Are travel philanthropists doing more harm than good?
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Are travel philanthropists doing more harm than good?
Marina Novelli, University of Brighton
It seems like the best of both worlds. People using their hard-earned vacation time to give something back to those worse off than themselves. At its finest, travel philanthropy is seen as a form of direct development assistance – a benign initiative flowing from the travel industry and travellers into conservation initiatives, community projects and philanthropic organisations.
As Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai commented at a conference in Tanzania in 2008:
Travel philanthropy was born out of the frustration with conventional aid and ineffective philanthropic giving, as a form of development assistance flowing from the travel industry and travellers directly into conservation initiatives, community projects and philanthropic organisations.
The notion that one can “do good” by “giving back” while engaging in leisure or travel is an extremely attractive proposition. However, the reality is ...
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