Spring 2012

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Open Access
Volunteer tourism and sustainable livelihoods: the case of CSU alternative breaks in Achiote, Panama
(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2012-04-17) Eddins, Emily Anne, speaker
Volunteer tourism has become a multi-faceted and useful development tool connecting diverse socio‐ecological systems from global to local scales. However, collaborative processes among primary stakeholders in volunteer tourism are not well understood, but better understanding these processes is vital to successful, sustainable outcomes of volunteer tourism projects. For this study, I investigate the impacts of volunteer tourism in a rural Panamanian community with experience hosting volunteers. By looking at a current, long‐standing collaboration between CSU's Alternative Break Program, a Panamanian-based NGO, and a locally-based ecotourism group, I explore the interrelationship between volunteer tourism and sustainable livelihoods, with a particular focus on host community perspectives. By giving voices to each member of the partnership, this study aims to provide multi-scale perspectives of collaboration in volunteer tourism and create a dialogue among stakeholders to better identify, implement, and manage projects that maximize benefits of volunteer projects in host communities.