Online communication within host volunteer tourism

Abstract

What is the Global Greeter Network and what do they do? Global Greeter Network (GGN) is a voluntary association of independent Greeter programs. Greeter programs aspire to provide a personal and diverse image of the destination by matching visitors with local volunteers (called Greeters) for informal rendezvous “off the beaten tourist path”, for free. Greeter programs are a type of volunteer tourism called host volunteer tourism that refers to individuals who volunteer to provide tourism services in their own community. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to A) describe what the organizations within the Global Greeter Network (GGN) communicate on their websites; B) discover how GGN organizations use social media; and C) explore how GGN's online communication represent the image of tourist destinations. Conceptual Framework: The literature reviewed in this study relates to tourism, online communication and tourist destination image. The Internet, also known as the “information superhighway”, has since the 1990s changed the relationship between customers and suppliers in the tourism industry. Going from one-way communication to a two-way interaction meant challenges but also great opportunities for tourism organizations, especially for non-profit volunteer organizations who through the Internet found budget ways of reaching customers for example by using Online Social Networks (OSN) and websites. The gains of being a member of OSN is many, the possibility to communicate about a product or a service to a wide range of people no matter time and place and electronic word-of-mouth are examples.Methodology: The chosen qualitative research method is a case study approach with a nonpositivistic position. For the purpose of this study, a hermeneutic stance and an interpretative approach has been used. The material have been collected and analysed through a Textual Analysis model. Findings: The GGN organizations websites and 6 of the 21 GGN organizations Facebook (FB)-pages were analysed in order to reach the purpose of the study. Findings show that the GGN organizations active on FB interact with their web visitors frequently and that their visitors most often post positive comments about the service on FB. Greeter Programs are most often communicated as an attempt to explore a destination in an authentic, genuine way, however some of the GGN organizations communicate a stereotypical image of the destination. This might be interpreted as contradicting since Volunteer Tourism services (such as Greeter Programs) can be described as something that potentially breaks down stereotypes.Conclusions:. What the data indicates is that GGN might have a more influential role in the online communication of destination image then they might believe. In most cases the representation of the destination in GGN’s online communication seems to support the mission of the GGN – to let visitors see the “real”, authentic destination from a local’s perspective based on what they highlight. However, a few of the organizations seem to communicate about the destination through social media in a way that could be perceived as stereotypical, and that might maintain reigning stereotypes of the destination. Previous research claim that many of the people attracted to/that have experienced Greeter programs can be categorized as opinion leaders. The opinion leaders of the electronic age share their opinions on websites and on Online Social Networks related to tourism. This seems to play an increasingly important role in the consumer decision-making process. Therefore the electronic word-of-mouth may serve as one of the GGN’s most important ways of creating awareness about their services as well as the destination.