Received:
2019-10-12 | Accepted:
2020-04-15 | Published:
2020-06-30
Title
Are visitors interested in volunteer tourism? Evidence from Slovakia
Abstract
Volunteer tourism is one of the fastest growing types of alternative travel, highlighting the need for sustainability. It has been studied in a number of researches that focus almost exclusively on the demand for certain projects in outbound tourism. With the aim of a more comprehensive view of the issue, this paper examines and compare the current state of demand for domestic and outgoing volunteer tourism within Slovakia. It is based on a quantitative survey conducted on a sample of 573 respondents who represent a representative picture of the population of Slovakia older than 15 years in terms of age and gender. It turns out that between 18 and 25% of the Slovak population participated in domestic volunteer tourism between 2013 and 2018 (in average 3-4% a year). Outbound volunteer tourism was 4 to 8% (approximately 1% a year). In both cases, potential demand clearly exceeds effective demand. As individuals grow older, participation in volunteer tourism decrease slightly, while participation in the home country is positively influenced by higher education while participation abroad is dependent on the individual's economic status. Participation in domestic volunteer tourism is largely influenced by volunteer-specific motives, this differs from outbound tourism, where tourist specific motives prevail. In the home country. Volunteers sometimes do not realize that they are involved in tourism; the altruistic motive of helping others is paramount. Important information about national volunteer tourism of Slovak residents is obtained mostly from direct sources. Time is the most decisive obstacle to people's participation in volunteer tourism. Comparing the demand of Slovak citizens for domestic and outgoing volunteer tourism shows the possibilities of its further development.
Keywords
volunteer tourism, domestic volunteer tourism, outgoing volunteer tourism, demand
JEL classifications
L83
, O15
, Z39
URI
http://jssidoi.org/jesi/article/589
DOI
Pages
3339-3353
Funding
This research was supported by the VEGA project no. V-18-101-07-101312: Abandoned Slovakia: Effective solutions to the creative reuse of abandoned properties in non-urban areas.
This is an open access issue and all published articles are licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
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