Abstract
Volunteer tourism is one of the fastest growing types of alternative travel, highlighting the need for sustainability. It has been studied in a number of researches that focus almost exclusively on the demand for certain projects in outbound tourism. With the aim of a more comprehensive view of the issue, this paper examines and compare the current state of demand for domestic and outgoing volunteer tourism within Slovakia. It is based on a quantitative survey conducted on a sample of 573 respondents who represent a representative picture of the population of Slovakia older than 15 years in terms of age and gender. It turns out that between 18 and 25% of the Slovak population participated in domestic volunteer tourism between 2013 and 2018 (in average 3-4% a year). Outbound volunteer tourism was 4 to 8% (approximately 1% a year). In both cases, potential demand clearly exceeds effective demand. As individuals grow older, participation in volunteer tourism decrease slightly, while participation in the home country is positively influenced by higher education while participation abroad is dependent on the individual's economic status. Participation in domestic volunteer tourism is largely influenced by volunteer-specific motives, this differs from outbound tourism, where tourist specific motives prevail. In the home country. Volunteers sometimes do not realize that they are involved in tourism; the altruistic motive of helping others is paramount. Important information about national volunteer tourism of Slovak residents is obtained mostly from direct sources. Time is the most decisive obstacle to people's participation in volunteer tourism. Comparing the demand of Slovak citizens for domestic and outgoing volunteer tourism shows the possibilities of its further development.
Highlights
Tourism is one of the fastest growing and most promising sectors of the world economy, with a vital contribution to the economic strength and social development, and high potential for long-term growth (Chkalova et al 2019)
We found that 22.9% of respondents participated in volunteer tourism in the period under review (2013 to 2018)
Up to 95.4% of them stated that they were visitors to domestic volunteer tourism, a quarter of them admitted to foreign experience (Table 2)
Summary
Tourism is one of the fastest growing and most promising sectors of the world economy, with a vital contribution to the economic strength and social development, and high potential for long-term growth (Chkalova et al 2019). Its original meaning of traveling to the unknown, to places outside of the ordinary, where visitors experience a sense of excitement by having direct contact with the local community, has changed. It was replaced by traveling and getting to know places from the safety and comfort of sofas, planes, and hotel rooms, without direct contact with local culture. Dream destinations have become possible for many throughout the world This has led to too many people trying to visit the “must see” locations of the world creating “tourist ghettos”. The recent actions of the Swedish schoolgirl turned environmental activist, Greta Thunberg, has caused a new phenomenon called flygskam or flight-shame where there is a sense of guilt from the carbon emissions of air-travel
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