Finding the volunteerism in voluntourism

Although research typically views voluntourism (travelling to take part in volunteerism) as a specialised case of tourism, this paper considers a complementary approach, viewing voluntourism as something of a specialised case of volunteering. Using data from the 2015 American Community Survey’s Volunteer Supplement, we sought to discover whether there was a higher level of local prosocial behaviour by those who have taken part in voluntourism (as compared to those who have not taken part in voluntourism). We found support for this proposition; those who had taken part in voluntourism gave more time to volunteering (overall and to their main organisation), were more likely to have donated $25 or more to charity, and were more likely to have attended community meetings on public affairs (as compared to those who had not taken part in voluntourism). With only a single exception, these findings held up across both domestic and international voluntourism; attending community meetings on public affairs was not related to international voluntourism. Based on our results, we conclude that those who take part in voluntourism are also more involved in other, local forms of prosocial action. Individual and programme level implications for tourism practitioners are discussed.