Experiential value of volunteer tourism: The perspective of interaction ritual chains

Volunteer tourism is an increasingly popular activity in different parts of the world. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the experiential value of Chinese college students in volunteer tourism. Participant reports were used for qualitative research to explore the experiential value of 57 Chinese students participating in the AIESEC Global Volunteer Program. Research results based on the Interaction Ritual Chains Theory show that “role identification,” “authenticity”, and “interactivity” are the main experiences of interactive rituals. This research distinguishes five dimensions of volunteer tourism experiential value: emotional value, conversational value, cognitive value, esthetic value, and symbolic value.