A Report on Volunteer Tourism

Question: The Orangutan Foundation in Central Kalimantan in Indonesian Borneo runs tours where volunteers can assist with constructing buildings and fences to secure the wild orang-utans. The mission statement for the organisation informs us that the Orangutan Foundation goes beyond that of purely protecting the orangutan. Critically it also includes a recognition that orangutan habitat is unique in its richness of biodiversity and crucial for local communities, who are as dependant on the forest as is the orang-utan (Orangutan Foundation 2014.Your task is to promote its conservation strategy to Australian volunteer tourists. You are required to conduct a literature review of about 500-800 words on the topic using keywords such as volunteer tourism, segmentation, targeting and positioning. You then have to develop a segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP) plan targeting the Australian tourist market which the Orangutan Foundation could use to know to which Australian tourists to promote its conservation strategy. Answer: Executive summary This report is related to the concepts of volunteer tourism and the STP process which could be undertaken by the Orangutan Foundation so that the Foundation can create a customer base in order to carry out the conservation activities that has been undertaken by the company. This report illustrates how the company would focus on the three main target groups in order to position the advertising strategies of the foundation. The rapid expansion of the industry would assist the foundation to profit from the appropriate target market. This will be advantageous to the organization economically as well as environmentally. The literature review would further assist the researcher in understanding the fundamental concepts of volunteer tourism and also the concepts of STP along with the process. Introduction Background In the area of tourism industry volunteer tourism is one of the very leading areas (ABC News, 2011). Volunteer tourism can further be considered as one of the emerging tourism means that primarily stress on the benefits relating to the local communities keeping in minds both the economical as well as the environmental factors (Cohan, 2010). The activities relating to Volunteer tourism are generally carried on in such appropriate methods that tend to increase the different issues that the community is facing. Some of the big firms that serve for the advantage of the country are firms such as Youth challenge international, Earth Watch, Australian Volunteers, World wide fund for nature (WWF) and World wildlife fund (Raymond and Hall, 2008). Purpose A report on STP mainly includes the segmentation, targeting and positioning of the plan. In this report of the STP plan the significance of the volunteer tourism is captured and the focus is also laid on the impact it has on the society in Australia. The tourism agency that has been selected for undergoing this task is The Orangutan Foundation. This Orangutan Foundation is situated in the Central Kalimantan at Indonesian Borneo. This Foundation highlights on the running tours where the volunteers assist in the building of fences and the construction of buildings to secure and protection of the lives of the wild orangutans. However the mission of the organization is not just the protection of the orangutans. The objectives are far beyond that. The primary objective of the given project is the promotion of the strategies for conversation to the volunteer tourists of the country of Australia. Scope This research project commences with an elaborate study of the literature that has been consulted for preparing this paper. It details all the significant research materials utilized for this study. Later it also analyses the Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning plan and finally gives a suitable recommendation and conclusion. The article is targeted at the Australian tourism market. Literature Review Volunteer Tourism This concept of voluntarism has been considered as one of the most accepted trends in the contemporary world. This concept contributes approximately $2 billion every year from an estimated 1.6 million tourists (Lovelock, 2011). US bureau of Labor statistics in a report had stated that approximately 63.8 million people had volunteered for this kind of tourism in the time period of September 2013 to September 2014. This depicts that the intention of the tourists to indulge in volunteer tourism have increased in the recent years and this growing intention of the tourists in this kind of tourism has supported a number of countries economically and also environmentally (Estevo and Ferreira, 2012). There are a number of activities that are included in volunteer tourism. These activities include serving at the orphanages or at the wildlife care organizations, the conservation of the marine creatures and such similar activities (Oppermann, 1994). In accordance to the opinion of the scholar Dujmovic (2014) there are four important motivational factors that help in instilling the intention for volunteer tourism. These factors include the following: Cultural immersion The scholars Estevao and Ferreira (2012) had stated that the percentage of tourists that intend to engage in volunteer tourism is approximately 63%. This is primarily because through volunteer tourism they can absorb themselves in the unfathomable culture of the different countries. Through volunteer tourism the tourists are able to interact with the local people who give these travelers the wonderful opportunity to experience the diverse cultures and of the various countries in the world (Mykletun, Crotts and Mykletun, 2001). Giving back and making difference When these travelers opt for volunteer tourism along with their gain of knowledge they also get the opportunity to spend time with the orphans in the various rural communities and similar deprived places in the different developed countries in South East Asia like India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, etc. (Raymond, 2011). Through these kinds of tourism the tourists also get the chance to render some amount of happiness to these poor under privileged children. Approximately 25% of these tourist participants state that through the concept of volunteer tourism they have been able to find a purpose in their lives (Mostafanezhad, 2013). Seeking Camaraderie It has been generally observed that around 55% of the total participants who indulge in volunteer tourism primarily engage in such trips for the pleasure of the group experience (Wearing and McGehee, 2013). These participants state that the trips regularly assist them to make friendships and relations that hopefully last for a life time. Scholars McGehee and Clemmons (2008) in their research had stated that when tourists travel and work with other people having similar way of thinking and wavelengths it is mostly likely that the travel would be enjoyable and would also be memorable (Lyons and Wearing, 2008). These kinds of travels act as a big emotional boost and motivation for the tourists as the whole idea behind such tours for the tourists is to establish new and strong bonds and relationships (Cohan, 2010). Seeking bonding opportunities In approximately 86% of the volunteer tourism cases these voluntary vacationers generally travel with their families and children (Estevo and Ferreira, 2012). Therefore, in these cases it can be construed that the travelers are convinced that the experience that they gain while travelling would be very helpful for the children and it might also be of educational importance for them (Cohan, 2010). This also increases the family bonds which can only be experienced from working together. Benefits and disadvantages of Volunteer tourism There are a number of advantages and disadvantages of volunteer tourism. Some of the essential benefits are stated below: Firstly, volunteer tourism generally create a positive experience for most of the travelers and gives high chances of family bonding or community bonding or peer bonding depending on the co-travelers (Estevo and Ferreira, 2012).Secondly, such volunteer tourism is helpful for the conservation of wildlife, the management for natural disaster and various environmental and agricultural productions.And finally the most significant advantage of volunteer tourism is that the concept assists in creating various people to people experience where it is usually seen that one segment of the people supply the requirements of the other segment. In this process these people also learn the cultures, traditions of the other segment and help them when they are in need (Cohan, 2010).Nevertheless, there are a number of drawbacks of this concept of volunteer tourism. These drawbacks have been stated below:Firstly, the problem with volunteer tourism is that it is not easy to identify the nature of the ne eds that have been served by the volunteering tourists (Borland, n.d.).Secondly, this concept of volunteer tourism keeps no place for specifically mentioning the financial, educational, age qualifications of the volunteering tourists who indulge in these sorts of tourism ventures (Herbutt, 2013).And finally another major drawback of volunteer tourism is that this concept lacks the specified methods for choosing the volunteering opportunities as a result of which there erupts a number of problems (Chen, 2003). Segmentation targeting and positioning In accordance with the opinion of the scholars McGehee and Clemmons (2008), the process of segmentation targeting and positioning reveal the connections between the general market and the way in which an organization opts to promote the products so as to compete in the particular market.According to McGehee and Clemmons (2008) Segmentation targeting and positioning process (STP) demonstrate the links between an overall market and how a company chooses to promote its product in order to compete in that particular market. This process includes focusing on the segmentation of the total population and then through the process a particular target market is selected to promote the purpose of the product [McGehee and Clemmons (2008)].The selection by the target market assists the marketer to come to appropriate decisions relating to the planning and positioning strategies of that particular product. Another scholar Pike (2012) stated that the utilization of the Segmentation targeting and positioning process helps to ensure that the marketer is capable of maximizing the marketing impact of the product. Additionally, scholars Coren and Gray (2012) later stated that this process supports the marketers in various ways such as in understanding the purchasing behavior of the customers. Market segmentation: The initial step for the Segmentation targeting and positioning process is related to the splitting of a particular market into a number of small groups that have similar needs for product and also have similar characteristics. Pike (2012) in his study had suggested that this breakdown assists in selecting the appropriate target market. For example, the company Coca Cola for segmentation would initially lay emphasis on the diet soft drink segments of the countries rather than on focusing on the entire beverage market (Boksberger and von Bartenwerffer, 2003). Targeting: Once the appropriate segments are selected in a separate manner the marketers lay emphasis on the decision on the target markets. Usually the target markets are created after keeping in mind the elements such as the similarities in taste, or preferences or the choices in the market segment (Pike, 2012). The marketers are mostly based on the different kinds of markets segments which have the capability to adopt not discriminated targeting strategies, focused targeting strategies or discriminated targeting strategies (Benson, 2011). Positioning: The final part which is the positioning strategy is developed keeping in mind the different promotional strategies that the markets can utilize for attracting the attention of the target market [McGehee and Clemmons (2008)]. STP plan This part of the study includes the strategies relating to Segmentation, Targeting and position for The Orangutan Foundation of volunteer Tourism that protect the innocent lives of the wild orangutans by constructing fences and buildings. Segmentation Plan Primarily it is essential to recognize the marketers and consumers before the segmentation of the desired services or products and only after that the method of segmentation should be carried out (Sainaghi, R., 2008). The most important factors based on which the entire process of segmentation needs to be carried on for the Australian volunteer tourism market are firstly the type of consumers, the socio-demographic profile and the level of motivation (Wright, 2013). The Orangutan Foundation needs to lay emphasis on the basic factors of segmentation. The two most important factors that the foundation can focus on are as follows: Firstly, the mature volunteers within the age of 50-65 years: In this case the foundation emphasis on those customers