Tourism Voluntarism in the Form of Community Development - Term Paper Example

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Voluntary tourism aims to promote community development. The community members will have over expectations of the intended community initiatives by the voluntary tourists. Individuals and organizations need to initiate effective development programs for the community. Community development programs will take the form of training of the community members of the technical skills, education of the community o the basic heath hygiene, and engagement of the members in basic construction initiative. The involvement of the local community administration will ensure that the community development program is a going concern. The program will be on seen after the clue of voluntary tourists is gone. Global exposure of the voluntary tourism will give them opportunity and experience to work indifferent locations without experiencing a cultural shock. Commercial priority of the organizations needs not to override the community benefit from the tourism opportunities. The decisions to expose the community to be a tourism attraction destination do face some challenges. The community members apart from the overall benefit of the community development program will expect some financial gains form the voluntary tourism group .this is a challenge in the implementation of the program. Communication channels determine the acceptability of the program. The uses of social media will attract many people to the initiative. Communication channel and the chosen media will depend on the local acceptability. The use of other voluntary groups in the community will enhance quick accecapility of the community development program. The financial resources are a biggest challenge to implement the community development program discussed in the plan. TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive summary ………………………………………….......…………………………………………2 1.0 chapter 1………………………………………………………………………………………………. 4 1.1 Introduction…...……………………………………………………………………………….4 1.2 Background information……………………………………………………………………….4 2.0 chapter 2 ……………………………………………………………………………………………….5 2.1 Literature review…………………………………………………………………………..…. 5 3.0 Chapter 3………………………………………………………………………………………………8 3.1 Target audience analysis………………………………………………………………..8 3.1.1 The target market………………………………………………..…………………….8 3.1.2 Characteristics of the market participants……………………………………………..8 3.1.3 Target market segment………………………………………………………………...8 3.2 Communication objectives……………………………………………………………………9 3.3Market demographic/psychographic characteristics…………………………………………..9 3.4Benefits of voluntary tourism in the community………………………………………….…10 3.5weaknesses of voluntary tourism………………………………………………………...…..11 3.6communication creative strategies………………………………………………………….. 11 3.7implication of the communication actions………………………………………………...…12 3.8Justification of the choice of a particular communication channel………………………….13 4.0 Chapter 4…………………………………………………………………………………………….14 4.1Discussion/Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………..…….14 References…………………………………………………………………………………………………14 CHAPTER ONE 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Background information Tourism is the leading provider of foreign export inmost countries; the income originates from the local and foreign tourisms in the host countries. The business plan extensively covers the tourism activities in the country and in the global contexts. Volunteer tourism involves individual combining holiday and or holiday trips with the opportunity to volunteer in the local community. Globalizations of the world make it easy for individual to look for e-tourism destination all over the world. Tourisms opportunities are available in areas like animal and land conservation and plant husbandry, building works, health services, community development, and teaching. The IMC plan deal with the tourism voluntarism in the form of community development and enlightening the community of the local tourism ventures. Voluntary tourism in the local community will involve search and venture into the locally available tourism ventures in the local context. 2.0 CHAPTER TWO 2.1.1 Literature review Community development involves initiation of local projects for the common benefit of the community members at large. Different destinations in the community are viable for local tourism. Voluntary tourists will tap into the unduly utilized opportunities in the market. The original remains of cradle land for human kind. Local responsiveness and attachment of the community in the tourism initiative will determine the success of the voluntary tourism in the community context. Voluntary tourism aims at the local community sustainability. This is in the form of engaging the local community in productive cravings and carvings of tools to reflect the culture of the community. The voluntary tourism ought to look for global experience so as to be relevant in the other communities. Voluntary travels and vacations around the community will enhance locals realize the business nature of the tourism. The essence of local tourism is a mission to full engage the locals in understanding that tourism is also able to be conducted in a productive manner. Voluntary tourism can take the form of promoting the cross cultural interaction among the diverse cultural practices in the community. The local community members will learn to coexist with the absorption of diverse cultural practices in the community. The local participants will send organizations in the community to search for possible voluntary tourism destinations. Voluntary tourism will uphold the principles of saving the world in a short period of time. There are different forms of sustainable community based tourism. The common forms f this sustainable tourism include eco-tourism, programs for the poor, participatory tourism and other forms of voluntary tourism. The desire to learn more about the birds and animals communities in the environment is a sustainable form of sustainable and community based voluntary tourism. There are a million and one types of birds. Most scholars do agree that it is hard to learn ad state with the certainty the cultures of the different families of birds. The dynamics of the community requires participatory contribution to assist the local in the society. Most of the local communities are experiencing the rising number of orphans in the community. The initiation and support of the orphans is a social responsibility and a form of community development. Children home are the destinations of most children after the passing over of their parents. It is wise to engage the community in care and protection of the children. Voluntary tourism in the community involves working for good. People in the community have different perspectives in relation to the community development initiative. The volunteers need t explicitly explain the essence of the community based projects and their participatory role in relation to the success of the project. Voluntary tourism is beneficial to even the international community. The traditional perception of the tourism volunteers is that they brings and or expose their immediate communities to the international community. Through long term skill placements in the practical tourism environment, the local tourism volunteers are able to utilize the global exposure to develop the community. The community development