Travelers' Philanthropy Handbook - Center for Responsible Travel

Educational Travel and Travelers’ Philanthropy: The GambiaMarina Novelli, Ph.D.Principal Lecturer, Tourism Development & ManagementUniversity of Brighton, UKHeritage and cultural tourism, ecotourism, agrotourism, and other types of education-orientedtourism seem to be of increasing importance both to the tourist and to the tourism industry.Although no reliable statistics on educational travel are yet available, there is evidence that thisgrowing type of tourism can benefit communities through responsible tourism practices, enrichthe learning experience oftravelers/students, and go theextra mile by “giving back to thevisited locale” in a sustainablemanner.Beginning in 2007, the winter-sundestination of The Gambia hasbeen the setting of a responsibletourism “laboratory” for a group offinal year students engaging in anew field-based module, calledDestination Niche Tourism.Group work, The Gambia. Credit: Marina NovelliThe driving force behind the module was my determination to help students understand theimportance of responsible tourism by both putting theory into practice and requiring that thestudents confront some of the myths and inequalities occurring in a developing countries.Students studying travel and tourism in the UK are generally taught about the sector’s impacts,development and management issues, but they receive limited applied experience. At best,students encounter inconsistent on-the-ground opportunities and many students graduatewithout any exposure at all. Many of them have never visited a developing country, althoughthey might end up working in jobs that involve traveling to or knowledge of these places.In order to better prepare future travel professionals, in my role as a university lecturer, Ifacilitated collaborations between the School of Service Management (SSM) of the University ofBrighton in the UK, where I teach, and the Association of Small Scale Enterprises in Tourism(ASSET) of The Gambia and Gamspirit, a local responsible tourism business operator. Wedeveloped a field-based training to benefit both students studying in the UK and participantsfrom The Gambia. Gambian students would be sponsored by SSM and its students throughfundraising and a travelers’ philanthropy initiative.Tourism is an integral part of The Gambian economy and although it is claimed to be a keydriver in the socio-economic development of the country, it is also the cause of considerablenegative impacts such as social inequalities. Current attempts to make the industry moresustainable through the diversification of its tourism product and the facilitation of field-specifictraining and capacity building initiatives aim to reduce the negative impacts.Today, SSM’s educational travel experience has become an example of how UK-based75