Luxury voluntourism is a higher-end travel experience organized by a luxury travel operator or a hotelier that includes some time dedicated to voluntary service in a destination. For most luxury voluntourism, the trip itineraries have a greater tourism focus with a shorter time dedicated to voluntary service.
Luxury voluntourism is on the rise. Conde Nast Traveler magazine and the Ritz Carlton through its “Give Back Getaways” program are key luxury travel influencers that have pushed luxury voluntourism to the forefront giving it coverage and credibility. Conde Nast Traveler has dedicated an …

With the rising popularity of voluntourism, more research have been undertaken to understand the motivations and interests of voluntourists — leisure travelers who include volunteering in their trips. Armed with greater research, the industry can better assess business practices to serve the traveler and the local communities more effectively. The newly-released industry report, 2008 Voluntourism Survey, provides some great profiles on voluntourists and how they influence volunteer tourism participation. The authors, David Clemmons of Voluntourism.org and Nancy McGhee and John Lee of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Virginia Tech, …

Conde Nast Traveler held their 3rd Annual World Savers Congress this week in NYC. The editors of Conde Nast Traveler hosted the travel forum for travel providers, and included a few philanthropic celebrities and consumer companies, who came together to dialogue about sustainability, responsible tourism, and corporate social responsibility. Although it’s really an industry forum, we wanted to highlight some noteworthy takeaways from the event so that we can all become smarter and more conscious travelers.

Corporate Social Responsibility
The way companies look at corporate social responsibility has evolved from philanthropy to …

Americans are living in a time when being green and eco-friendly are not only trendy, but becoming a way of life. Traveling green will generally cost more and there are fewer travel choices, for now.
Research done by travelhorizons™ in July found that more Americans are aware of eco-friendly travel (which confirms the general perception), but they will not necessarily pay the price to take part in it. People are more aware of eco-friendly terms and they understand the benefits that others will gain from “being green.” …

With the soaring popularity of voluntourism, a number of articles have recently surfaced in the UK newspapers attempting to pop the voluntourism euphoria bubble. Undoubtedly, the negative voluntourism experiences cited are real and serve as a good reminder that voluntourism, like any travel, will not always result in positive experiences.
A huge concern for people is the money and what percentage of it actually reaches the projects. Many travel companies are supportive of the local businesses they work with, but determining which one is no small task because there are …

Poverty is in the spotlight, and helping the poor, dare we say, is in vogue. With rapid technology, images of the poor and messages of needs are quickly and frequently transmitted by media outlets, internet, and social media. The number of charity organizations is growing rapidly. Heart-strings are tugged, curiosity aroused, and people want to get involved. This interest in the poor has extended to travel.
Touring impoverished areas of the world is fast becoming a global travel trend. Inevitably questions arise.
Well-to-do Westerners are putting down serious …

Unfortunately, they’re not often thought to be related. Travel is typically a form of consumption. You’re purchasing an experience, and most people when they travel aren’t really thinking about helping others along the way. That’s just what travel is traditionally.
Then there is volunteer travel abroad. Traditionally, this involves volunteering in a foreign country the entire time you are there. Some volunteers will travel around the country after their volunteer assignments, but many volunteers return home immediately after their stints. Their exposure to the host country is limited to interactions …