Exploring the Role of Volunteer Tourism in Destination Image Formation: a Case Study of the European Voluntary Service
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Exploring the role of volunteer tourism in destination image formation: A case study of the European Voluntary Service programme Tourism Master’s Thesis Aalborg University, 2016 By Henrik Willads Skouenborg Supervisor: Dianne Dredge Date of submission: February 29th, 2016 Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor Dianne Dredge for her invaluable guidance throughout the writing of this thesis. Your enthusiasm, encouragements and interest in this thesis has been a real inspiration. I would also like to express my appreciation to European Voluntary Service (EVS) Coordinators Pia Lieberknecht and Vibe Grønfeldt from the two non-profit exchange organisations Dansk ICYE and AFS Interkultur respectively. Your willingness to liaise between the Danish EVS participants and myself has been of great importance to the development of this thesis. I would also like to thank you for all of the extra information you were willing to provide for the project. Also thank you to Annette Bauer, AFS Programme Coordinator, who also provided some useful information for the project. I would like to thank Josefine Geisler (Coordinator of the 18+ Committee of AFS Interkultur) for allowing me to participate in a pre-departure, mid-term and re-integration seminar. I am also grateful to Annelise Leithoff (Member of AFS Interkultur’s 18+ Committee) who agreed to arrange the transportation from Copenhagen to the seminar and return. I am also thankful to all of the AFS volunteers who made sure that I was an active part of the seminar. I also appreciate the help that I received from Benedikta Harris, International Advisor at the Ministry of Science, Technology and Science, who guided me towards the right sources and contact persons. Of course, I would also like to express my deep appreciation to those Danish former EVS participants who agreed to participate as survey participants and interviewees for the thesis. Without you, this research project would not have been possible. Finally, I would like to thank my parents for their unconditional support throughout the writing process. Your support has been invaluable. Page 2 of 213 Abstract While destination image formation has been researched for decades, volunteer tourism has gained increased attention and interest within academics especially during the last fifteen to twenty years. This research project explores the concept of destination image formation within a volunteer tourism context. Involving a case study on Danish former European Voluntary Service (EVS) participants, the project explores the process of destination image formation through the perspectives of the EVS volunteers. The project uses a mixed methods approach with an emphasis on the qualitative inquiry, in order to gain an in-depth understanding as well as a general overview of the Danish EVS volunteers’ processes of destination image formation. Whereas earlier studies have focused on volunteer tourism as an ethical alternative to mass tourism, recent studies takes a narrow and very pessimistic perspective, as attention is guided towards the commercialisation of volunteer tourism. Further, the large majority of studies are centred on volunteer tourism in the developing Global South. Very limited research has been conducted on government funded volunteer tourism within a European perspective, and no research has engaged in the study of destination image formation within a volunteer tourism context. Moreover, research within destination image formation has largely been investigated through the commercial, market and business perspectives. The present research project fills these gaps in the literature. Further, research within destination image formation has largely been conducted using quantitative research inquiries. As the present research project uses a mixed methods approach with a strong emphasis on the qualitative research inquiry, this project fills the gap between quantitative and qualitative studies within destination image formation. This paper provides a more positive perspective on volunteer tourism, as it focuses on volunteer tourism within a non-commercial perspective. The paper demonstrates positive changes in the Danish EVS volunteers’ images of several destinations through their EVS experiences. Thereby, this study identifies the EVS programme’s capability of changing the Danish EVS volunteers’ assumptions and stereotypical perceptions of various countries. Keywords: Volunteer tourism, destination image formation, European Voluntary Service, mixed methods. Page 3 of 213 Table of contents 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 7 1.1 Significance of the project ..................................................................................................................... 8 1.2 Aim and objectives .............................................................................................................................. 10 1.3 Outline and structure .......................................................................................................................... 10 2. The European Voluntary Service (EVS) in a youth tourism context .................................................... 11 2.1 Introduction to AFS Interkultur and Dansk ICYE .............................................................................. 17 2.1.1 AFS Interkultur ............................................................................................................................ 17 2.1.2 Dansk ICYE .................................................................................................................................. 18 3. Methodology ............................................................................................................................................... 18 3.1 Considerations in regards to research design ................................................................................... 19 3.1.1 Philosophy of science .................................................................................................................... 19 3.1.1.1 Ontological stance .................................................................................................................. 20 3.1.1.2 Epistemological stance .......................................................................................................... 21 3.1.2 The concept of being-in-the-world .............................................................................................. 22 3.1.3 Strategy of inquiry: mixed methods ............................................................................................ 23 3.1.4 Crystallization ............................................................................................................................... 26 3.1.5 Exploratory case study ................................................................................................................. 27 3.2 Data collection process ........................................................................................................................ 28 3.2.1 First data collection phase ........................................................................................................... 28 3.2.1.1 The survey .............................................................................................................................. 28 3.2.2 Second data collection phase ....................................................................................................... 31 3.2.2.1 Selection of interview participants ....................................................................................... 31 3.2.2.2 Interview design and analysis ............................................................................................... 32 3.2.2.3 Ethical considerations ........................................................................................................... 33 4. Literature review and theoretical frameworks ....................................................................................... 33 4.1 Volunteer tourism ................................................................................................................................ 34 4.1.1 Positioning volunteer tourism within the broader tourism industry ....................................... 34 4.1.2 Organisations and types of volunteer tourism programmes .................................................... 34 4.1.3 Volunteers and the volunteer tourism experience ..................................................................... 38 4.2 Destination image formation .............................................................................................................. 41 4.2.1 The multifaceted character of destination image formation .................................................... 41 4.3 The process of destination image formation ..................................................................................... 45 4.4 Worldmaking and the peace proposition within volunteer tourism ............................................... 48 Page 4 of 213 4.5 Chapter conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 49 5 Case analysis ............................................................................................................................................... 51 5.1 Survey findings