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Congratulations to Dr. Simon Kimber and his colleagues on the successful publication of their paper, “Chinese voluntourist gaze: a self-reflective perspective”, in the December 2024 issue of Current Issues in Tourism – one of the leading journals in the field, ranked in the top 3% (Q1) of Scopus-indexed publications.
This achievement marks a significant milestone in both Dr. Simon’s academic journey and BUV’s growing contribution to global tourism studies.
The paper offers a fresh perspective on volunteer tourism, specifically examining Chinese international volunteers – a group often underrepresented in existing literature. Drawing on Urry’s theory of the “tourist gaze”, the research analyses volunteers’ online narratives and identifies a three-phase evolution in how they perceive their experiences:
Initial “othering” of the destination,
A more nuanced and empathetic understanding during the volunteering period,
And a final phase of moral self-reflection upon returning home.
By shifting the focus from Western to non-Western voluntourists, the study challenges existing assumptions in the field and opens up new directions for further cross-cultural research.
In addition to the publication, Dr. Simon presented his findings at the 4th ATLAS Critical Tourism Studies Asia-Pacific Conference, held in Hainan, China – an international forum that brings together leading tourism scholars and practitioners across the region. “This research is significant because until now, volunteer tourism has been considered to be predominantly a Western phenomenon. Little attention has been paid to volunteers from emerging countries and how they reflect on their experiences. Presenting this work at a major international conference also highlights BUV’s growing presence in the global research community,” said Dr. Simon.
Read more about the research here: https://lnkd.in/gk2gSJFD
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