Customer experience in responsible tourism from the perspective of volunteer tourism
Koskinen, Kaisa (2018)
Haaga-Helia ammattikorkeakoulu
2018
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201805158319
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201805158319
Tiivistelmä
Volunteer tourism is rapidly growing trend in which individuals combine travel and voluntary work. The existing literature has been providing an optimistic view of volunteer tourism. Thus, the negative impacts of volunteer tourism has been recognized lately and the importance of its responsible management has been highlighted. Customers are the company`s most important and valuable assets and customer experience has recently become a very commonly used phrase. Creating a great customer experience requires the knowledge of the customer journey and its touchpoints.
This thesis is commissioned by Ecotravellers Ltd, a Finnish company operating in volunteer tourism as a sending organization. The purpose of this thesis is to explain how companies operating in volunteer tourism field can improve their customer experience by following responsible strategy. It aims to give ideas for the commissioner of how to create value to the company from deeper understanding of their customers` journey and how to enhance their services from the customers perspective. It gives good advices to other companies operating in the tourism industry as well and it is raising the knowledge of how to manage these two big trends; responsible tourism and customer experience.
The theoretical framework of this thesis covers theories on the commissioner, responsible tourism management, volunteer tourism and customer experience. The research was conducted by using qualitative research approach. Six structured interviews and two participant observations were implemented in Helsinki during spring 2018. The data was analysed by using content analysis.
It was found that Ecotravellers` volunteers had a common purpose to volunteer and it was to protect endangered animals and nature while travelling. All of the respondents thought that Ecotravellers work responsibly which is reflected in the company’s way of acting and they would recommend Ecotravellers to others. All of the respondents told that they have changed their own behaviour after this experience. The responsibility from the local provider`s side was lightly criticised in terms of recycling. Training that was given to the volunteer’s prior their volunteer work experience was experienced of being too narrow.
Based on the results of observation and interviews, Ecotravellers customer journey was created. Customer journey mapping gives ideas to Ecotravellers how to improve their services and strengthen the communication with their customers. The findings of this study are useful to other companies operating in the field of volunteer tourism and responsible tourism. Further research of the relation between customer experience and responsible tourism is needed to fully understand the phenomenon.
This thesis is commissioned by Ecotravellers Ltd, a Finnish company operating in volunteer tourism as a sending organization. The purpose of this thesis is to explain how companies operating in volunteer tourism field can improve their customer experience by following responsible strategy. It aims to give ideas for the commissioner of how to create value to the company from deeper understanding of their customers` journey and how to enhance their services from the customers perspective. It gives good advices to other companies operating in the tourism industry as well and it is raising the knowledge of how to manage these two big trends; responsible tourism and customer experience.
The theoretical framework of this thesis covers theories on the commissioner, responsible tourism management, volunteer tourism and customer experience. The research was conducted by using qualitative research approach. Six structured interviews and two participant observations were implemented in Helsinki during spring 2018. The data was analysed by using content analysis.
It was found that Ecotravellers` volunteers had a common purpose to volunteer and it was to protect endangered animals and nature while travelling. All of the respondents thought that Ecotravellers work responsibly which is reflected in the company’s way of acting and they would recommend Ecotravellers to others. All of the respondents told that they have changed their own behaviour after this experience. The responsibility from the local provider`s side was lightly criticised in terms of recycling. Training that was given to the volunteer’s prior their volunteer work experience was experienced of being too narrow.
Based on the results of observation and interviews, Ecotravellers customer journey was created. Customer journey mapping gives ideas to Ecotravellers how to improve their services and strengthen the communication with their customers. The findings of this study are useful to other companies operating in the field of volunteer tourism and responsible tourism. Further research of the relation between customer experience and responsible tourism is needed to fully understand the phenomenon.