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The Carbon Footprint of Volunteer Tourism

Author

Listed:
  • Geneidy Sami El

    (School of Resource Wisdom, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland)

  • Baumeister Stefan

    (School of Business and Economics, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland School of Resource Wisdom, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland; P.O. Box 35, FI-40014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland)

Abstract

Tourism is growing at a fast rate and so is its carbon footprint. Alongside conventional tourism, a new form of tourism, so-called voluntourism, has emerged. The discussion on voluntourism in the existing literature has hereby mainly centred around its positive impacts on the health and education of communities and the local environment in developing countries. Nevertheless, little attention has been drawn to its climate impacts. This study set out to investigate the carbon footprint of voluntourism. The data were collected at a local non-governmental organisation (NGO) in India working with voluntourists. Both the carbon footprint of the stay in India and that from the round trip by air were taken into consideration. The results showed that although the carbon footprint of voluntourists during their stay is comparable with that of locals, the flight significantly contributes to the carbon footprint of voluntourism. Depending on the distance flown and the length of the stay, the average share of the carbon footprint stemming from the flight can be between 83% and 96%. The article concludes that faraway destinations and short stays should be avoided; otherwise voluntourism might cause more harm than good. On the basis of the findings, this article provides recommendations for policymakers and further research.

Suggested Citation

  • Geneidy Sami El & Baumeister Stefan, 2019. "The Carbon Footprint of Volunteer Tourism," European Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation, Sciendo, vol. 9(2), pages 15-25, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:vrs:ejothr:v:9:y:2019:i:2:p:15-25:n:4
    DOI: 10.2478/ejthr-2019-0010
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Sudeshna Ghosh, 2022. "Effects of tourism on carbon dioxide emissions, a panel causality analysis with new data sets," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 3884-3906, March.
    2. Sara Kinsbergen & Esther Konijn & Simon Kuijpers‐Heezemans & Gabriëlle op 't Hoog & Dirk‐Jan Koch & Mieke Molthof, 2021. "Informalisation of international volunteering: A new analytical framework explaining differential impacts of the ‘orphanage tourism’ debate in the Netherlands," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(8), pages 1304-1320, November.

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