Voluntourism setting standards thorny issue

Setting the standard for volunteer tourism sector – attempts to establish best practice for volunteering projects

The volunteer tourism sector is now well and truly established within the travel industry, with an increasing number of organisations offering volunteering products. However the rapid growth of the sector has led to concern over the validity of volunteer tourism projects, the level of support provided to volunteers and the benefits to local communities. In response to this, there is now a movement towards developing best practice guidelines and standards for volunteer tourism organisations.

This is certainly a thorny issue, with many people within the industry disagreeing with the idea of regulation of volunteer tourism organisations. One viewpoint is that there are too many different types of volunteer tourism organisations and projects to develop an achievable universal standard. There is also criticism about how the standards will be verified. With some organisations offering hundreds of projects all around the world, it is impossible to audit each individual project. One interesting question that has been raised is what happens if an organisation has been been audited and awarded the standard, but a customer then complains that the particular project they volunteered with doesn’t meet the standard? Some critics in the US say that this could potentially lead to the auditing body being sued.

However, over the past five years there has been a great deal of negative media about volunteer tourism, in particular highlighting the lack of benefit to local communities and the profit-focused approach of some companies who have entered the market. Developing guidelines and codes of practice for organisations who run volunteer tourism projects could increase the quality of the products on offer and benefits to local communities and weed out the ‘bad’ projects. It would also give organisations a framework for best practice  for developing volunteering programmes. And ultimately it would give consumers more confidence that the project they are volunteering with has been assessed and is legitimate.

There are already some good examples of guidelines for volunteer organisations, for example Comhlmh, the Irish development organisation, developed a code of practice back in 2004. Irish volunteer-sending organisations can sign up to eleven principles relating to all aspects of volunteer programmes, from how projects are set-up, monitored and marketed to the level of support, preparation and debriefing given to volunteers.

The Year Out Group, an association of UK gap year organisations, also have a code of practice and operating guidelines for their members, who include volunteer-sending organisations like Projects Abroad, Real Gap Experience, i-to-i and GVI. Their code of practice covers ethical considerations, ensuring that programmes benefit local communities both economically and socially. Organisations also sign up to maintaining high standards of support for their participants, accuracy of literature and websites and regular evaluation of their programmes.

Both the Comhlmh and Year Out Group codes of practice are self-assessed and work on the principle that their members will comply in good faith. One step beyond this is to develop a  standard of practice to which organisations are externally audited. Tourism Concern, the UK charity who campaign on tourism issues, are currently developing their Gap Year and International Volunteering Standard (GIVS). This is the culmination of an ongoing campaign resulting from their research report "Gaps in Development", which focused on the issues arising from the growth of volunteer tourism in developing countries.

Tourism Concern were approached by both volunteers who had negative experiences on overseas placements and volunteering organisations concerned about the unregulated growth of the sector.

After consultation workshops with stakeholders, they have developed a code of practice for volunteering organisations with eight principles which cover all stages of the volunteering process, including pre-placement training and information, volunteer support, risk management and monitoring and evaluation. Each principle has a set of benchmarks and indicators. Organisations who sign up to GIVS will go through an initial assessment by Tourism Concern based on these principles. They will be offered training and workshops for any areas where they are not yet meeting the principles to improve practice. Once they are ready, they will be audited by an external independent auditor and if they achieve the standard of practice, they will be awarded the GIVS mark. 

The challenge  for Tourism Concern will be auditing organisations who offer a diverse range of volunteering projects around the world. It isn’t possible to audit every project or talk to local communities to assess the benefits and impact of the volunteering programmes. This is the real crux of the problem with this kind of scheme. Yes, it will highlight good practice in support and preparation of volunteers as this is relatively easy to assess. It will also show if an organisation is monitoring and reviewing projects. But it won’t address the issue of what development impact projects are having.

A similar model to GIVS is Fair Trade Volunteering, which was launched in November 2011. This membership-based scheme has five criteria which organisations need to meet to gain the Fair Trade Volunteering mark: a minimum local investment level above and beyond the volunteer’s time and work; a long term commitment to the project; clear and honest project description and thorough volunteer preparation; in-country support; 100% of volunteer expenses covered by the placement organisation, not the local community.

These criteria are noticeably different from the principles developed by Tourism Concern and Comhlmh as they are designed to be relevant for destination-based organisations offering volunteering placements, as well as volunteer-sending companies. Any organisation which offers structured volunteering placements can apply and will need to show how they meet each criteria, provide references from partners and volunteers and have a meeting with a Fair Trade Volunteering member.

Key to the success of both Fair Trade Volunteering and Tourism Concern’s GIVS is buy-in from organisations and consumers. If only a handful of volunteer organisations sign up, will they be setting industry standards? Enough organisations need to be involved in these schemes so that they are instantly recognisable. If consumers aren’t familiar with them or understand what the logo means, it is unlikely to influence their choice.

One initiative that may have wider recognition in the UK market is being led by ABTA. In 2011, they established a working group of ABTA members offering volunteer tourism products with the aim to address some of the criticisms being levelled at this industry and ensure their volunteer projects are sustainable and offer real long-term benefits for local communities. The companies have signed up to a statement of commitment to manage and monitor the impacts of volunteer tourism and are in the process of developing best practice guidelines for all aspects of volunteer tourism programmes, including project development, proportion of the volunteer fee that goes to the project, preparation of volunteers, monitoring and evaluation of projects and sustainable exit strategies. Workshops will be held with external stakeholders to develop the guidelines.

The benefit of the ABTA guidelines is that UK consumers will have increased confidence volunteering with a company which is positively addressing its own practices and ensuring communities are really benefiting from their volunteer projects. This would also address concerns  about volunteering through a company rather than a not-for-profit organisation, especially if it leads to more transparency about  what proportion of the volunteer’s fee goes to the local project.

There is also a project to develop volunteer tourism guidelines led by The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) and Planeterra Foundation, both based in North America where there is a substantial ‘voluntourism’ movement. They are developing a set of criteria to help volunteer tourism providers plan and manage their programs in a responsible and sustainable manner. The guidelines will be created based on research they have conducted with volunteer tourism industry stakeholders, including tour operators, NGOs and voluntourism organisations in destinations. This includes a comprehensive global industry survey which will provide the basis of their guidelines.

What is clear from these various initiatives is that there is a common desire to ensure the volunteer tourism industry regulates itself. Volunteering organisations are demonstrating their commitment to making their projects beneficial to local communities and raising the standards for volunteers. However with the range of different projects to bring standards and best practice to the sector, there is a risk that this could lead to consumer confusion and a lack of recognition of the schemes. The challenge now is whether these standards and guidelines will be adopted by organisations and if consumer decision-making will be influenced by them.

Natasha Stein
Natasha Stein has worked for VSO, Earthwatch and Thomson Holidays and specialises in best practice in overseas volunteering programmes and identifying the right placements for volunteers. Natasha developed an interest in responsible tourism whilst working at Thomson Holidays as a Product Manager for long-haul destinations. After 6 years with VSO’s volunteering team, she decided to combine her experience in tour operations and international development and pursue a career in responsible travel. She is currently studying for a Masters in Responsible Tourism Management at the International Centre for Responsible Tourism.
Email: [email protected]
Blog http://responsiblevolunteering.wordpress.com/

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