An argument for Sociocultural, and Economic Awareness for WWOOF Volunteers before their Farm Stay in Latin America.

Tourism in Latin America has exponentially increased in the past couple of decades. Two major sectors of this tourism boom have been voluntourism and ecotourism. Voluntourism is defined as “a form of tourism in which travelers participate in voluntary work” (Oxford, Dictionary, 2018). Of course, as its name implies, ecotourism is the form of tourism focused on sustainability. These forms of tourism intersect with World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF). In its essence, WWOOF is an online forum that serves as a route for volunteers to connect with local farm owners, leading to a stint of voluntourism on an organic farm (FoWo, 2018). Although WWOOFing is not the most frequent form of either ecotourism, nor voluntourism it is prevalent enough that an in-depth analysis of its effects economically and socioculturally, is imperative to understanding the entire picture of ecotourism/voluntourism in rural Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)