initiative involves partnership with international development agencies. The main obstacle to the voluntary tourists is the demand for authentication from the local participants. Some members of the community perceive them as self seekers not so much in interested for the common good of the society at large. Wide traveling demands self-sacrifice for the local tourists in the nature of financial and human resources. There is persistent on the part of the local for donations to see the productivity of the community based project. This needs to have a financial support of the voluntary tourists. It is hard prepare a business plan for voluntary tourism. This is due to the complexity and diverge nature of the voluntary tourism venture. Most of the organizations which venture into voluntary tourism are motivated for commercial gains in the market. The majority of the Western Europe organizations contribute to the national revenue through the community development initiatives. The community forms the context for the attraction of the business donations for the benefit of the individual organizations. Commercial organizations venture into community projects as they easily attract funding from the donor nations. According to most critics, financial motivation forms the basis of the initiation of the community based projects. The development impact lies down in the priority considerations for the community projects. Latin America, Africa and Asia countries form the popular destinations where voluntary tourism is very prudent. The participants in the community development projects are mostly students intending to bridge their career gaps. The popular community projects which are undertaken by the voluntary tourists are training in technical skills, education of the life skills among the community members, and construction plus working with the children. Working with the children will develop life skills among the children. The skills will take the form of interpersonal skills, communications skills, talent identification, and spirit of team work. 3.0 CHAPTER THREE 3.1 TARGET AUDIENCE ANALYSIS 3.1.1. The target market The target market for the community development depends on the diverse need and response of the target community and the present major issue in the community of concern. Community schools, hospitals. Children homes and community organization will be target market for the voluntary tourism for the community development. Cultural centers and community social halls will provide forum for the initiation and development of voluntary tourism projects. Homes of the elderly and people with the special need will be a center for attraction for the voluntary tourism. 3.1.2 Characteristics of the market participants The market participants will include individuals and organization with different experience in community projects. Past experience and financial literacy is a determinate for the community development personnel. People with special need and the elderly ill form the cultural attractions for the community. The community leaders will promote essential needs of the community. Cultural offences will be critical in the selection of the participants of the community projects. Professional experts in issues related to voluntary tourism will be crucial in the spearheading of the community development initiatives by the voluntary tourism personnel. 3.1.3. Targeted market Segments Community is composed of different groups with different demands and needs. There will be initiatives for the poor, the elderly, the youth and the initiative for the community at large. Community development will strive to meet the needs of the diverse community members. Voluntary tourism is an aspect of studying the discrepancies in the needs and tailor makes the project to meet the varied needs of the people. Market segmentation will take the form of desire to meet the specific needs of the community and the sustainability of the project in the absence of the volunteers especially in the long term. 3.2. The communication objectives The communication objectives of the community development initiative are as follows; 1. Development of the community project awareness inn the chosen community. Voluntary tourism is not common in most communities. There is need to promote the cultural tourism products to attract a large numbers of community members to the project. 2. To create awareness of the vast experience of the voluntary tourism in the community. This cooperation is core for the success of the community development project. The initiatives take the form of education, training, construction and referral of the community members to the resource centers. 3. To use community cultural practices t influence the people attributes and interest towards the project and the initiative at large. 3.3 Market demographics/psychographic characteristics The target market will compose of the young and the elderly. The construction of the social halls will attract the youth to show case their talents. The old will use the forum to transfer the culture beliefs to the young people. The elderly will fill the gap of transforming the culture t the local people. The common psychological and geographical distributions of the people will determine the success of the people in the community. 3.4 Benefits of voluntary tourism in the community The first benefit is community development is strongly linked with sustainable tourism. Products in the sustainable tourism are sometimes perceived as those products whose use and consumption creates harmony in the local community. Appreciation of the local culture, cultural diversity, culture and community need to be responsive with the initiated projects by the voluntary tourists. The harmony creates mutual and beneficial relationship between the volunteer and the host community. The short term voluntary activities involve use of leisure time and free resources for the benefit of the community at large. The initiate allows most local people to participate in constructive initiatives in the community. There is no opportunity to participate in the overseas tourism projects. Well organization and conception of the community projects will create sufficient leisure time and the resources there with will be of great advantage to the community. Placements with the local community will take the form of direct financial resources and manpower skills. The indirect benefits of the voluntary tourism are creation of employment opportunities for the community members, and development of infrastructure. The facilities which will be improved are local schools, hospitals, daily activities and parks. The injection of the revenue will be as result of the tourists coming to tour and learn some of the community projects. The community projects will exposure the locals to the international tourism trends. Tourism ventures will prepare to work in the international setting and environment without the problem of experiencing cultural shock. Cultural shock is as a result of change of the familiar culture and exposure to a totally new culture. It will take time for the person to learn the new culture. Volunteers will have the opportunity to learn and understand diverse and multi-local cultural without difficulty. The sense of global responsibility, social awareness and cultural understanding for the community projects to be viable as an initiative of the voluntary tourists. 