Volunteering as Leisure/Leisure as Volunteering: An International Assessment Chapter 12: Examining best practice in volunteer tourism Stephen Wearing Youth Challenge Australia / School of Leisure, Sport and Tourism Studies, University of Technology Sydney This chapter will present an outline of how to better understand best practice in volunteer tourism by examining the focus and motivations for volunteer tourists and the dynamic social interrelationship between them and the host community. Many NGOs and non– profit organizations are committed to undertaking projects and programs in developing nations. These programs have evolved from a tradition of overseas volunteer organizations that work on projects of community service, medical assistance and scientific discovery. A range of NGOs undertake programs that focus on the personal development potentiality in tourism which, in the past, have not been characteristic of tourism organizations. These organizations and their projects seek to be locally identified and sustainable, while providing the tourist an opportunity to learn and become involved in development issues. These projects incorporate many of the key elements considered essential to the underlying concept of alternative tourism. The adoption of a broader conceptual framework for the understanding of alternative tourism practices in relation to an operator such as an NGO allows for the complexity of 1