Voluntourism Industry Unethical?
Voluntourism has exploded recently as a niche within the international travel industry. It has even been featured in mainstream press like MSNBC - Want to help? Go on a trip. It’s great that so many people today are interested in devoting vacation time to helping out their neighbors in developing countries around the world. However, what’s not so great is the questionable business ethics behind the voluntourism industry, in which 50-90% of volunteer fees paid by “do-gooder” travelers go to the multinational companies that are currently running and perhaps even exploiting the industry.
These multinational companies work with local organizations around the world to match volunteers with locally run volunteer projects. There are a number of these MNC’s, but one of the bigger and more well-known companies is i-to-i. I will focus on i-to-i for the rest of this post.
Can’t afford to volunteer?
A little over 6 years ago I looked into volunteering before a study abroad program I had scheduled in Brazil. I did a search on the internet of volunteer projects throughout Brazil, but was discouraged and surprised to find that I just couldn’t afford any of them. All of the projects I found seemed to be managed by “volunteer sending companies” like i-to-i. And they all cost between $500-$800 per week of service, a price I just couldn’t afford at the time. I was very surprised to see such high costs for volunteering, but I simply accepted them as the norm and moved on, unable to volunteer my time because it was too expensive.
That’s because volunteer fees are extremely inflated!
About 4 years later, I graduated college and started working as a volunteer coordinator in Quito, Ecuador. At my volunteer organization we were often supplied with volunteers from “volunteer sending companies” such as i-to-i. I was surprised to learn that the fees charged by companies like i-to-i, the same fees I couldn’t afford in Brazil, are radically higher than the actual cost of living and volunteering. I found out that in general, only between 10-50% of i-to-i fees actually go to the local institutions. The rest simply goes to pay i-to-i’s expenses, and ultimately back into their pockets.
The following are two organizations that work directly with i-to-i. The way their program works, is they simply match these local organizations with interested volunteers. Therefore a potential volunteer could organize their volunteer service with either i-to-i, or the local organization itself, and the actual work and living conditions would be exactly the same. However, what would NOT be the same is the cost:
CENIT – Centro de la Niña Trabajadora (Quito, Ecuador)
i-to-i (8 weeks volunteer service) - includes volunteer work, program fee, homestay with Ecuadorian family, 3 meals/day, in-country support personnel, for $3270.
Organized directly with CENIT (8 weeks volunteer service) – includes volunteer work, program fee, homestay with Ecuadorian family, 3 meals/day, for $850.
i-to-i charges close to 4x what the local organization does, or $2420 more.
ASVO – Asociación de Voluntarios para el Servicio en las Areas Protegidas (Costa Rica)
i-to-i (4 weeks volunteer service) – includes volunteer work, program fee, accommodations, 3 meals/day, in-country support personnel, for $2245.
Organized directly with ASVO (4 weeks volunteer service) – includes volunteer work, program fee, accommodations, 3 meals/day, for $450.
i-to-i charges close to 5x what the local organization does, or $1795 more.
Unethical?
I am not prepared to accuse companies like i-to-i of being unethical. They do provide an added service of organizing the entire trip as well as providing in-country personnel for general support. These two services, I’m sure, account for a significant portion of the added fees charged.
I do, however, think it’s unfortunate that the vast majority of travelers don’t realize that only 10-50% of the fees they pay actually go to the cost of living and volunteering. That if they don’t mind doing a little work on their own, they can organize the exact same volunteer project for a fraction of the cost. They could then use the money they save to volunteer longer or invest into the local economy by traveling more.
Even if you have the money to blow on the i-to-i service, why not save it to donate directly into the local communities you will be working with!? Imagine if every i-to-i volunteer donated $1000-$2000 to their local volunteer project instead of giving it to i-to-i. The local impact of that money would be monumental!
Follow-up:
Voluntourism Industry Unethical? more thoughts…
Further Reading:
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It was very interesting this morning waking up and reading your article questioning the business ethics of organizations such as ours and to hear you suggest the money our clients pay don’t to our communities. At first I laughed, but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to respond to you.
I really can’t speak for other organizations. But I can give you my perspective as Executive Director of the non-profit Casa Milagro Foundation in Costa Rica.
We run a so-called voluntourism company, Tropical Adventures, in which we offer volunteer and tour opportunities to those with the desire to help and experience Costa Rica.
We started out by doing a six-month analysis of certain impoverished areas of the country. And we continue to perform analyses each year. This comprises difficult travel and meetings with untold numbers of communities and individuals. It was a beautiful process of “listening” and sharing from a compassionate perspective. We wanted to know what real needs were present and how we could be of assistance if we had some warm bodies in the form of volunteers to help.
The truth is, not all communities are even ready to accept volunteer help. It was a tough job narrowing down to just a handful of projects from our long list of serious needs.
Another thing we found was that tourism in Costa Rica, the number one industry here, had many negative effects on the people in the country. As a natural by-product of many visitors spending time and money in the country, inflation has run rampant. Because wages move at a snail’s pace, Costa Ricans get priced out of homes and can’t afford basics such as food.
