Volunteer tourism in example of three cultural festivals

Volunteer tourism has become a global phenomenon with future market predictions indicating growth. Despite the fact that certain features of volunteer tourism in Slovakia appeared after the Second World War, in domestic literature, the issue that includes the volunteerism was not addressed in an appropriate manner. The aim of the paper is also to evaluate the activity and management of volunteers participating in selected cultural festivals as a part of a tourism product in selected destinations in Slovakia. The number of volunteers at festivals is high and mostly consists of young people. The volunteers gain many extraordinary and valuable experiences applicable in various ways of life. The results of structured interviews with volunteers’ coordinators management in the Nitra Theatre Festival, Pohoda and Uprising Reggae Festival confirmed the idea that volunteers play a major role in planning and organizing festivals in selected destinations. The degree of coordination of their activity is relatively high. An optimal amount of involvement of volunteers in organizing events may contribute to the generation of positive effects for the destination