The role of charities in social tourism

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine the extent to which charities contribute to social tourism activity and the forms which these contributions might take. The needs of those disadvantaged because of personal, economic or social circumstances are central to the enquiry. An earlier piece by Turner, Miller and Gilbert (2001), which explores the broader role of UK charities in the tourism industry, suggesting them to operate outside, within and above the tourism industry, provides a framework for initial consideration. Primary qualitative data collected from 20 charitable organisations are considered next with fundraising, accommodation support and signposting activities, all common areas of charitable involvement, noted. This paper concludes by extending the earlier framework presented by Turner et al. (2001) [The role of UK charities and the tourism industry. Tourism Management, 22, 463–472] to include a surrogate dimension. It also comments upon the piecemeal support offered by charities to disadvantaged consumers, makes the case for the charitable and private sector tourism industry to seek ways of working together in the future and offers some tentative suggestions for future research. These suggestions are linked to both the research methodology employed in the study and the need for further research linked to consumer attitudes towards charitable giving.

Keywords:

• social tourism
• charity
• voluntary
• not-for-profit
• third sector
• participation

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank both Joanne Mellor for her help in the initial data collection and all respondents who took the trouble to be involved in the study.