Constraints of international volunteering: A study of volunteer tourists to Ghana

•Volunteerism market consist of people with different and specific needs.•Work, organizational, structural, and interpersonal constraints limit volunteerism.•Four volunteer attributes significantly influence constraints.•Negotiating organizational constraints is crucial for volunteerism.

The volunteer tourism market consists of individuals with different and specific needs. An often overlooked area in many volunteer tourism studies however remains the constraints of these travel patrons. Though studies have addressed the importance of motivations and experiences, the challenges faced by volunteers provide valuable input to understanding the volunteer holiday market and its potential for repeat visit. This paper adopts the leisure constraint theory in exploring the constraints of volunteer tourists to Ghana. A random sample of 336 volunteer tourists revealed that organizational, structural, interpersonal, and work related constraints are the main areas of constraints to volunteering. These constraints were related to education, schooling status, past volunteer experience, and travel party size.