Volunteering while on vacation

Voluntourism a growing trend at Lake Powell

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In recent years, news sites that track travel trends have noticed significant growth among travelers who do volunteer work in the areas to where they travel. The movement is being called responsible tourism or voluntourism.
Voluntourism is a direct response against another growing trend in tourism: the “see it before it’s gone” mentality.  Many of the world’s most popular destinations are being loved to death and becoming worn out by the sheer numbers of people traveling there to see them. And when qualities that once made the place special have been trampled out of it, travelers then seek out new places that haven’t yet been overrun.
But the love it and leave it model of traveling is becoming outdated and attitudes about place are shifting. According to the 2016 report from the Center for Responsible Travel, more travelers and tourists want to get involved and work to preserve the features that make the destination special.
The study shows that voluntourism is particularly popular with Millenials.
“Young people are living more structured lives than ever before, and as we move toward 2020, the days of carefree, spontaneous travel will disappear in favor of more organized, planned and researched trips,” said John Constable, managing director for STA Travel. “Students and young travelers will continue to be trailblazers, craving adventure and experiences they can share, but they will also be very aware of how their travel will contribute to the rest of their lives. Working abroad, voluntary and conservation projects, and learning something new will all be high on the travel agenda.”

Voluntourism is also on the rise in Page and our surrounding areas, said Amanda Hammond, deputy chief of interpretation for Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
Two of Glen Canyon NRA’s most popular programs are its True GRIT and Trash Tracker programs and they’re manned almost entirely by volunteers. The True GRIT Program travels Lake Powell, removing graffiti from cliff walls. The Trash Tracker program travels the lake, removing trash from Lake Powell’s beaches. The volunteers spend about eight hours a day cleaning up the lake and its beaches and they get to spend their afternoon and evening playing and enjoying the lake.
Last January, 240 students spent a day at Lonely Dell Ranch near Lee’s Ferry where they planted 74 trees, surrounded the trees with rabbit fence, dug 300 linear feet of new irrigation ditches, cleaned sand out of existing ditches and installed an irrigation system.
The group was comprised of college students from foreign countries who are studying at American colleges. They were sponsored by the U.S. State Department and spent several weeks traveling through the U.S. They visited national parks and historic sites and spent a day volunteering at each site.
“People visit these places because they love them and if they get to help preserve them and improve them for their friends or kids who may visit later, it deepens their travel experience, and their connection to that environment, its people and its culture,” said Hammond.
“A lot of parents like adding volunteerism into their vacations,” said Hammond. “It teaches them service.”
Spending time doing service in a national park or other destination area is a great way to boost one’s resume or college application, said Hammond.
Hammond said Glen Canyon NRA is producing a catalog for service-minded groups that will list volunteer opportunities in the park.
“This is an exciting trend for us,” said Hammond.