Exploring the Culture Impact on Volunteer Tourism between Volunteer Tourists and Host Residents

• Main Authors: Liu, Miao-Hsiang, 劉妙香
• Other Authors: Tsai, Chin-Shih
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2012
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/15850310393693029011

碩士 === 真理大學 === 休閒遊憩事業學系碩士班 === 100 === Volunteer tourism is spreading internationally; it is very different to mass tourism. Volunteer tourism provides alternative opportunities for tourists. In addition to the participation of altruism-oriented activities, volunteer tourists increasingly focus on the “egoism” for personal self-growth or/and personal self-actualization. Developing volunteer tourism can bring positive impacts to both the host community and tourists because volunteer tourists stay and interact longer with residents in a community. Volunteer tourism development has become increasingly popular in Taiwan, but academic studies are still rare. Hence, in this study the culture impacts on both volunteer tourists and local residents, as well as the appropriateness for volunteer tourism development in Taiwan were discussed and analysed. Grounded theory was used in this study to analyze the international volunteer tourists’ experiences in Tai-Xi Township, Yun-Lin County, Taiwan. Study participators were chosen by purposive sampling until theoretical saturation had been done. Total of 10 participators were interviewed (5 volunteer tourists and 5 local residents, respectively) through semi-structural questions. Based on the follow-up analysis for volunteer tourists and local community residents after their “reception” and “participation”, the problem was re-defined to conduct the related theory of volunteer tourism. The findings showed that the culture impacts on volunteer tourists are related to prior preparation, motivation and expectation, host community and coordinating organization. The benefits for volunteer tourists include experiencing different cultures, learning new things, gaining unforgettable memories, self-fulfillment and sense of accomplishments, and meeting new friends and helping others. However, the negative impacts include facing adaptation for climate, different eating habits, and language barrier and limitation on social network. The positive impacts for local residents include learning and exchanging cultures, gaining global perspectives and knowledge, and increasing their own culture identity. Nevertheless, the local residents still have negative impacts such as uneasiness due to different habit and language barrier. Moreover, as the volunteer tourists mainly pay attention to self-serving, and because of friendly residents and convenient transportation in Taiwan, the appropriateness for developing volunteer tourism is high.