Motivation factors of voluntourists : a case study of Juara Turtle Project, Pulau Tioman

Abstract

One of the recent form of tourism that emerge from the variety fragmentation of tourism is what we called volunteer tourism, or simply pronounce as voluntourism. Voluntourism has recently been regarded as an emergent form of alternative tourism. Originally, voluntourism was believed to attract travelers with a sense of altruism who would like to make a difference during their holidays. But nowadays, people with more egoistic motives are also lured by the unique experiences offered by voluntourism. No matter what is the reason to travel, may be there is obviously a motivation to travel. Juara Turtle Project (JTP) is one of turtle sanctuary center in Malaysia that offer great experience to the voluntourists. Located in Kampung Juara, on the eastern coast of Tioman Island Malaysia, JTP is operated and maintained by a small group of individuals with the help of volunteers. The purpose of this study is to investigate the motivational factors that influenced the voluntourists to choose JTP as their voluntourism destination. The author spend quite some time at JTP to understand deeply what is in the mind of the voluntourists. You will be surprised with the reveal.