中国青年国际义工旅行者的旅游动机及其影响因素

以参加过国际义工旅行的26名中国青年旅行者为研究对象，基于半结构访谈所获取的数据，对青年国际义工旅行者旅游动机特征及其影响因素进行质性分析。在已有文献和调研资料的基础上，根据动机性质和联系将义工旅行的出行动机划分为利他动机和自我动机。其中，利他动机指义工旅行者对目的地援助的期望；自我动机指义工旅行者以自我兴趣和需求为中心。研究发现：1）国际义工旅行者的旅游动机呈现出自我需求主导的特征；2）不同动机主导下的国际义工旅行者都存有利他和自我的双重影响因素。影响义工旅行者动机的因素包括：平台宣传建构的目的地旅游形象、项目内容、个人能力和家庭影响等；3）国际义工旅行是一种责任旅游，不仅包含对目的地的责任同样也是对个人的责任。

Young Chinese People’s Motivation to Participate in International Volunteer Tourism and Its Influencing Factors

This study explores the motivation of young Chinese people to take part in international volunteer tourism, drawing on the records of empirical research conducted on Chinese university students. In the past 10 years, young people have shown an increased interest in volunteer tourism. Many of them have participated in volunteer tourism. On the basis of 26 semi-structured interviews, we conduct a qualitative analysis of the factors that motivate them to participate in volunteer tourism, how these factors were generated in the social and cultural contexts within China, and the kind of responsibility mechanism that has been formed through their behavior. Developing on the existing academic works on motivations that drive volunteer tourism, this study divides motivation into two types: altruistic and self-centered motivation. With altruistic motivation, volunteer tourists have the desire to provide aid in tourist destinations; self-centered motivation refers to personal benefits gained from volunteer activities, which include self-actualization (experiencing diversity, participating in special projects, and interacting with local people), personal interests (traveling to niche destinations, travelling abroad conveniently and making new friends), self-development (cultivating work experience and skills, gaining volunteer experience and certificates). These motivations are influenced by the following factors: the geographical imaginations shared by volunteer tourism providers, tourist images of the destination, the content of volunteer programs, and personal capabilities. We find that that self-centered motivation is the primary motivation for young Chinese international volunteer tourists. Altruism, which is deemed to be one of the most important motivations by Western-oriented studies, was seldom mentioned by the respondents. Compared with strong willing to conduct true destination aid, their care about destination communities and the natural environment is more influenced by commercial expectations. Hedonic experience, a concept frequently mentioned in Western studies, is only one of the factors that constitute personal interest. The other factors that motivate these volunteer tourists are cultural contact, convenient travel, and personal development, the last two factors being more important for them. Based on their personal interests, young Chinese volunteer tourists manage to fulfill their responsibilities towards the destinations. They also manage to fulfill their personal goals by connecting responsibility to destination with their choice of destinations and volunteer projects, and thus even though it can be seen as an egoistic activity, volunteer tourism can benefit the local environment and communities. Due to the dual nature of volunteer tourism: the combination of volunteer service and tourism activities-young Chinese people’s motivations for this type of tourism are varied. They are in fact influenced by both altruistic motivations and self-interest. Moreover, similar to previous studies, we argue that volunteer tourism involves the tourist’s responsibility towards both the destination and themselves. This research contributes to the internationalized understanding of volunteer tourism motivations through an empirical case study in the Chinese context, and the paper serves as an academic report on the commercial platforms for volunteer tourism in China.