Using a travel agency to plan a vacation may eliminate the hassle of designing an itinerary, but it can also leave vacationers feeling uneducated or isolated with respect to the local community and its needs. “Voluntourism” combines traditional tourism with volunteer work, allowing “voluntourists” to not only give back to the area they are visiting, but also learn more about the culture.
One cruise line makes Voluntourism easy for its patrons by taking care of the logistics.
Crystal Cruises now offers the “You Care, We Care” program to guests, which gives them the opportunity to participate in service projects at a location they visit on their cruise.
“Guests are able to make a difference in places that they visit,” said Mimi Weisband, vice president of public relations.
From redecorating an orphanage in Fiji to working with burn victims in Lima, Peru, guests can directly help the local population while also experiencing the culture.
“It gives people such a different perspective of a destination,” Weisband said. “There are wonderful sights and smells and sounds of destinations all over the world and wonderful cultural opportunities, but this connects you in a different way.”
One of the most touching moments, Weisband said, was when a guest bought a soccer ball for the children at a local orphanage. The voluntourists spent the rest of their time kicking around the ball with the kids.
“It has been such a heartwarming experience,” Weisband said. “Guests have extended themselves beyond what is even expected.”
The program began in January after much preparation by Crystal Cruises. Tour guides in the desired locations came up with service projects that not only worked logistically in terms of location and the number of guests that could participate, but also filled a very real need.
“We didn’t want to have something where the bus drove by something,” Weisband said. “We wanted to have something where people can actually get out and do something there.”
This excursion is free to any guests or crew who want to join. Crystal Cruises pays for the tour guide and transportation. Generally, thirty guests can participate in each program.
“We wanted to give back to the areas in which we travel and we knew that our guests and crew do too,” Weisband said.
Crystal Cruises does its best to post the details of these expeditions online, however some itineraries are only finalized just before sailing. Guests can sign up for the service projects onboard. Currently, only one excursion is offered for each cruise, although that number may increase as interest in the program grows. While the first excursion included around nine guests, Weisband said that number continues to rise.