3.5 Weaknesses of voluntary tourism Academic personnel and other professionals, agencies have developed a negative attitude towards voluntary tourism. There is challenge in obtaining of placements in the different communities. Voluntary tourism is seen to be designed to benefit the organizations and individuals initiating the projects in the community. The specific needs of the focal community are secondary to the needs of the individuals purporting to steer the development agenda in the chosen community. This is a damaging and negative perception form the wide population at large. There is a general perception that community development is secondary to the individuals promoting the idea. Community development is once in a lifetime business among most organizations. There is no actual a trickling of resources or benefits t the rightful beneficiaries. The popularity of tourism destinations is a varied issue as time goes by. This is due t demand drive in the tourism industry. The people will appreciate to visits specific destinations due to its popularity and fame among the people. 3.6Communication creative strategies Voluntary tourism is unpopular among most people in the community. There is need for effective communication n strategy for successive community development. The use of local administration will effectively pass the essence of the community development initiative to the intended community beneficiaries. The use of unique dressing code will attract the community and the outsiders to know the intentions of the community project being brought fore ward by the organization of your choice. The partnership with effective organizations in the community will prepare the people for success from the project. Telemarketing is another strategy for the initiative. The tourism will address the community members with the public address system. The use of the social media in the community will increase the success of the community development program. The uses of cultural attires similar to the values held by the community will crestivelyand effectively pass the information to the community and feel part of the project. Travel tours and groups are a common traction to the people. The involvements of the locals in the sporting activities will a creative strategy. The media plan for the voluntary tourism in the community development will target a particular market group for a specific time. The volunteers will need to start from the special groups and then move to the vested interest groups so as to promote intuition of priority project among the community members. 3.7. Implication of the communication actions The use of different communication cannel will have different perceptions from amongst the community members. The use of cultural attires will make the community members to feel part of the community so as to support fully the community development program. Social media communication ill attract many people to the community program. This is a positive measure of success the voluntary tourism group the community through the social media will learn the relevance of voluntary tourism in the global context. 3.8 Justification of the choice of a particular communication channel Communication channels determine the success of a project among the community members the use of the social media is relevant as it is a common and popular channel of communication among the community people. The use of cultural attires will pass a message of valuation of community traditions to the locals. This will make them feel being valued so much. CHAPTER FOUR 4.0 DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION Sometimes voluntary opportunities may cause uneven development in the community. The target community may be unable to support and continue with the project in the long time after the voluntary tourism has left. There is no sufficient contingent plan to deal with the issues of risk and other contingencies predominant in regard to the community project. The sending of organizations to the community sometimes raises the community expectations. The host communities do conform that what is possible to achieve in the short period is not the same as what the community members will expect. Time limit is an impediment in the full implementation f a community project. This means they will create a minimal impact. Some volunteers assume community project are easy to implement. Some community outsiders doubt the competence of the voluntary tourism in the design, development and full implementation of the community development projects. It is sometimes hard to fully understand the diverse cultures of the community. The cultural erosion of some communities is offensive t the community. The community tourism initiatives ought to be responsive f the cultural values and preservations of the community o concern. Culture is a tourism factor in the community. Different people tend to study the different cultures among the people. Community development is strongly linked with sustainable tourism. Products in the sustainable tourism are sometimes perceived as those products whose use and consumption creates harmony in the local community. Appreciation of the local culture, cultural diversity, culture and community need to be responsive with the initiated projects by the voluntary tourists. The harmony creates mutual and beneficial relationship between the volunteer and the host community. The short term voluntary activities involve use of leisure time and free resources for the benefit of the community at large. Commercial organizations venture into community projects as they easily attract funding from the donor nations. According to most critics, financial motivation forms the basis of the initiation of the community based projects. The development impact lies down in the priority considerations for the community program. To conclude, voluntary tourism will be a successive tool in the community development. Tourism placement in the community will expose the local people to the international scene. Voluntary tourism will also have a positive effect in the international scene. This is through attraction of the international voluntary tourists to the community to promote the community initiatives. Volunteers will have the opportunity to learn and understand diverse and multi-local cultural without difficulty. The sense of global responsibility, social awareness and cultural understanding for the community projects to be viable as an initiative of the voluntary tourists. References BARROWS, C. W., POWERS, T. F., & POWERS, T. F. (2009). Introduction to management in the hospitality industry. Hoboken, N.J., John Wiley & Sons.http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=2252. BRICKER, K. S., BLACK, R., & COTTRELL, S. (2013). Sustainable tourism & the millennium development goals: effecting positive change. Burlington, MA, Jones & Bartlett Learning. BUHALIS, D., & LAWS, E. (2001). Tourism distribution channels: practices, issues and transformations. New York, Continuum. CORBETT, J. B. (2006). Communicating nature how we create and understand environmental messages. Washington, DC, Island Press. http://catalog.hathitrust.org/api/volumes/oclc/70122389.html. DANN, G. (2002). The tourist as a metaphor of the social world. Wallingford [u.a.], CABI Publ. HARRISON, D. (2001). Tourism and the Less Developed World Issues and Case Studies Issues and Case Studies. Wallingford, CABI. http://public.eblib.com/EBLPublic/PublicView.do?ptiID=314288. 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