With travel and volunteerism going hand in hand in recent years, it is understandable if there is confusion among terms.
Voluntourism usually encompasses vacation travel that has some component of volunteer work. An example from my Elderhostel days is a program where the participants visited a Native American area of the southwest. While they were there, they provided free tutoring to the students in an elementary school located on a reservation.
The travelers received education about the locale, its history, and its people. Usually travelers in such programs are able to deduct some of the expenses of the trip as a charitable deduction on their tax returns.
Voluntourism opportunities may be as short as a week or take place over several months. One of the fastest growing areas of voluntourism is going abroad to developing countries to help teach, build schools, help with agriculture, or other community projects.
The best voluntourism opportunities involve participants in the volunteer work for the majority of the time, are prearranged with the community being helped, and make sure that help is actually being rendered in a culturally sensitive way. Think service first, vacation second when picking an opportunity.
Even though, in most cases of voluntourism, participants pay for the experience, a poll in 2008 by Travelocity found that 38% of travelers said they intended to volunteer on their vacations that year, up from just 11% the year before. Habitat for Humanity, Elderhostel, several environmental groups, and even resorts such as the Ritz-Carlton provide these programs.
Philanthropic travel, on the other hand, usually means that a philanthropist, considering a substantial philanthropic gift, visits the possible recipient.
The purpose of the trip can be research, to get to know the recipient better, to establish an ongoing relationship, or to reassure oneself that the gift is really worthwhile.
Exquisite Safaris facilitates philanthropic travel. It works with NGOs in a developing country to match donors with needy projects. The philanthropist is not volunteering his/her service, but establishing trust for himself and the recipient organization so that a donation can be made. Exquisite Safaris combines luxury travel with philanthropic intentions.
Another kind of philanthropic travel is provided through organizations or consulting firms that advise philanthropists. They may organize research trips to further a donor's knowledge about a particular issue or part of the world. Users of donor-advised funds can sometimes take part in research trips through the sponsoring foundation.
Related:
