Volunteer tourism, sometimes worthy, sometimes glamorous and sometimes more trouble than it is worth, has long been a topic of fervent debate among conscientious travellers globally. The leading cause, surprisingly is insomnia.
The 1990s found the cure for the deadliest disease in the world. It was so deadly, it would cause people to indulge in late night self-help TV shows. It funded the rise and development of psychiatry as a science, and a necessary one at that, for the welfare of mankind. This disease was insomnia.
What caused this disease was the unfathomable thought that a certain section of society was too privileged, while there were so many people in the world starving, uneducated, deprived of proper beds, and that was unacceptable. ‘Something had to be done.’
This gave rise to the concept of volunteer tourism, where people could visit these nations, which actually needed their help, and also call it a vacation. It was the simplest and most obvious cure.
The volunteer sector has seen steady growth since 1990 and accounted for an estimated 1.67 million arrivals in 2010. About 60% of volunteer travel participants come from the US, with Latin America, Africa and Asia as the major destination regions.
And so it began…
The western nations picked what appealed to them most in the developing part of the world, ranging from need for education, healthcare facilities, UNESCO heritage sites, endangered species, culture and history, and of course a beautiful picturesque view (it was a vacation after all.)
Keeping the above in mind, Philippines, India and Thailand made for the most-searched-for places online for volunteer tourism, giving tourists a wide range of options from which to choose a destination.
Being able to reach out to these countries have helped show them in a different light. Travellers have started to seek more than just a photograph in front of the Taj Mahal, or an underwater picture in Phuket; they want to see the heart and soul of the country. They want to accept the country for its breathing life, be it the dirty sewers, or the dense forests; all the warts and all the beauty.
The upside of volunteer tourism is the boom of the tourism industry in developing nations, where they don’t even have to invest in luxury hotels, as these tourists want to experience the real thing.
In Thailand, there is a dynamic range of volunteer projects, from building homes for single mothers in crisis, to working with children afflicted with HIV. In between are volunteer projects in orphanages, at private hospitals and on elephant camps. Being an extremely beautiful tourist destination even otherwise, tourism accounts for 20% of the country's GDP.
Before the onset of volunteer tourism, people would instinctively stay as far as possible from places where disaster struck, to make sure their families were safe. It wasn’t selfish, they just had faith in the governments and organisations that knew what they were doing. However, recent times have seen the arrival of disaster tourism, witnessing a large spike in demand for flight tickets to countries affected by natural disasters, like Nepal and Japan during earthquakes.
When Typhoon Haiyan, struck the Philippines on November 7, 2013, it led to a significant increase in the number of people around the world searching for ways to help survivors. Even when Cambodia’s human rights issues surfaced, there was a rise in tourists swarming in to help out. The recent earthquakes at Nepal have brought it in the Top 5 countries for volunteer tourism.
The upside of volunteer tourism is the boom of the tourism industry in developing nations, where they don’t even have to invest in luxury hotels, as these tourists want to experience the real thing. Whether it is living in ashrams or with the monks in Bali, or in the home of a Nepali farmer, or in the hut of a fisherman in Thailand, travel sites and travel agents have a series of options to offer, including the option to choose an organisation to travel with, in case they want to travel with like-minded people.
It seems to be more calming and satisfying than ordinary vacations; even governments are integrating it as a part of their system. The New Zealand Government has announced it is pouring more money into the Volunteer Service Abroad (VSA) programme. Top Universities around the world, including Japan, USA and UK make it a criteria for students to have some kind of social work experience in order to enrol in their school of choice.
The downside however, is that not many of these volunteers really know what they are doing. ATLAS reports that the value of the volunteer tourism market is around $2 billion and the average cost for volunteers, in 2007, was $3,000 per trip. It is debated whether that money would be put to better use if donated rather than spent. This also brings up the question of whether there really is an outcome, and if people really have benefitted from it, or if things remain status quo.
While some NGOs and set-ups seem to work, others seem to be more money-oriented, buying into a trend. It is for people to recognise authentic bodies which are either government or UN certified, to avoid being fleeced or wasting precious resources.
Overall, this particular aspect of tourism seems to be helping people around the world, by alleviating poverty, illiteracy, extinction of endangered species and cultural sites, and of course the deadliest disease of them all, insomnia.