Monitoring and evaluating volunteer tourism: a review and analytical framework

Abstract

The rapid expansion and commercialisation of the volunteer tourism sector and the potential for negative impacts on host communities have put the sector under increasing scrutiny. Monitoring and evaluation are key aspects of sustainable tourism planning and management, and play important roles in the project planning and implementation cycles of volunteer tourism organisations and destination managements. However, they can be both value-laden and politically charged, making an understanding of context, purpose and various approaches to monitoring and evaluation important. Drawing from evaluation and critical management studies, this conceptual paper reviews the literature, presenting an analytical framework aimed at improving the quality of monitoring and evaluation. The paper is positioned within the adaptancy platform and focuses on qualitative, critical approaches to evaluation. The framework highlights the important influence of context (the issue the volunteer tourism programme is addressing, the nature of the intervention, the setting, the evaluation context and the decision-making context), and identifies four dimensions of volunteer tourism (stakeholders, organisations, markets and programmes) which may influence monitoring and evaluation practices. The analytical framework presented is useful for practitioners developing monitoring and evaluation processes, and for researchers interested in empirical studies which seek to evaluate monitoring and evaluation practices.

监督和评估自愿者旅游：一个回顾和分析的框架

自愿者旅游业的快速发展和商业化，和对社区的潜在的负面影响已经使得该行业经受越来越多的审议。监督和评估师可持续性旅游规划和管理的重要部分，并且在自愿者旅游组织和目的地管理的项目规划和实施循环中扮演重要角色。但是，他们能同时政治充电和充满价值的，做出一个能理解的内容，目的和多样的手段来监督和评估。从调查和批判性的管理案例学习中，该概念性的文章讨论了文献，列出一个分析框架旨在优化监督和评估的质量。该文章定位于可以接受的平台，着重于定性的，批判性的方法来评估。框架重点提出了内容（包括提到的自愿者旅游项目，调解的本质，设定，评估内容，和决策内容）的重要影响，并且确认了自愿者旅游的四大方面（利益相关者，组织，市场和项目），那些可能影响监督和评估实践的因子。分析框架是对实践者发展监督和评估过程极为有用的，并且对实践学习感兴趣，寻求分析监督和评估实践的研究者来说也是很有用的。

Keywords:

• volunteer tourism organisations
• monitoring
• evaluation
• critical management studies (CMS)

关键词:

• 自愿者旅游组织
• 监督
• 评估
• 批判性管理研究（CMS）

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jessica Taplin

Jessica Taplin is a PhD candidate and research assistant in the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Southern Cross University, New South Wales, Australia. Her PhD research focuses on volunteer tourism and the programme monitoring and evaluation practices of volunteer travel organisations.

Dianne Dredge

Dianne Dredge is an environmental planner, tourism academic and practitioner. She is a professor in Culture and Global Studies, Aalborg University, Denmark. Her research and publications focus on tourism policy, politics and planning, regional development, place-based planning, management of tourism places and tourism organisations.

Pascal Scherrer

Pascal Scherrer is a lecturer in the School of Tourism and Hospitality Management at Southern Cross University, New South Wales, Australia, and an adjunct lecturer at Edith Cowan University in Western Australia. With a background in environmental science and ecotourism, Pascal's main research interest is in sustainable tourism and visitor management in natural and cultural landscapes, addressing the areas of environmental, social and cultural impacts and their relationship.