Internet representations of voluntourism fail to effectively integrate tourism and volunteering

AbstractVoluntourism as a form of philanthropic tourism has become an increasingly popular research topic but there is a paucity of literature on the complex interplay between voluntourism and the internet. Specifically, there is sparse evidence on how the internet mediates ideas and representations of voluntourism. Building on prior research in the information search field, we examine the online representation of voluntourism in South Africa – a popular destination for voluntourists. Querying a popular search engine using a combination of keywords, we retrieved 600 web pages, which were stored and analysed using a predefined codebook. We employ social representation theory as an analytical tool for interpreting the retrieved search engine content. Results indicate three distinct clusters: the first is related to the volunteering experience itself, the second focuses on the touristic experience, and the third encompasses the voluntourism journey as a whole. These clusters reveal a misleading representatio...