Volunteer Tourism: A Pathway to Hope and Happiness?
Book Chapter
Polus, R., & Carr, N. (2023)
Volunteer Tourism: A Pathway to Hope and Happiness?. In Tourism as a Pathway to Hope and Happiness (49-62). Channel View Publications. https://doi.org/10.21832/9781845418564-007
From pilgrimage to volunteer tourism: A spiritual journey in the contemporary world
Journal Article
Polus, R., & Carr, N. (in press)
From pilgrimage to volunteer tourism: A spiritual journey in the contemporary world. Anatolia, https://doi.org/10.1080/13032917.2023.2289610
The aim of this paper is to explore how the experiences of international volunteer tourists can contribute to the rejuvenation of the concept of pilgrimage in the contemporary...
‘Reverse gaze’ in spiritual tourism: fact or myth?
Journal Article
Polus, R. (2025)
‘Reverse gaze’ in spiritual tourism: fact or myth?. Tourism Recreation Research, 50(2), 440-444. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508281.2023.2252679
The term ‘reverse gaze’ is used in tourism academia to describe the interaction between tourist photographers and local subjects, which challenges traditional power dynamics i...
Freedom and Empowerment in International Volunteering: The Story of Angi
Journal Article
Polus, R., & Carr, N. (2023)
Freedom and Empowerment in International Volunteering: The Story of Angi. Tourism Cases, https://doi.org/10.1079/tourism.2023.0031
This case study examines the intersection of freedom and empowerment in the context of international volunteering, focusing on Angi’s personal narrative and her perception of ...
Netnography and volunteer tourism: Critical reflections on conducting online research during a global pandemic
Journal Article
Polus, R., & Carr, N. (2023)
Netnography and volunteer tourism: Critical reflections on conducting online research during a global pandemic. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 56, 42-45. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2023.05.022
COVID-19 curtailed a significant amount of research in the field, forcing social scientists to consider the future of fieldwork. Netnography seems to offer a covid-resistant a...
What can online reviews reveal about Tourism Destination Image? A netnographic approach to a pilgrim destination in India
Journal Article
Nayak, N., Polus, R., & Piramanayagam, S. (2024)
What can online reviews reveal about Tourism Destination Image? A netnographic approach to a pilgrim destination in India. Tourism Recreation Research, 49(6), 1284-1300. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508281.2022.2160921
The purpose of this study is to examine the destination image of Tirumala Tirupati as one of the most popular pilgrimage sites in India using three Tourism Destination Image (...
Challenging the Eurocentrism in volunteering
Journal Article
Polus, R., Carr, N., & Walters, T. (2023)
Challenging the Eurocentrism in volunteering. World Leisure Journal, 65(1), 101-118. https://doi.org/10.1080/16078055.2022.2146741
Volunteering practices have largely drawn on theories based on Eurocentric conceptualizations. The dominant Eurocentric models of volunteering, as a significant leisure experi...
Virtual tours as a solidarity tourism product?
Journal Article
Nautiyal, R., & Polus, R. (2022)
Virtual tours as a solidarity tourism product?. Annals of Tourism Research Empirical Insights, 3(2), Article 100066. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annale.2022.100066
‘Remember that time?’: introducing retrospective collaborative autoethnography
Journal Article
Tripathi, A., Polus, R., Zhang, Y., Nautiyal, R., & Shaheer, I. (2024)
‘Remember that time?’: introducing retrospective collaborative autoethnography. Tourism Recreation Research, 49(5), 1154-1159. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508281.2022.2109864
Autoethnography is a well-established methodological approach in research, including tourism studies. Despite the frequent application of autoethnography in research, some sch...
Challenges and opportunities for sacred journeys: a media representation of the impact of COVID-19
Journal Article
Shaheer, I., Nayak, N., & Polus, R. (2024)
Challenges and opportunities for sacred journeys: a media representation of the impact of COVID-19. Tourism Recreation Research, 49(5), 1177-1183. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508281.2022.2100195
Pilgrimage is a common phenomenon in all the major religions. Earlier studies showed that the pilgrimage sector has high resilience to crises. However, COVID-19 has affected a...