What is Voluntourism?
1.
Heaven help me, yet another nasty new noun, the unholy marriage of "volunteer" and "tourism".
Voluntourism, an act carried out by "voluntourists", is when hoardes of - generally - the great unwashed backpacker brigade descend on a place to do have a jolly nice holiday - usually at precious little cost to themselves - and do the occasional bit of good work.
Looks good on one's CV as a gap year activity.
Voluntourist 1: Shall we go to Khao Lak to engage in a spot of voluntourism?
Voluntourist 2: No, tsunami voluntourism is old hat now. All the bars are closed and hardly anyone is living in the houses built, anyway.
Voluntourist 1: Good point. (pauses) Sierra Leone?
Vouluntourist 2: Are you insane?
See
2.
Voluntourism is the act of visiting a place as a volunteer to aid in the recovery of that place from a disaster in a hands-on manner.
The most recent example of voluntourism is post-Katrina New Orleans, where faith-based and non-profit organizations, such as Habitat For Humanity, have been working to help residents rebuild their houses.
See
