Disseminating the voice of the Other: A Case Study of Philanthropic Tourism

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Abstract

Using a constructivist ethnographic approach, this paper explores the extent to which philanthropic tourists visiting a school and orphanage in East Africa were able to hear and voice the concerns of their hosts. While some authors suggest that there is insufficient time during a holiday experience for tourists to become emotionally involved with host populations, other studies reveal that emotional connections can be made by philanthropically motivated individuals within a remarkably short space of time. This study suggests that motivation and opportunity are paramount in facilitating the dissemination of the local voice in the context of short tourism encounters. In this study, one major issue with a charitable project was successfully disseminated by philanthropic tourists who brought about change at the request of local people. Increased monitoring of philanthropic projects is required to heed the voice of the Other.

Highlights

► We explore the inherent altruistic drive in Philanthropic Tourism. ► We demonstrate that Philanthropic Tourism transcends pure commercialism. ► We show that short stay tourists can establish deep interactions with hosts. ► Motivation and opportunity, not time, are shown to be keys to deep interactions. ► Suitable management structures are important in disseminating the host voice.

Introduction

Taking account of the subjective voice of local people is widely regarded as vital to the enablement of self-identity in a society or sub-culture (see Akama, 2002, Bell, 1992, Zimmerman, 2008, chap. 3). In the context of tourism development, acknowledgement of the Other is understood to be an essential underpinning of sustainable planning, particularly in the community-based and volunteer tourism literatures (see Beeton, 2006, Wearing and Wearing, 2001). This research suggests that alternative forms of tourism have the potential to be more than commodified experiences based on superficial interactions between tourists and entrepreneurs or hosts. Yet, can holiday experiences which are of short duration be expected to facilitate the deep interactions that are presumably required for the voice of the Other to be heard and, if so, under what conditions (Aramberri, 2001, Bruner, 1991, Gallani-Moutafi, 2000)?

This paper seeks to answer these questions in relation to the under-researched genre of philanthropically motivated travel. An examination is made of the motivations, opportunities and time frames that might have an impact on the process of disseminating and acting upon the concerns of local people within a Philanthropic Tourism context. These conditions are explored through a focussed examination of the multi-layered engagement between four stakeholder groups of a philanthropic project in an East African country. These groups comprise philanthropic tourists, tour operators and owners of the mission, staff and students at the site, and local farmers and villagers. The study explores the role of each group in hindering or facilitating the dissemination of the host voice as a result of their engagement, offering insights into the role of short-stay tourists in responding to complaints of poor practices and alleged criminal behaviour, occurring in the destination.

An initial review of current research drawing on literature from both tourism anthropology and philanthropic behaviour informed by multiple disciplines addresses two leading themes of the research. Firstly, understanding of the voice of the Other as a component of guest–host relations is identified. Secondly, a review of the literature on philanthropic motivations focuses on the tourist drive to make personal or emotional connections and to act philanthropically in the tourism setting. These theoretical perspectives inform the study approach, research methods and sources of data used in the paper. A number of preconditions that appear to be necessary if philanthropic tourists are to play a role in giving a voice to local concerns are addressed in the conclusion.

Section snippets

The voice of the Other in tourist–host relations

Tourism studies have established the existence of a rift between tourist and host, a sense of Otherness blamed on the essentially commercial nature of social exchanges that occur in a tourism context (Aramberri, 2001). In addition, the tendency toward cross-cultural incompetence and neo-colonialism on the part of tourists (see Burns & Barrie, 2005) does not bode well for the establishment of meaningful relationships with host populations (Fopp, 2008). Much research has concentrated on the

Philanthropic motivation and its application to tourism

In recent years a body of literature has emerged, centred on philanthropically related tourism (see Burns and Barrie, 2005, Intrepid Travel, 2002, Selzer and Spann, 2007). As illustrated later in this section, there is no single definition for this genre although philanthropic motivation is assumed to be a common thread. However, little attention has been paid to understanding how this underlying motivation might drive the tourist to choose a philanthropically related, special interest holiday

Method

Following the methods used by anthropological tourism academics such as Smith, 1998, Broad, 2001, Palmer, 2005, Sorensen, 2003 and Tucker (2010) a constructivist, ethnographic study was conducted of a school/orphanage and local community in an East African country throughout the months of July, August and September 2009. During this period the first author, who was born in the study country and had a history of involvement with the field project as well as prior experience living in the

The Waridi School and the philanthropic tourist experience

The Waridi School was the only field project of the Waridi Education and Health Foundation. The school was a privately owned project founded by an East African-Australian man, Muroki Mbogo, and his Australian wife, Rhoda. The couple set up the project claiming that God had directed them in their endeavour to house and educate street children and AIDS orphans. Following discussions with an orphanage operator from a neighbouring country, they decided to open the school to full fee paying and

Motivations to Hear the Local Voice

Not surprisingly, the tourists to Waridi who were accessed for this study overwhelmingly demonstrated a strong philanthropic motivation. Most (12 of the 15 interviewees) had a history of charitable involvement or volunteering in community organisations or NGOs. For some, however, the Waridi School was their first charitable cause. Tourists commonly had a pre-existing involvement with the school but some were looking for a charity to support. In several cases tourists became involved in the

Discussion and conclusions

Tourists visiting the Waridi School were either existing or potential supporters of the field project and were largely motivated by philanthropic desires and cultural drives. A strongly empathetic nature was apparent in most of the tourists accessed for this study, irrespective of religiousness. This combination of motivations and personality traits would appear to have primed tourists to hear, although not always disseminate and act upon issues of concern to the local people. Some of the

Gary Lacey (4/77 Holden Street, North Fitzroy, 3068 Vic., Australia. Email <[email protected], [email protected]>) is an early career researcher born in Kenya and currently affiliated with the Department of Management and the Australian International Tourism Research Unit at Monash University. His main research interests are in poverty alleviation and local empowerment, especially within sub-Saharan Africa. Vicki Peel is an historian with the National Centre for Australian studies and

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