Constructing Identity through the ‘Moral Consumption’ of Volunteer Tourism

Godfrey, J; Wearing, S; Schulenkorf, N; Faulkner, S

Constructing Identity through the ‘Moral Consumption’ of Volunteer Tourism

Godfrey, J Wearing, S

Schulenkorf, N

Faulkner, S

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Publisher:: Blue Mountains International Hotel School
Publication Type:: Conference Proceeding
Citation:: 2016, pp. 1281 - 1287
Issue Date:: 2016-06-30

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Godfrey, J	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Wearing, S https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5158-059X	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Schulenkorf, N https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7235-5340	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Faulkner, S https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7904-1240	en_US
dc.date	2016-02-08	en_US
dc.date.issued	2016-06-30	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	2016, pp. 1281 - 1287	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/131429
dc.description.abstract	Identity is associated with both travel experiences and consumption behaviours in contemporary consumer culture. Tourism experiences can be used to shape and reinforce identity; alternative tourism (e.g. volunteer tourism) in particular is closely associated with self-development. The volunteer tourism sector has been increasingly criticised in both academia and the mass media for creating a commercial product which potentially attracts more tourism-focussed volunteers who may be more likely to negatively impact the host community. Nonetheless, volunteer tourism is still widely associated with authenticity and altruism and arguably carries connotations of moral superiority compared to mainstream tourism. In this paper we argue that through the ‘moral consumption’ of volunteer tourism, Generation Y are able to access new forms of personal identity (e.g. altruistic, professional experience) and social identity (e.g. ‘moral’ tourist, global citizen). This paper is based on a case study of commercial volunteer tourists in Cusco, Peru.	en_US
dc.publisher	Blue Mountains International Hotel School	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	26th Annual CAUTHE Conference: The Changing Landscape: The Impact of Emerging Markets and Destinations	en_US
dc.title	Constructing Identity through the ‘Moral Consumption’ of Volunteer Tourism	en_US
dc.type	Conference Proceeding
utslib.location.activity	Sydney	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/e-Press
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business/Management Discipline
utslib.copyright.status	in_progress
pubs.consider-herdc	false	en_US
pubs.finish-date	2016-02-11	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.start-date	2016-02-08	en_US

Abstract:

Identity is associated with both travel experiences and consumption behaviours in contemporary consumer culture. Tourism experiences can be used to shape and reinforce identity; alternative tourism (e.g. volunteer tourism) in particular is closely associated with self-development. The volunteer tourism sector has been increasingly criticised in both academia and the mass media for creating a commercial product which potentially attracts more tourism-focussed volunteers who may be more likely to negatively impact the host community. Nonetheless, volunteer tourism is still widely associated with authenticity and altruism and arguably carries connotations of moral superiority compared to mainstream tourism. In this paper we argue that through the ‘moral consumption’ of volunteer tourism, Generation Y are able to access new forms of personal identity (e.g. altruistic, professional experience) and social identity (e.g. ‘moral’ tourist, global citizen). This paper is based on a case study of commercial volunteer tourists in Cusco, Peru.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/131429