Managing Voluntourists: Insights from Organisational Practices in North-South Voluntourism

Abstract

This study explores how sending organisations manage and coordinate voluntourists in voluntourism programmes. Through qualitative research, North-South voluntourism operations were explored by analysing publicly available organisational information and interviewing staff members (n=13) from (inter)national non-profit and for-profit organisations operating from Belgium or the Netherlands. Thematic analysis investigated managerial aspects and organisational contexts, using insights from human resource models on planning, recruitment, training, performance management, and retention strategies. Findings show diverse management approaches, ranging from passive to active and from more structured and formalised to more individually and personally adapted, with no clear distinctions by organisation types such as for-profit versus non-profit or international versus national sending organisation. Instead, differences emerge in the scale of voluntourism operations: between small-scale organisations offering voluntourism in only a few projects and/or countries and large-scale ones managing broad and diversified project portfolios. Generally, most sending organisations focus on pre-entry activities, with limited involvement during or after voluntourists’ trips. A more holistic management and coordination approach, emphasising ongoing support and long-term relationships with both voluntourists and local partners, could enhance the benefits for voluntourists and local communities.