Assessing Demand and Supply Perspectives in Marine Wildlife Voluntourism: A Case of Southern Africa

Abstract

Marine wildlife voluntourism (MVT) is an alternative form of tourism that has grown due to the desire of people to assist in conservation efforts and research. There is limited research on the demand and supply perspectives of MVT and whether these align. This type of research can guide the sustainable development of MVT. A qualitative research method was followed, using semi-structured interviews to collect data to fill this gap. South Africa, Mozambique and Madagascar were identified as the case study locations for this research. Data were collected from 30 voluntourists and 24 staff members from June 2019 to June 2020. MVT organisations were also asked to describe their business model, using the business model canvas method. Thematic analysis was deployed as the main method to analyse the data. The perspectives of the demand and supply sides of MVT were aligned. Importantly, conservation, research and community engagement were essential to both the voluntourists and the staff members. The business model canvas of the MVT organisations had important elements that contributed to the success of MVT programmes. This study provided a better understanding of MVT in southern Africa from a demand and supply perspective, yielding recommendations for marketing, management and future research.

Keywords

• marine wildlife voluntourism
• citizen science
• marine conservation
• community engagement
• business model