Voluntourism sustainability: a case of Malaysian east coast island destinations

ABSTRACT

In this study, the authors aim to unearth the factors influencing voluntourists’ behaviors. A quantitative approach along with a field survey at three Malaysian east coast island destinations is used. The findings reveal that environmental concern and intrinsic motivation significantly trigger attitude and satisfaction, and that affective image and satisfaction are important contributors to building voluntourists’ intention to sustain their motivation for volunteer activities. Satisfaction is demonstrated as a mediator within the proposed framework. Enriching the existing knowledge, this research helps the local government and voluntourism organizations to craft a better approach and policy to promote voluntourism across the globe.

KEYWORDS:

• Voluntourism
• destination sustainability
• island development
• sustainable tourism
• volunteer activities

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.