This book provides an overview of the phenomenon of volunteer tourism, its sources and its development as a concept; A focus on the potential positive social and environmental benefits of volunteer tourism, and the prerequisites for a successful experience.

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION i: Experiences that make a difference ii: Historical context of alternative tourism iii: Selves in the Tourism Experience iv: Operators, Communities and Volunteer Tourism v: The Santa Elena Experience vi: A new approach CHAPTER 2: ALTERNATIVE TOURISM EXPERIENCES v: Situating Volunteer Tourism Within the Context of the Alternative Tourism Experience vi: Commodification and the Tourism Industry vii: Volunteer Tourism and the Tourism Industry CHAPTER 3: VOLUNTEER TOURISM EXPERIENCES viii: Youth Challenge International (YCI) ix: Introducing the Interacting Elements x: The Ecotourism Element xi: The Volunteer Element xii: Serious Leisure Element xiii: The Elements and Interactionism CHAPTER 4: EXPLORING THE EXPERIENCE xiv: The Volunteers xv: Similarities and Variations xvi: Motivation xvii: Motivation Categories xviii: Summary of Motivation xix: How Do the Volunteers Define Themselves? xx: Constructing a Framework to Examine the Data CHAPTER 5: THE VOLUNTEER TOURIST'S EXPERIENCE - SELF AND IDENTITY xxi: The Relational Elements of the Alternative Tourism Experience xxii: Environment/Nature xxiii: Interaction/Exchange/Group xxiv: Primary Influences on the Self and Identity CHAPTER 6: THE SITE, SOCIAL VALUE AND THE SELF xxv: Social Value, Identity and the Alternative Tourism Experience CHAPTER 7: DEVELOPING THE SELF THROUGH THE VOLUNTEER TOURISM EXPERIENCE xxvi: Framing the experience xxvii: Personal development in volunteer tourism experiences xxviii: Personal Awareness and Learning xxix: Interpersonal Awareness and Learning xxx: Confidence xxxi: Self-Contentment xxxii: Conceptualising the development of self xxxiii: The selves of volunteer tourism CHAPTER 8: THE IMPACTS ON COMMUNITIES: MOVING BEYOND THE PASSING GAZE xxxiv: Resisting the impact of global capital in developing countries xxxv: The challenge of community involvement xxxvi: The quest for sustainability xxxvii: Empirical explorations of commodification in volunteer tourism a): 'World Expeditions': the market denying nature and traditional community b): 'Adventure World': market colonisation of local communities c): 'One World travel': guest-host dialogues beyond colonisation xxxviii: Natural resource conservation through volunteer tourism xxxix: Beyond the passing gaze CHAPTER 9: VOLUNTEER TOURISM: MOVING ON FROM THE EMPTY MEETING GROUND xxxx: The Self and Community xxxxi: Towards a sociology of volunteer tourism experiences

I can guarantee that it will make you think, reflect, and question your own tourist behaviour...it will serve as a valuable read for students and teachers of tourism, especially those interested in impacts and sustainability. Alan Fyall, Tourism, 2002 "The major contribution of this book, we think, is that it opens a new path for sociological research on alternative and volunteer tourism. It is the first time that tourism, volunteerism, alternative tourism, sustainable development and nature protection are linked and analysed as parts of a whole through social science methodological tools." E Svoronou, WWF, Athens, International Journal of Tourism Research, March-April 2003