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FEATURE ARTICLE 1

Why Hotels & Resorts Are Best-Suited to Run Sustainable Voluntourism Programs

by David Clemmons

In a matter of a day or two following the publishing of this issue of The VolunTourist Newsletter, I will be joining the team members of the Ritz-Carlton Sarasota to learn about their Give Back Getaway™ partnership with Big Cat Habitat. Doubtless we will be discussing the win-win nature of these relationships between a well-known brand and its nonprofit partner, look no further than cause marketing which launched in the early ‘80s with the Statue of Liberty Campaign from American Express. But we will also likely talk about the essential elements of these relationships and exactly why hotels & resorts are best-suited to run sustainable voluntouirsm programs.

There are many different ways by which we can define the term sustainable. For the purposes of this article, we will define sustainable in relation to the ongoing commitment of a hotel or resort property to an NGO partner. Indeed, if we take the time to analyze the relationships between hoteliers/resorts and NGOs, we soon discover that voluntourism is merely an outgrowth of what could have been in some instances a multi-decade relationship – depending on the tenure of the NGO and/or the hotel/resort property in a given destination. This longevity of interaction may have stemmed from an executive of the hotel/resort serving as a board member or acting as a volunteer to support a given NGO. Or the relationship could be of a personal nature as in a family member or friend has a significant position with the NGO and her/his counterpart has an equally significant position with the hotel/resort. Suffice it to say, under these circumstances, sustainable has everything to do with the loyalty and commitment revolving around the concept of relationship.

To be clear, then, the primary reason for suggesting that hotels/resorts are best-suited for running sustainable voluntourism programs is due to a solid relationship existing between key people who hold decision-making power at both the NGO and the hotel/resort. What other reasons are worth exploring in this regard?

A Common Investment In People

"Uganda herbal medicine project in the cultural centre" Copyright © Big Beyond, All Rights Reserved

While NGOs are concentrated on social investments in communities, destination residents, or the environment, and hotels/resorts are clearly invested in property and physical structure, what unites them is a common interest in investing in people. Hotels/resorts rely on people to fill the vast array of services and products that are provided to their clientele. Similarly, NGOs provide services and products to their clientele, often individuals who are in need of these products and services to build their individual capacity or to fill gaps therein. In addition, NGOs rely on the support of volunteers; here, we discover another item worth exploring: hotel/resort employees as volunteers.

The Bridge: Employee Volunteering

When we review the contribution of hotel/resort employees to fulfilling the volunteer needs of NGOs, we often place this in a silo of its own. What is being discovered, however, by the hotels/resorts which are adopting voluntourism, is an awareness that the combination of their employees and their guests contributing to the same projects is that it allows for continuity across the seasonal fluctuations in the business cycle of these properties. For example, if the “high” season for a property is January – March, then this might be a period where the property organizes fewer employee-based voluntary service activities and focuses attention on engaging guests. Properties can even take the time to explain to their “ladies and gentlemen” the importance of continuity of service to the NGO and that guests can be looked upon during periods of high occupancy and employees can be counted upon to “bridge” the gaps during the shoulder- and off-seasons.

Addressing “Super Projects” Through Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, and Events (MICE)

Hotels/Resorts have another interesting feature to their business models and that is the fact that they can draw large groups of individuals to their properties for meetings, incentives, conventions, and events (MICE). Unlike leisure travel – families, couples, and individuals on holiday – the MICE market represents the opportunity for a large group, assembled with a common objective, to take part in volunteer “super projects” – projects that require, in addition to many hands, potentially significant financial investment for materials & supplies, tools, and even additional hired staff to coordinate such mass voluntary service efforts. NGOs may also benefit from an act of additional philanthropy on the part of a corporation, association, or affinity group in the form of a cash or in-kind donation.

Shared Impact: Destination Well-Being

As was mentioned in Feature 2 for this issue (as it pertained to Hurricane Katrina), in the aftermath of disasters, we have seen and continue to see a more immediate response by the tourism sector to facilitate the engagement of would-be volunteers in assisting a given destination in its recovery process. Devastation as an impetus for creating strange bedfellows is an observation that many still make; unaware, of course, that some hotels/resorts held pre-existing relationships with the NGOs that are involved in either responding to these tragedies or have been impacted thereby.  These properties have employees scattered throughout the destination and their well-being, and the well-being of their families, are a priority. NGOs may prove to be one of the vehicles for delivering services to these very important audiences. Thus, an investment in sustainable partnership between NGOs and hotels/resorts is an investment in the long-term health of the employee-base and the destination itself.

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Concluding Thoughts…

Some of the most unique and successful voluntourism programs in the world feature a physical property as the hub of activity for visiting voluntourists. These locations – be they hostels, eco-lodges, hotels, resorts, dormitories, or other such edifices – serve multiple purposes. They give voluntourists a place to call “home” during their journeys. They serve as a space to commune with other voluntourists and to have a respite from the challenges that volunteering poses, to truly rest from the onslaught of sensory, cultural, and interaction overload. They provide a solid foundation from whence to explore one’s own changing perspectives and to reinvigorate the weary body and mind with proper rest. And, depending on the number of employees, they offer a space to interact with local residents who are more accustomed to the presence of visitors hailing from other lands (something that may or may not be the case in local communities).

When it comes to hotels/resorts, however, these physical properties take on additional features with the introduction of an employee base. The option of building a voluntourism program that fits within the framework of an existing employee-centric volunteer scheme allows for a truly sustainable approach, one that measures its success not solely by what visitors accomplish, but by the combination of efforts and the continuity thereof.

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