on the road to sustainable community development through travel and voluntourism
Voluntourism taking travel businesses to new levels of community involvement
Voluntourism involves not only your travel company and the very surface of a destination such as its hotels, major attractions, and restaurants, but interaction on a much deeper level with the local people. This relatively new product in the marketplace has increased in popularity exponentially as we have been seeing in the media, and therefore many new issues, obstacles and stakeholders have to be considered. Voluntourism has the potential to launch your business into the world of community development, and while this may be tempting because it offers such in-demand authentic experiences, it is important to look at the implications and how it can best be developed and managed so that it is beneficial not only to your bottom line, and to your travellers, but to the local people involved. Never has any other type tourism's success been measured more against a triple-bottom-line metric. The evolution of standards and increase of sustainability benchmarks among the industry is bringing new challenges, new opportunities for product development, and new ways for travel to make a difference.
Developing partnerships, projects and product
Voluntourism can contribute to sustainable community development through the development of partnerships with local communities and organizations to create projects that increase economic opportunities for local people in destinations. These initiatives are not formed with short term goals. They are long term, backed by financial commitment with the recognition that bringing visitors to community-based projects takes effort and resources on the part of the local people, and that their goals must be supported in a consistent manner in order for voluntourism development to be mutually beneficial.
Projects are sometimes developed by travel companies themselves, but more often they are through local partner organizations with expertise in the area and in community development. Some projects may be incorporated into voluntours, and others may be more aimed towards getting at the root of some development challenges in destinations by dealing with health, access to water or food, access to the economy, and education issues. In addition to being a contribution to the welfare of the partner communities, the projects involved in the voluntours provide a place for travellers to give back and experience local culture. They have therefore been a form of product development, not only enhancing travellers' experiences, but the destination as a whole as local development goals are at the heart of the initiatives.
Certainly it is always wise to partner with local organizations who are run by local people, working with their neighbours and their own community members on an initiative. That being said, getting your company directly involved in a project helps the whole company learn the positives and potential pitfalls of community development. You realize that it is complex, requires more than funds, requires a strategy, sensitivity, and relationships with local organizations. Close working relationships with community organizations does allow for direct product development and quality control, whether in the form of voluntours, homestays, or project visits, and it also instills a sense of responsibility and commitment over the long term to truly measure success from a triple-bottom-line perspective.
Going beyond cost-saving green initiatives...
Looking beyond cost-saving measures to increase the sustainability of your organization is what incorporating community development goals is all about. Thinking not only about how you can offset your carbon emissions, but maybe how you can reduce them, or how your efforts can go even further to provide positive environmental and social impacts.
Through relationships with industry partners Planeterra is developing community-based initiatives that will benefit both the travellers and their hosts. These initiatives also increase the corporate social responsibility profile of the companies and contribute to staff retention as employees take pride in the initiatives and broader goals of their company and feel part of the movement toward sustainability.
The road to sustainability doesn't have to be an arduous one if you focus on the long term benefits of your efforts to the destination, directly to your business, and in turn to the success of tourism as an industry into the future.
Learn more about the projects around the world that Planeterra supports on a long term basis.
Click here to learn more about Planeterra or contact us for partnership opportunities.
