Tour operators urged not to send volunteers to orphanages
Around 50 UK tour operators have been contacted by Tourism Concern urging them to stop sending volunteers to overseas orphanages.
The campaign and charity group wrote to the companies last year and will be chasing them up later this month to make sure they have taken action.
If not, their names will be published on Tourism Concern’s website.
"This is a difficult campaign because many volunteers and tourists believe that they are doing good – and it is difficult not to be moved by children in need," said executive director Mark Watson.
"However in Nepal children are literally being stolen from their parents by orphanages who are using them as a commodity. In Cambodia the number of orphans have halved and yet the number of orphanages has doubled – 75% of children in these institutions are not in fact orphans.
"In Ghana the figure is as high as 90%. In sub-Saharan Africa more than 80% of ‘orphans’ have a surviving parent."
Meanwhile in South Africa, said Watson, researchers have found that the perception of an "AIDS orphan crisis", combined with voluntourism, has "fostered a potentially high-risk situation for already vulnerable young children in the region".
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
CCS Insight: eSIMs ready to take the travel world by storm
Germany new European Entry/Exit System limited to a single airport on October 12, 2025
Airlines suspend Madagascar services following unrest and army revolt
Qatar Airways offers flexible payment options for European travellers
Air Mauritius reduces frequencies to Europe and Asia for the holiday season