Voluntourism inspiring change in service of the common good: The mediating role of volunteer travelers
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Author(s)Teck Choon TeoLink to ORCID Index: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5428-297X
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Aji DivakarLink to ORCID Index: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2132-4181
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DOIhttp://dx.doi.org/10.21511/tt.4(1).2022.02
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Article InfoVolume 4 2022-2023, Issue #1, pp. 16-29
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- 511 Views
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157 Downloads
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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Voluntourism has always been portrayed as a crucial role in developing economies. However, as voluntourism evolves and expands, a question of sustainability arises. The majority of populaces served by short-term volunteer trips are predisposed communities. Thus, this raises ethical questions such as voluntourism as a savior or impediment to communities. This study examines the attractiveness of volunteer tourists in recent years in Cambodia and India and how it contributes to future sustainable tourism research. The paper uses KH Coder to collect primary data for the quantitative analysis of text data. Moreover, the paper applies an exploratory approach using content analysis of participant reviews to identify the critical dimensions of experiences. Based on the analysis of trends in voluntourism and their ecosystem, an approach to the sustainable development strategy of voluntourism actors is proposed. First, voluntourism operators and host organizations, a pivotal element of the development strategy of voluntourism infrastructure, are considered. It was revealed that there is a nexus between the well-being of the community/business opportunities and experienced voluntourists. Consequently, these voluntourism activities may provide intrinsic gains for them and the targeted communities, plus its support toward corporate social responsibility.
Acknowledgment
This study received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
- Keywords
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JEL Classification (Paper profile tab)L83, Q56, Z32
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References36
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Tables1
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Figures4
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- Figure 1. Conceptual framework of volunteer participation
- Figure 2. Frequency count of words with logarithmic trend line
- Figure 3a. Co-occurrence network of words (India data set)
- Figure 3b. Co-occurrence network of words (Cambodia data set)
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- Table 1. Overview of impacts
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Mediating role of authenticity in the relationship between destination image and destination loyalty
Yayuk Yuliana , Endang Sulistya Rini ,
Sirojuzilam ,
Syafrizal Helmi Situmorang ,
Amlys Syahputra Silalahi
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.21511/im.19(4).2023.02
Destination loyalty has become a topic that needs attention in tourism research, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic because it affects the number of visitors to tourist sites. This study aims to test the effect of destination image on destination loyalty through destination authenticity. The respondents in this study were visitors to the Ecotourism Mount Leuser National Park in Indonesia. The questionnaires were distributed to 301 respondents using purposive sampling. The data were processed using SEM-PLS methods. The results show that destination image influences destination authenticity (p-value <0.05). Next, destination authenticity affects destination loyalty (p-value <0.05) and destination image influences destination loyalty (p-value < 0.05). Finally, destination image through destination authenticity influences destination loyalty (p-value < 0.05). The findings of this study can be beneficial to the respective governmental bodies that seeks to improve destination authenticity and destination image to enhance destination loyalty of visitors and promote revisit intentions toward the Ecotourism Mount Leuser National Park in Indonesia. This study can be used as a reference for tourist destination managers to increase destination loyalty by maintaining and managing the tourist destination area properly. The government acts as a policymaker and is responsible for preserving the environmental impact of tourism, such as pollution, other environmental hazards, and land use issues stemming from poor planning, regulation, and engineering of the site, attractions, and facilities.
Acknowledgment
This study is funded by the DRTPM of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, grant number [097/E5/PG.02.00.PT/2022], for the 2022 fiscal year. -
Knowledge map of digital tourism: A bibliometric approach using CiteSpace
Chen Luo , Songyu Jiang 
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Ruihui Pu ,
Lin Li ,
Hongmei Yang
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.21511/ppm.20(4).2022.43
Problems and Perspectives in Management Volume 20, 2022 Issue #4 pp. 573-587 Views: 474 Downloads: 148 TO CITE АНОТАЦІЯDigital tourism is an essential product of the digital economy, which is significant in promoting sustainable tourism. The study aims to analyze the current research status of digital tourism with the CiteSpace tool. One thousand thirteen documents related to digital tourism, AI tourism, and tourism digitization in the Web of Science (WOS) database from 1991–2022 were collected. This study conducts bibliometric analysis to portray the knowledge map. Furthermore, this paper explores the publication years, co-occurrence of authors, institutions, subjects, research hotspots, and evolution of digital tourism research. The analysis findings revealed that social and environmental sciences are the core disciplines in digital tourism research. Hong Kong Polytechnic University is the foremost institution, and Tussyadiah and Wirtz are the authors with the highest contribution rate. Moreover, the results emphasized the frontier studies of digital tourism referring to technology, consumption, tourists’ reviews, and the progress of the tourism industry. In addition, China, Europe, and the United States should strengthen their digital tourism cooperation with Africa and the South America to promote the sustainable development of global tourism. Finally, the results implicate the future development trends of digital tourism.
Acknowledgment
We acknowledge all the authors involved in the creation of this paper: Chen Luo for providing the opportunity for this research and collaborative creation, and Dr. Songyu Jiang, Dr. Ruihui Pu, and Dr. Lin Li for providing creative ideas and collaborative division for this paper, and for funding the research. Dr. Hongmei Yang further provides the research direction and future in the development process of digital tourism.
