Orphanage Tourism is a popular pursuit amongst Volunteer Tourists. Discuss the impacts (positive and/or negative) of Volunteer tourists in relation to this niche tourism product. Please use examples from Asia to support your argument. In the history of development economics, volunteering has been thought of as a positive force in development and aid work. As international travel has become increasingly more accessible to the general public, the tourism industry has grown and expanded. A trend that has emerged from this growth is Voluntourism; a way for travellers to engage in the typical tourist activities whilst also “giving something back” to the community. (Aquino, 2014). The Volunteer Tourism market has grown exponentially in the last
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Volunteers often take part in “play time”, teach English or generally “help out”. They are promised by organisations and advertising that their contributions can “make a difference” in a poor, orphaned child 's life (Aquino, 2014). Similarly, the building of orphanages is generally seen as positive and altruistic (Wearing, Deville, & Lyons, 2008), (Simpson, 2003), (Simpson 2004). However, the downfall of this mentality is that it has resulted in a far less critical approach to examining the positive and negative effects of the seeming commercialisation of orphanages (Guttentag, 2009), (Simpson, 2003), (Greenberg, 2009). The past decade has seen the rapid development of orphanages, with many being built in tourist hotspots. To begin with, an orphanage is never an ideal place to grow up in and should always be treated as a last resort- say the experts. (IOFA, 2011), (Friends International, 2009), (Project Childhood Prevention Pillar, 2013), (Unicef, 2011). But even more disturbingly, is the growing accounts of scams, corruption, sexual exploitation, neglect, child labour [etc.] as well as the overall physiological damage caused to the “orphans” (sometimes not even legitimate orphans) and their families who are caught in the middle of it all. (Unicef, 2011). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the impacts of Volunteer Tourism in relation to Orphanage
Volunteers often take part in “play time”, teach English or generally “help out”. They are promised by organisations and advertising that their contributions can “make a difference” in a poor, orphaned child 's life (Aquino, 2014). Similarly, the building of orphanages is generally seen as positive and altruistic (Wearing, Deville, & Lyons, 2008), (Simpson, 2003), (Simpson 2004). However, the downfall of this mentality is that it has resulted in a far less critical approach to examining the positive and negative effects of the seeming commercialisation of orphanages (Guttentag, 2009), (Simpson, 2003), (Greenberg, 2009). The past decade has seen the rapid development of orphanages, with many being built in tourist hotspots. To begin with, an orphanage is never an ideal place to grow up in and should always be treated as a last resort- say the experts. (IOFA, 2011), (Friends International, 2009), (Project Childhood Prevention Pillar, 2013), (Unicef, 2011). But even more disturbingly, is the growing accounts of scams, corruption, sexual exploitation, neglect, child labour [etc.] as well as the overall physiological damage caused to the “orphans” (sometimes not even legitimate orphans) and their families who are caught in the middle of it all. (Unicef, 2011). The purpose of this paper is to discuss the impacts of Volunteer Tourism in relation to Orphanage