Unveiling the imagery of volunteer tourism: an Instagram exploratory approach

Purpose This study aims to explore how Instagram contributes to shaping the imagery of volunteer tourism. Despite Instagram’s widespread popularity, its potential as a visual data source remains largely untapped in tourism research. This gap is particularly evident in the study of volunteer tourism, where digital technologies and the internet play a significant mediating role. Design/methodology/approach This research follows Hunter’s (2015) visual analytical process to explore the imagery of volunteer tourism on Instagram by downloading 10,984 posts with the hashtag #voluntourism. A final sample of 1,282 posts, including 3,019 photographs and 160 videos, was analysed using a content analysis based on previous research (Salvador-Almela, 2023) and a semiotic analysis based on Marine-Roig’s (2019, 2021) model on semiotic trichotomies. Findings The findings reveal distinct portrayals with a spotlight on group activities in the Global South, featuring a positive narrative that affects user engagement and may influence voluntourism behaviours. This underscores the need for ethical considerations in image promotion and strategic alignment with the altruistic missions of the volunteer tourism sector. Originality/value While other research has examined how humanitarian celebrities or individual voluntourists portray volunteer tourism experiences on Instagram, a comprehensive understanding of how different stakeholders contribute to the representation of volunteer tourism online is lacking. Thus, this study identifies the key actors projecting images of volunteer tourism and the connotative meanings associated with these representations.