Abstract : This chapter from the book Modern Day Slavery and Orphanage Tourism aims to identify the motivations behind voluntourism, categorizing them into types so as to provide a foundation upon which we might better assess why it is that so many voluntourists seek to work with children, often in institutional environments. Particular attention is paid to repeat voluntourists, as the frequent disparity between their intentions and the outcomes of their work provides a unique insight into the broader question of why it is that, for so many, the potential personal payoff of voluntourism is held to be of greater importance than the very real price exacted on those they purport to assist. The answers to the question of why people take part in voluntourism fall into three main categories: 'natural' impulses, 'socialized' impulses and 'market-driven' impulses. Together, these three groups of impulses illuminate why millions of people are buying into the idea of voluntourism.
