Papers by Stephen Wearing
This paper examines the challenges of evaluating volunteer tourism and looks towards possibilitie... more This paper examines the challenges of evaluating volunteer tourism and looks towards possibilities for rethinking the ways in which the phenomenon is conceptualised. We reflect on the debates and
practices that have emerged since the first theoretical exploration introduced over 15 years ago in a book titled Volunteer tourism: Experiences that make a difference. This review paper commences with
a discussion of the criticisms that have been targeted at both research and practice, and reflects on the need to rethink how volunteer tourism is evaluated. We argue that the volunteer tourism industry must respond to criticisms from academics and the media and move towards conscious
choices that reframe volunteer tourism away from development aid towards intercultural mutuality and decommodification.
Australian Geographer, 2006
What is the religious or spiritual significance of the Australian natural environment to non-Indi... more What is the religious or spiritual significance of the Australian natural environment to non-Indigenous Australians? This question is asked in relation to the parklands along the Georges River, in south-western Sydney, and some of the ethnic groups who live in the 'social catchment' of these parklands. The post-Reformation rationalist Christianity of Anglo-Celtic migrants led to a degree of institutional religious disengagement with nature, a disenchantment of places, that may tend to obscure the spiritual tone of the relationship that many Anglo-Australians clearly do have with the natural environment. Migrants from East Asia can be seen to be drawing their cultural links closer to the natural landscape as it exists in and around Sydney by engaging this landscape with wider narratives of emplaced spiritual presence. This situation is evident in the construction of Buddhist forest monasteries, the practice of meditation in the bush and in the mapping of geomantic forces and flows.
The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of social media by ecotourism management agen... more The purpose of this study is to investigate the use of social media by ecotourism management agencies and how this potentially changes the relationship between the ecotourist and the natural environment. It examines the meaning of ecotourism and the way that social media shapes visitor perceptions and meaning through an examination of the content of 775 Sina microblog postings from five leading ecotourism site management agencies in China. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the social media postings, a series of semi-structured interviews was also conducted with followers and management agencies. The findings provide an enhanced understanding of ecotourism marketing and its impacts on the ecotourist while also creating a framework for the use of social media to market ecotourism. The framework outlines the importance of the meanings associated with this form of communication through its promotional appeal to tourists and the outcomes for both the ecotourist and site managemen
This paper examines the future of sustainability education in tourism honours programs in Austral... more This paper examines the future of sustainability education in tourism honours programs in Australian tertiary institutions, an issue of international relevance as many tourism programs are located in mainstream business schools. Its suggests that while industry relevant skills acquisition is an important characteristic of undergraduate tourism education; the tourism honours year requires the opportunity for students to incorporate critical reflection into their study of tourism and in recent times particularly those issues related to sustainability. Sustainability embraces the critical and has sought to straddle neo-liberal and socialist positions through its incorporation of various strands of intellectual thought including equity, limits to growth, nature, poverty and development. In order to improve the quality of sustainability education in tourism honours programs the authors have looked for lessons that can be taken from geography. Within Australian tertiary institutions tourism programs are increasingly being incorporated into mainstream business faculties. Tourism offers an applied lens through which business students can be exposed to the various themes of business practice including: sustainability, ethics, marketing, economics and statistics. This paper does not argue against business focused tourism teaching but instead looks at ways in which renewed engagement with tourism’s various disciplinary bases can equip Honours students with the visioning and critical thinking skills that are necessary for a rounded sustainability education.
http://www.crctourism.com.au/WMS/Upload/Resources/80087_Reid_MarkProtect_SUM%20SHEET.pdf
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 11745398 2014 953801, Sep 30, 2014
Annals of Leisure Research, 2009
ABSTRACT
The encyclopedia of ecotourism, 2000
... There are a number of reasons why host communities may consider an ecotourism approach to tou... more ... There are a number of reasons why host communities may consider an ecotourism approach to tourism development. The main principles or elements of ecotourism are designed to maximize the social bene-fits of tourism while minimizing the socio-cultural impacts. ...
Journeys of discovery in volunteer tourism: international case study perspectives, 2007
8 Discovering Self and Discovering Others Through theTaita Discovery Centre Volunteer Tourism Pro... more 8 Discovering Self and Discovering Others Through theTaita Discovery Centre Volunteer Tourism Programme, Kenya A. LEPP Recreation, Park and Tourism Management, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, USA Volunteer tourism has been described as bilateral in nature in ...
... Ecoturismo: impacto, tendencias y posibilidades. Información General. Autores: Stephen Wearin... more ... Ecoturismo: impacto, tendencias y posibilidades. Información General. Autores: Stephen Wearing, John Neil; Editores: Síntesis; Año de publicación: 2000; País: España; Idioma: Español; ISBN : 84-7738-782-6. Otros catálogos. Bibliotecas ...
This book consolidates under one cover the current thinking and research on one of the most signi... more This book consolidates under one cover the current thinking and research on one of the most significant changes in tourism, namely, the concept of interconnections at various levels of tourism. Strategic alliances between rival companies, vertical integration between and across firms, collaboration between public and private sectors, and partnerships between countries and regions have become common practice in tourism. This theme is addressed from a Southeast Asian perspective by focusing on the way in which individual ...
... Bouchez: NGO-Community Collaboration for Ecotourism: A Strategy for Sustainable RegionalDevel... more ... Bouchez: NGO-Community Collaboration for Ecotourism: A Strategy for Sustainable RegionalDevelopment 73 W. Glen Croy and Lise Hagh: Endangered Visitors: A Phenomenological Study of Eco-Resort Development 82 Ron Mader: Latin American Ecotourism: What is it? ...
The concept and practice of volunteer tourism has offered a different outcome to conventional mas... more The concept and practice of volunteer tourism has offered a different outcome to conventional mass tourism in that it is an approach that recognises the inter-dependence of tourism on the host community culture and ecology. Additionally, volunteer tourism is ...
The purpose of this paper is to invoke a Foucauldian framework in order
This paper provides a critically informed framework for an International Volunteer Tourism and So... more This paper provides a critically informed framework for an International Volunteer Tourism and Social Development research agenda. This paper reviews the current academic literature on volunteer tourism and distils it into three key areas: volunteer tourist behaviour and experience, the impact of volunteer tourism upon host communities, and the development of volunteer tourism services and products. Based on this review, recommendations for a research program are made. This paper concludes by discussing the framework and principles that underpin and guide this research. This paper and the research agenda it presents is guided by a critical review of the literature on volunteer tourism. This review considers three key directions that underpin this research: the study of the volunteer tourist experiences, motives and behaviours; the analysis of communities who host and are impacted by volunteer tourists; and the examination of the development and supply of volunteer tourism services a...
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Papers by Stephen Wearing
practices that have emerged since the first theoretical exploration introduced over 15 years ago in a book titled Volunteer tourism: Experiences that make a difference. This review paper commences with
a discussion of the criticisms that have been targeted at both research and practice, and reflects on the need to rethink how volunteer tourism is evaluated. We argue that the volunteer tourism industry must respond to criticisms from academics and the media and move towards conscious
choices that reframe volunteer tourism away from development aid towards intercultural mutuality and decommodification.
practices that have emerged since the first theoretical exploration introduced over 15 years ago in a book titled Volunteer tourism: Experiences that make a difference. This review paper commences with
a discussion of the criticisms that have been targeted at both research and practice, and reflects on the need to rethink how volunteer tourism is evaluated. We argue that the volunteer tourism industry must respond to criticisms from academics and the media and move towards conscious
choices that reframe volunteer tourism away from development aid towards intercultural mutuality and decommodification.