Villas inside and out

Volunteer tourism, also called voluntourism, is a type of travel that involves charitable work alongside touristic activities. It includes both short and long-term projects in a range of fields such as teaching, environmental conservation, childcare, sports coaching and healthcare. This kind of tourism has become increasingly popular in recent years and, according to responsible travel consultant Natasha Stein, might be exponential in 2012.

Voluntourism started both as a response to the 'gap year' trend appearing in the 1990s, and as a way to give people the chance to 'live a cause'. The volunteer travel market has, since then, enlarged to all those people attracted by the idea of doing some good, but also to the 'career breakers' wishing to take a break from the demands of careerism and focus on personal development, as well as to those simply wanting to taste something different than mainstream tourism. Groups of friends, couples and even entire families started to engage in voluntourism - all looking to bond over a unique experience.

In 2008, the Tourism and Research Marketing surveyed 300 organizations involved in voluntourism and suggested that the approximate market size for it was 1.6 million volunteer tourists per annum, and a total yearly value of 1.3 billion pounds.

What is more interesting though is that voluntourism has surmounted recession, coming out as a victorious niche compared to mainstream tourism. According to Stein, redundancies and lack of jobs have provided an incentive for people to go away for a period of volunteering, gain new skills and develop their CVs.  The fact that the volunteer traveler has to work is the prime attraction of this kind of travel: any guilt feeling is dissolved and it becomes okay to go on a 'holiday' if work is involved.

More than that still, voluntourism is seen today as a very interesting experience as well, not only because it represents some time off in an exotic place, but also because it allows a sort of escape from the threatening economic climate, away from hardships on the job market, and a fresh comeback with an enhanced CV, better self-satisfaction and more enthusiasm. All this might make 2012 the year for the volunteer tourist…

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