关键词: 国际义工旅行, 旅游动机, 青年旅行者, 动机分类, 大学生群体

Abstract:

This study explores the motivation of young Chinese people to take part in international volunteer tourism, drawing on the records of empirical research conducted on Chinese university students. In the past 10 years, young people have shown an increased interest in volunteer tourism. Many of them have participated in volunteer tourism. On the basis of 26 semi-structured interviews, we conduct a qualitative analysis of the factors that motivate them to participate in volunteer tourism, how these factors were generated in the social and cultural contexts within China, and the kind of responsibility mechanism that has been formed through their behavior. Developing on the existing academic works on motivations that drive volunteer tourism, this study divides motivation into two types: altruistic and self-centered motivation. With altruistic motivation, volunteer tourists have the desire to provide aid in tourist destinations; self-centered motivation refers to personal benefits gained from volunteer activities, which include self-actualization (experiencing diversity, participating in special projects, and interacting with local people), personal interests (traveling to niche destinations, travelling abroad conveniently and making new friends), self-development (cultivating work experience and skills, gaining volunteer experience and certificates). These motivations are influenced by the following factors: the geographical imaginations shared by volunteer tourism providers, tourist images of the destination, the content of volunteer programs, and personal capabilities. We find that that self-centered motivation is the primary motivation for young Chinese international volunteer tourists. Altruism, which is deemed to be one of the most important motivations by Western-oriented studies, was seldom mentioned by the respondents. Compared with strong willing to conduct true destination aid, their care about destination communities and the natural environment is more influenced by commercial expectations. Hedonic experience, a concept frequently mentioned in Western studies, is only one of the factors that constitute personal interest. The other factors that motivate these volunteer tourists are cultural contact, convenient travel, and personal development, the last two factors being more important for them. Based on their personal interests, young Chinese volunteer tourists manage to fulfill their responsibilities towards the destinations. They also manage to fulfill their personal goals by connecting responsibility to destination with their choice of destinations and volunteer projects, and thus even though it can be seen as an egoistic activity, volunteer tourism can benefit the local environment and communities. Due to the dual nature of volunteer tourism: the combination of volunteer service and tourism activities—young Chinese people’s motivations for this type of tourism are varied. They are in fact influenced by both altruistic motivations and self-interest. Moreover, similar to previous studies, we argue that volunteer tourism involves the tourist’s responsibility towards both the destination and themselves. This research contributes to the internationalized understanding of volunteer tourism motivations through an empirical case study in the Chinese context, and the paper serves as an academic report on the commercial platforms for volunteer tourism in China.

Key words: volunteer tourism, tourism motivation, young traveler, classification of motivation, college student