Volunteer tourism…why so much hatred?

In a press release published on July 9th, 2015 in the TourMaG.com newsletter, ATD and ECPAT sent a warning message to contestants of charitable deeds, particularly those tied to volunteer work in orphanages.

These two institutions do admirable work, ECPAT does an exceptional job on informing, preventing, and judicial monitoring the practices of sex tourism from voluntary prostitution to the coercion of minors.

Unfortunately, this curse is one of the saddening consequences of a type of tourism that has zero vision or qualm and that is exercised with a sole and unique commercial intention.

The objective of tourism is, first and foremost, business, tourism professionals are not charities in charge of fighting constantly against the ecological and social depredations of their clients throughout the world.

However, tourism is a unique sector in itself since it markets products that base themselves on man and nature, which forces it, in some way, to practice ethics that are quite different from those of a shoe vendor.

Under this approach, “volunteer tourism” or Solidarity Tourism is one of the components of a responsible behavior.

The owner of a TO that practices Solidarity Tourism said “Whether we like it or not, we involuntarily trample on the grass of countries, it is normal for us to replant at least part of it.”

Warning in such an irrefutable way on the dangers of the aid that travelers could bring to orphanages only discourages these rare candidates of solidarity tourism.

ECPAT and ATD, that are references when it comes to responsible tourism, are acting like the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with their lack of nuance in their advices to travelers.

On the contrary, we must multiply social and cultural operations towards the populations that we use in our touristic programs, by helping organizations build concrete projects.

Yes to volunteer tourism when it means establishing, with local farmers, an agricultural cooperative.

Yes to volunteer tourism when it means allowing the construction of classes in schools where children have to learn sitting on the floor.

Yes to volunteer tourism when it means helping an artisan community to find market opportunities for its production.

Yes to volunteer tourism that must help our clients have a more authentic and less folkloric approach to different cultures.

Yes also to orphanages that are part of the organizations that we must help, while monitoring, of course, the tracking of our actions thanks to local delegations partnered with the TO.

Indeed, a quick visit and a donation are insufficient, if not traumatizing for the children, and do not contribute to the construction of a sustainable action.

The operations towards orphanages must be founded on an economical, educational and psychological support.

All of these solidarity actions don't serve to give good samaritan points, they are investments in a tourism that has a more long-term vision than the kind that focuses on today’s menu or the best B2B website.

Women, men, and children, even more than the environment, are the fundamentals of our touristic activity, helping them to improve their quality of life economically or culturally will become an important challenge for tourism professionals, and it will assure the continuity of tourism in some regions of the world.

Christian OROFINO
President of TOURCONSEIL
Co-President of l'OBGET
Ex CEO and Executive Director of the TO VISIT FRANCE
President of the Commission on Responsible Tourism at the SNAV
Co-President of the Geopolitical and Environmental Observatory of Tourism (OBGET)

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