Do the locals really feel good? Understanding wellbeing in volunteer tourism from the perspectives of host communities in Mongolia

Building on emerging interdisciplinary research in wellbeing and tourism, this paper examines the effectiveness of volunteer tourism projects and explores the impacts on individual participants in host communities with a case study of Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia, which is one of the fastest-growing volunteer tourism destinations in the world. Beyond the PERMA model proposed by Seligman (2010. Flourish: Positive psychology and positive interventions. The Tanner Lectures on Human Values, 31, 1–56), this paper puts forward the ‘Wellbeing Hexagon’, which includes six measures of wellbeing for individuals (Positive emotions, Negative emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishment). It highlights how the experience in volunteer tourism affects local participants’ hedonic and eudaemonic happiness on different domains in the Wellbeing Hexagon. Ultimately, this paper contributes to the understanding of volunteer tourism impacts on individuals in host communities and suggests ways to enhance the effectiveness of volunteer tourism programmes.