary vision my motive is to stay healthy and fit and be aware of any health complications I possess. Moreover, the second insight derived is to fill the knowledge gap about the destination by seeking information about community development along with focusing on developing group dynamics as generally VolunTourism activities are group-based. And, also I need to identify the required elements which will help me to execute the tour successfully. Apart from these, in terms of the third derived insight, I should also consider few other peripheral things for my preparation for the tour. These include gaining comprehensive insight about the destination’s culture, language of the civilization, along with condition of the recent weather, environment and climate of the place (VolunTourism International, “Trip Preparation”). 3. PROCESSING EXPERIENCES Processing experiences of a voluntary trip always varies from one place to another. Depending upon the weather condition, economic situation and other internal or external effects processing experiences differ. Regarding processing experience, I have had little experience earlier about a voluntary tour. It has been observed that processing pertinent prior experience can a soothing impact during the voluntary trip as probable difficulties are already known. In terms of a key insight, I have realized that I need to possess an idea about the type of tour which is best suited for me. The second valuable insight is that I might have to deal with every kind of adverse situations in life related to poverty, slums, malnutrition, along with extreme condition of the weather, thus I require being mentally tough. Thirdly, I have realized the crucial techniques for processing such as group approach and gatherings amid friends to make myself mentally and emotionally competent to face any adversity during the trip (VolunTourism International, “Processing Experiences”). 4. POST-TRIP Post trip part is completely different from the earlier situation. After the trip, on the back of the mind, certain repercussions will crop up regarding the value of such worthwhile activity. During the post voluntary trip period, generally it has been observed in many cases people like to talk about their experiences on the trip, on the other side it has been also observed people like to share how they contributed to the cause as well. Subsequently, the first insight gained is the notion of ‘re-entry’ wherein I would require a certain period of time to get back into my home environment which primarily depends on the amount of days I will spend with the community people where I visit. The second insight is the gained motivation after the trip to act for the further enhancement of the performed voluntary task during the trip. This motivation might get channelized to the home environment as well owing to the derived motivation. Subsequently, the third insight is about telling people regarding the obtained experience about the trip wherein an inner zeal works to share the valuable learning about the trip with near and dear others (VolunTourism International, “Post-Trip”). 5. SUMMARY OF ARTICLES Article No. 1.In the article, “The Events That Shaped & Influenced VolunTourism in Decade 1.0” the publisher David Clemmons, has attempted to focus on the few essential factors which have influenced voluntary trip in a massive way. With regard to the article it has been observed that, first of all, Clemmons’ intention was to ensure the growth rate and stability of VolunTourism. Moreover, the article expanded the awareness of the concept and responsively he motivated people for the VolunTourism. According to the article, during the 2001, after the 9/11 attack VolunTourism gained momentum as a sense of awareness about commitment to service was rekindled amid the United States inhabitants. Immediately after that in 2003, it has been observed that Tauck World Discovery made launch of its Yellowstone Guest Volunteer Program which turned out to be a precedent. Correspondingly, the article highlighted that the situations such as natural disasters including Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina imposed most dramatic impacts on volunteer tourism activities and they changed its face. Over the past decade, VolunTourism has extended its significance through its activities and now it has become a prominent philanthropic service (Via International, “The Events That Shaped & Influenced VolunTourism in Decade 1.0”). Article No. 2. David Clemmons, in the article “VolunTourism 2020 Vision: 160 Million Volun Tourists!”, highlighted that the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) had projected that around 1.6 billion people will be making travels around the world per year by 2020. Correspondingly, the article highlights that it is a realistic target to encourage around 160 million people i.e. 10% of theses expected travellers to be a part of VolunTourism which would be beneficial for the communities. According to Clemmons’ view, it can be done in both ways. Those are emphasized below: Destination Specific Web Portals Related To VolunTourism. Through this process, VolunTourism can be developed. As per the article, the primary design can be done through “crowd sourcing”. Apart from this, sharing the pre-trip, during trip, post trip experiences can be valuable. The Dragonfly Effect. On the other hand, this motivation approach can be done through following few steps: 1) Focus: identifying the specific goal. 2) Grabbing attention: highlighting a genuine and remarkable issue with the crowded domain of social media. 