Netnography and volunteer tourism: Critical reflections on conducting online research during a global pandemic

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 alternative to traditional fieldwork methods. This paper expands knowledge of the netnographic approach, focusing on a study o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of hospitality and tourism management Vol. 56; pp. 42 - 45
Main Authors Polus, Reni, Carr, Neil
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier Ltd 01.09.2023
The Authors
Subjects
COVID-19
Critical reflections
Netnography
Spirituality
Traditional ethnography
Volunteer tourism
COVID-19
Spirituality
Volunteer tourism
Traditional ethnography
Critical reflections
Netnography
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Summary: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 alternative to traditional fieldwork methods. This paper expands knowledge of the netnographic approach, focusing on a study of spirituality in international volunteer tourists' experiences. It explores the potential of netnography as a research tool within the context of ongoing concerns around the viability and sustainability of physically travelling to collect data. As such, this paper presents a critical, reflective analysis of the main author's experience in conducting netnographic research during the pandemic, presenting the challenges and limitations, as well as the benefits of the method.
ISSN:1447-6770
1447-6770
DOI:10.1016/j.jhtm.2023.05.022