Therefore, from the beginning, our objectives have been threefold:
1) Convert would-be tourists from inadvertently exploiting the country to volunteers who could make long-lasting, positive and eco-friendly impacts on the country and people.
2) Provide the volunteers with life-changing, positive experiences, so instead of returning home with just vacation photos, they can return having learned much more about the world and about themselves.
3) Use the money we are able to generate to keep inside the communities we’re trying to help.
As you mention in your article, some of the extra cost goes towards our providing in-country support personnel, as well as organizing the trip itself. What you left out was the cost of the wide range of other services, such as:
- Airport transportation
- Project Training
- Medical Insurance
- Free use of Cell Phone
- Orientation costs
- Assistance with Planning Excursions and Activities
- Free Guided Tours
- 24-hour in-country emergency service
Again, I can’t speak for any other organizations, but as a non-profit heavily invested in the welfare of our communities, we run at a loss (though we expect to be self-sustaining by 2009). We are very proud to say that the money we take in stays in the community.
Your article honestly makes it sound like 10-50% of the volunteer payment goes towards the community, whereas the balance goes into the pockets of these organizations. For us, what money is left over after these expenses are paid goes towards donations we give to keep our projects running, research, employee salaries and basic administrative costs. Besides a few costs such as advertising that is done around the world to attract volunteers, all of the money we receive stays in Costa Rica.
Apart from all of this, you didn’t take into consideration that the majority of individuals, communities and non-profit organizations in Costa Rica who are in most need of help do not speak English. So if a person has an interest in helping those in need here, how will they actually:
1) Identify who actually needs help and what kind of help they need?
2) Communicate with these groups about all the details?
3) Best prepare themselves for the trip and their time here?
Tropical Adventures and other such organizations handle all the details from A to Z.
You also suggested in your article that people take their money and donate it directly to local projects. In a perfect world, that is a great idea. However in Latin America (and elsewhere in the world), sadly, the majority of donated cash ends up in the pockets of individuals who either steal the money outright or have no experience in properly managing those funds. I’ve seen untold numbers of instances when people, organizations and countries donate money directly to communities where said money disappears without a trace. This is neither fair to the donor, nor to the communities.
I do have to agree with you there are many companies in the industry who do nothing but market voluntour programs and match them with other non-profit organizations. It’s a shame to see that money not going directly into the communities where the help is needed.
Therefore, I always suggest individuals considering an international volunteer program to consider the following questions before making their final purchase:
1) Does the volunteer organization operate as a non-profit, or are they merely a tour operator?
2) Does the organization respond in a timely and friendly way to your requests for information?
3) Are they willing to let you speak with past volunteers to get an idea of what their experiences have been like?
4) What kind of services does the organization have in place in case of an emergency?
5) Is the organization from the country they are supporting?
6) What is their refund policy?
7) Will they customize your volunteer experience so you can get the most out of your time there?
9) Are they set up to support family or teen volunteering?
10) Are the employees hired from the communities in which they serve, or do they bring people in from other countries?
11) Do the employees of the organization also participate in the volunteer work?
12) Are you supported once you arrive, or are you just “dropped off” to fend for yourself?
I just thought you and your readers deserved a different perspective.
Sincerely yours,
Scott Pralinsky
Executive Director
Casa Milagro Foundation
www.TropicalAdventures.com
www.CasaMilagro.org
very interesting post. it was great to hear both sides of the story, and to get a discussion going in the open.
What’s the old saying? Don’t judge a person till you walk in his shoes… or something like that.
Scott of Tropical Adventures is a personal friend of mine and I own a local hotel in Costa Rica that many of Scott’s volunteers patronize.
I too nievely thought the volunteer holiday biz sounded profitable until I saw the amount of planning and hand-holding that had to go into dealing with these people.
From what I can see, the majority of these people that pay for these trips are people that could not find their way out of the San Jose airport if they landed here.
Okay, maybe I am exagerating a bit. But these people are in most cases, no way equipped with street-smarts and emotionally to deal with travelling alone in these types of areas.
And the behind the scenes cost for making sure that these people get in and out safely, are not cheap. mimimum %50 margin would be mandatory or the business model would not work. Advertising alone eats up a huge chunk.
Yes, there are many people well equipped to research and book their own volunteer excursions and they should do exactly just that. Not deny people less experienced them them the opportunity to experience other cultures and be of service.
The same goes for the people who don’t want to pay the $5 pp rate (%20 commission) I as a hotel owner tack onto snorkeling tours because I organized their tour. Want to pay less? Do it yourself. No one is telling you otherwise.
Scott and Colin - Thanks very much for your responses, and for giving some insight from the other side. I decided to post a response to your comments, in order to continue the discussion, please feel free to check it out here:
http://gobudgettravel.com/volunteer-abroad/voluntourism-industry-unethical-more-thoughts
[…] volunteer projects and why voluntourism is ethical. The open letter was written in response to Rob Meyer, from Go Budget Travel, who wrote about why he had issues with volunteer tour […]
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