The 'volunteer tourist gaze': commercial volunteer tourists' interactions with, and perceptions of, the host community in Cusco, Peru. Issue 20 (17th October 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Godfrey, Jane; Wearing, Stephen L.; Schulenkorf, Nico; Grabowski, Simone
• Is Part Of: Current issues in tourism. Volume 23:Issue 20(2020)
• Page Start: 2555
• Page End: 2571
• Publication Date: 2020-10-17
• Subjects: Host community -- neo-colonialism -- Peru -- tourist gaze -- tourist perceptions -- volunteer tourism; Tourism -- Social aspects -- Periodicals; Tourism -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; Travel -- Periodicals; 338.479105
• DOI: 10.1080/13683500.2019.1657811
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1368-3500

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This paper presents the commodified volunteer tourist gaze through the use of a case study which contextualizes commercial volunteer tourism. Interviews undertaken with volunteer tourists in Cusco, Peru, and on-the-ground participant observation, provide insights into what we term a 'volunteer tourist gaze' underpinned by neo-colonial tendencies. The findings demonstrate that volunteer tourists are not passive consumers of a destination, but actively engage in a multi-sensory, embodied experience. This is evidenced in the way they describe their interactions with local people, and their views and perceptions of poverty in Cusco. However, the findings suggest that the volunteer-host interactions and experiences do little to foster cross-cultural understanding, particularly given the limitations to these interactions imposed by a significant language barrier. Instead, the commodified volunteer tourist gaze perpetuates neo-colonial discourses by emphasizing the differences between volunteer tourists from the developed world (the haves) and host communities in the Global South (the have nots).