who have a lot of experience in the tourism industry and indulges in travelling (Antti Pesonen, 2013). The level of experience of the candidates should be such that they have at least made 6 visits to foreign lands in the last 2 to 3 years. One more characteristic would be people who are involved in conservation related activities (McGehee and Clemmons, 2008). The other factors of motivation in this segment are contribution to the society, conservation of the Orangutans and having fun with the animals.Secondly, young volunteers of the age 15-25 This particular segment is chosen as these young volunteers are even more interested to increase their travel experience. Therefore depending on their age the qualification levels of these volunteers would be 0-2 international trips to the wildlife sanctuaries in a period of 1 year. The conservation of the Orangutans is basica lly due to the conservational activities. The essential motivational factors for this segment of volunteers would be interaction with people, development of the abilities and skills and in the long run getting a new experience (Pike, 2012). This foundation should emphasize on the analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of attaching the two different segments as that would be extremely helpful for them to take an effective decision.The consumer segment that is more stable would fluctuate less as compared to the other segment that has young consumers. In the first segment there might be a number of repeated customers and they may be beneficial for the organization but the young customers would not be included within them. Nevertheless, due to the age the segment may be restricted during the tourism trips (Lovelock, 2011). Targeting Plan The sensation seekers and the customers who indulge in a lot of innovations in their lifestyles are actually the primary target customers for this kind of tourism (Pike, 2012). In the table below the main target market for promoting the Volunteer tourism has been given in details: Target market Age range Travel experience Level of involvement Motivation factors Young volunteers (including school and college students) 16 to 25 years New travel experience and adventure, (0 to 2) very few international vacations Extremely low level of involvement Personal development Fun factor Discovering new and innovative details Development of skills and abilities and knowledge Mature volunteers (including retired countrymen) Over 55 years old A number of travel experiences approximately 4 or more than 4 international trips in 1-2 years They are either highly involved or at times somewhat involved in the act Learning and helping the researcher Supporting the organization Contributing to the society Learning about different wild animals Experiencing different cultures The Orangutan Foundation is a kind of trust that works for the protection and welfare of the wild Orangutans. Therefore the marketers who select the target market would generally focus on those travelers who love animals and those travelers who have been serving and preserving the wildlife for a long time. Target travelers Age group Sensation seekers Males and Young adults within age group of 20 to 35 years Animal lovers Female and male age group of 20 to 35 years Professional travelers Includes the members of a number of international groups such as the World wildlife Fund, Antipodeans, Conservation international and Australian Volunteers Innovative travelers Any age group Target market for promotion of Orangutan Foundation Positioning plan Positioning generally is of effective help in order to indentify the problem and to know the opportunity which can be efficient to target the Australian Tourist market for the conservation benefit to be imparted to them. This Orangutan Foundation might require making up strategies for the Australian tourists to be aware of the significance of the bio-diversity (DujmoviĆ¡, 2014).People who are less educated it might be assumed that they do not understand the benefit of conversation [McGehee and Clemmons (2008)]. Therefore these people can be educated which would later hold them to enhance their knowledge for the protection of the nature. This conservation strategy can be beneficial for building a better image amongst the Australian tourists. This method of positioning would be extremely useful to communicate the information relating to the conversation in order to include a large number of tourists (Estevo and Ferreira, 2012).Alternatively, the Orangutan Foundation might als o need promotion for the conservation benefits of the tourists. Hence, in such a case the Orangutan Foundation can carry out play and shows to provide the knowledge about the significance of nature and other different species. For making the tourists their primary targets it is essential that these organizations conduct shows in all those areas where the number of tourists are more (Pike, 2012). Furthermore, the organization can also conduct various art exhibitions that can lay emphasis on the sustainable environment and the nature. These things would increase the knowledge of the tourists and can effectively make the tourists care for nature. Other than that, for engaging the Australian tourists the organization can give discounts or make the shows free for the tourists. Therefore, it can be stated that this can be essential for attracting the tourists and to impart knowledge about this sustainable tourism. The campaign that may be organized by the Australian tourists can be extremely helpful for attracting the tourists from different places in Australia. Conclusion The entire researched report emphasizes on the promotional strategies that can be undertaken by the marketers for the promotion of the conservation strategies which is used by the Orangutan Foundation. This report chiefly stresses on the Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning plan of the Orangutan Foundation. The focus has been laid on the Australian travelers who visit the place most of the times. Nevertheless, the report depicts that effectual STP plan may be carried out by the marketers for mainly the promotional strategies of the conservation system. The Literature review given in the research study lays stress on the definitions and the impact of volunteer tourism that has assisted the researcher to understand the fundamental requirements of Volunteerism and it also helps to increase the knowledge regarding the STP procedures used in this study. References Antti Pesonen, J. (2013). 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