Publications

Volunteer tourism : an ambiguous phenomenon

Tomazos Konstantinos

Guest Lecture on Volunteer Tourism, pp. 1-33 (2009)

Social entrepreneurship and volunteer tourism: beauty and the beast?

Cooper William, Tomazos Konstantinos

Institute for Small Business and Enterprise (ISBE) Annual Conference (2009)

Volunteer tourism : the new ecotourism?

Tomazos K, Butler R

Anatolia Vol 20, pp. 196-212 (2009)

The volunteer tourist as 'hero'

Tomazos Konstantinos, Butler Richard

Current Issues in Tourism Vol 13, pp. 363-380 (2010)

https://doi.org/10.1080/13683500903038863

Volunteer Tourism, an ambiguous phenomenon: An analysis of the demand and supply for the volunteer tourism market

Tomazos Konstantinos

(2009)

Volunteer tourism: working on holiday or playing at work?

Tomazos Konstantinos, Butler R

Tourismos: An International Multidisciplinary Journal of Tourism Vol 4, pp. 331-349 (2009)

More publications

Research Interests

My main research interests lie in the study of volunteering, volunteer tourism and other tourism niches. I would welcome post graduate students interested in the study of both the demand and supply for volunteering and volunteer tourism experiences but also the study of tourism niches and countercultures and how perhaps more deviant, non-conformist social activities, gradually find their way into the mainstream. More specifically I am very interested in the motivations, expectations and outcomes of various tourism niches.

 I would strongly encourage students who are interested in investigating the role of altruism, instrumentalism and expected outcomes in terms of the possible motivations of volunteers as this is a very fertile ground for future research as reflexive volunteering is a relatively new concept and we need to learn more about its implications on the recruitment, training and management of volunteers.

I would also encourage applications from students who would seek to study volunteer tourism as a social enterprise and investigate the role that the third sector has played into the development of contemporary volunteer tourism. From small beginnings to the phenomenon that it is today, volunteer tourism has undoubtedly been shaped by individual initiative creating social goods where the public sector had failed. This drive to turn a vision into reality opens research paths into transforming leadership and how such organisations and their management have succeeded in selling their vision and mission and turning themselves into financially viable business entities. The evolution of the phenomenon is also interesting from an institutional theory perspective as a socio-cultural phenomenon as volunteering and helping others has become highly commoditised and homogenised due to market forces.

Perspective students are more than welcome to drop me a line with their ideas or questions at k.tomazos@strath.ac.uk

Professional Activities

RGS-IBG annual conference: Understanding the Complexities of Volunteer Tourism

Participant

27/8/2013

Giving a Voice to the Homeless

Participant

7/2012

The Institutionalization of Volunteer Tourism: Where do we go from here?

Invited speaker

2/11/2015

Advising the Bothy Project

Consultant

15/9/2023

INTECHopen (Publisher)

Peer reviewer

17/3/2023

ESRC Seminar on International Volunteering

Participant

20/4/2016

More professional activities

Projects

Gambia Sustainable Energy for Development

Tomazos, Konstantinos (Academic)

I have supervised the KE activity of a group of students travelling to Gambia and acting as business consultants to the another university faculty working on the installation of solar panels

10-Jan-2012 - 01-Jan-2014

Building Resilience, Building Community: Empowering Vulnerable Communities for Climate Action

Tonner, Andrea (Principal Investigator) Tomazos, Konstantinos (Co-investigator)

01-Jan-2026 - 28-Jan-2027

ESRC IAA Building Resilient Migrant-Led Enterprises: Innovation, Inclusion, Impact

Tonner, Andrea (Principal Investigator) Tomazos, Konstantinos (Co-investigator) Johnstone, Jane (Co-investigator)

This project translates Strathclyde’s research on social enterprises, volunteering, and participatory approaches into tangible, community-led impact with Together Reaching Higher (TRH). Building on prior studies, we will co-produce scalable, place-based growth tools and frameworks that embed evidence in practice, mobilising knowledge inclusively around lived experience.

05-Jan-2026 - 05-Jan-2027

Neurodiversity and Teaching Excellence: Improving the outcomes and employability prospects of Breaking Barriers graduates

Tomazos, Konstantinos (Principal Investigator) Bourkel, Tom (Co-investigator) Smith, Marisa (Co-investigator) McDougall, Natalie (Co-investigator)

The main aim of this project is to explore ways to improve student experience by better understanding the needs of people with neurodiversity

01-Jan-2024

Addressing risks and misconceptions of insect use in the hospitality industry: Are hospitality practitioners ‘gatekeepers’ of entomophagy?

Murdy, Samantha (Principal Investigator) Tomazos, Konstantinos (Principal Investigator) Bourkel, Tom (Co-investigator)

This research highlights some of the misconceptions held by practitioners, such as the belief that insects are unsanitary or toxic,, and propose a range of strategies to encourage the responsible consumption of insects in the hospitality industry.

01-Jan-2023 - 01-Jan-2024

Pathways to Inclusion: A Neurodiversity Employment Co-Production Workshop

Tomazos, Konstantinos (Co-investigator)

01-Jan-2023 - 31-Jan-2028

More projects