Developing the dimensions of tourism volunteering

Holmes, Kirsten and Smith, Karen A. and Lockstone-Binney, Leonie and Baum, Tom (2010) Developing the dimensions of tourism volunteering. Leisure Sciences, 32 (3). pp. 255-268. ISSN 0149-0400 (https://doi.org/10.1080/01490401003712689)

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Abstract

Volunteers within tourism settings are of growing interest. Research to date has been fragmented either focusing on individuals volunteering in their community (i.e., hosts) or tourists volunteering at a destination (i.e., guests). In this paper, the tourism and leisure literature on volunteering is synthesized and the host and guest streams of volunteering critiqued according to four defining dimensions: setting, time commitment, level of obligation, and remuneration. These dimensions are refined using interview data to propose a model of tourism volunteering where host and guest volunteering are related rather than distinct. A simple host-guest dichotomy misses the shared and distinct complexities of tourism volunteering.