3) Engaging: trying to establish a bridge through personal connection, sentiment, sympathy and happiness. 4) Taking action: motivating others to take actions. Through this process, the necessity of VolunTourism in a massive way within 2020 can be ensured (Via International, “VolunTourism 2020 Vision”). Article No. 3. In the article, “Wisdom & Insight: Brain Fitness, Cognitive Health and VolunTourism” Alvaro Fernandez mentioned that brain is the key element which has an enormous ability to direct human beings to thinking differently. In this regard, the article offers an insight regarding VolunTourism Community and the way in which VolunTourism related experiences can facilitate to aid voluntourists to discover their personal brain fitness as well as cognitive health (Fernandez, “Wisdom & Insight”). Article No. 4. David Clemmons in the article “VolunTourists & VolunTourism Providers as Aspirants & Elicitors: Have We Reached the Age of The Transformation Economy?” describes various aspects of VolunTourism. As per his belief, VolunTourism involvement is a preliminary experience to transport human from the transformation economy. Moreover, the implications are essential for the stakeholders. The transformation of economy means interaction on a one-to-one basis, which will encounter the previously relatively inactive role of the consumer. As a result, consumers will choose a product and/or service not according to their choices and preferences, but on the basis of how it will transmute them, their existence or their ways of thinking. Based on the concept of the tourism experience, he emphasized conceptual as well as theoretical foundations of the tourism know-how (Clemmons, “Have We Reached the Age of The Transformation Economy?). Article No. 5. Larry Beck, in the article “Here Comes the Sun”, expressed that Volun Tourism is rendering its impact upon the prospective value of tourism as well as travel in a completely different approach. He also highlighted that this new approach has the potential to influence human culture, art, history and services through its activity. Over the last few years, it has been observed that VolunTourism has become more effective due the increase of such activities for various beneficial purposes. Subsequently, the author in the articles shared certain valuable experiences he obtained by participating in different voluntary tourism activities. He highlighted that this kind of tourism provides an equal opportunity of tourism and volunteerism. The article also highlights the value of group participation in VolunTourism where the tourists are generally emotional and genuine. The article also sheds light on the fact that volunteer tourism facilitates cultural immersion in a completely distinct manner (Beck, “Here Comes the Sun”). 6. VOLUNTARY TOURISM FOR ME VolunTourism is determined to be a true cause for which I can spend my time and effort at any stage of my life. It has the power of capturing the human attention. It would be my pleasure and high mental satisfaction if I am able to involve myself with a travel plan which will be considered as a voluntary tour in future. VolunTourism can influence a human beings approach towards the society. Thus, it can be concluded that VolunTourism can be very good practice which will not only provide me satisfaction in terms of helping the required individuals and societies but will also enable me to obtain significant extent of pleasure and invaluable experience through travelling to new destinations. Work Cited Beck, Larry. Here Comes the Sun. VolunTourism International, 2008. Web. 06 Apr. 2014. Clemmons, David. Have We Reached the Age of The Transformation Economy? Via International, 2011. Web. 06 Apr. 2014. Fernandez, Alvaro. Wisdom & Insight. 2011. Web. 06 Apr. 2014. “The Events That Shaped & Influenced VolunTourism In Decade 1.0”. Via International, 2010. Web. 06 Apr. 2014. “VolunTourism 2020 Vision”. Via International, 2011. Web. 06 Apr. 2014. “Trip Preparation”. VolunTourism International, 2009. Web. 06 Apr. 2014. “Processing Experiences”. VolunTourism International, 2009. Web. 06 Apr. 2014. “Post-Trip”. VolunTourism International, 2009. Web. 06 Apr. 2014. Wearing, Stephen, and McGehee, Nancy Gard. “Volunteer Tourism: A Review.” Tourism Management 38 (2013): 120-130. Print. Read More