Fifth International Conference on Tourism & Leisure Studies

Abstract

Due to a growing search for more immersive experiences in the area of tourism and the social problems in the postmodern society, critical reflection can be used by individuals in order to raise awareness of the collective and society as a whole, helping develop a sense of agency and an inclusive worldview. As such, volunteer tourism appears, through critical reflection, as a possible way for conscientization and paradigm shift. The goal of this study is to analyze the different types of transformative learning that can be acquired by participating in volunteer tourism and how they affect the worldview of participants. A qualitative study was conducted with 16 semi-structured interviews in two groups (India and Ghana). The participants were classified into different types of volunteer tourists indicating their pre-trip motivations ,and reports of affective connections, alongside observations of the activities performed during the trip. Volunteer tourism has been found to work as a pathway for enhancing opportunities of transformation, involving not only the volunteer tourist in the process, but a triad composed of him, the intermediary agent and the social project in the chosen destination. The results corroborate, ranging from superficial learning to deeper transformations, the importance of personal and sociocultural contexts in this process. Moreover, this research contributes to the understanding and development of volunteer tourism - still not much explored in the scientific environment – while leaving visible opportunities for improvement for those interested in or already working within this market, to go beyond a purely commercial relation.