Volunteer Recruitment and Selection: Evidence from the visitor attraction sector

It is widely accepted in both practice and academia that visitor attractions (VAs) carry out an important role in the management, development, and overall success of destinations (Weidenfeld & Leask, 2013). Vas constitute a highly varied sector as they may range from providing entertainment experiences to focusing on conservation. Leask (2010) suggested the following VA categories: visitor centres, heritage, religious sites, animal sites, theme parks, natural sites as well as museums and galleries. Hence, VAs can be extremely diverse in terms of purpose, facilities provision, as well as vision and mission statements. While VAs employ a core permanent staff, the sector is heavily dependent on temporary staff and volunteers (Leask et al., 2013). To some extent, this may be explained by the strong seasonality patterns some tourism destinations are characterised by as in the UK case of Scotland, where tourism demand can be highly seasonal (Connell et al., 2015). Data from a 2017 study suggested that unpaid volunteers constituted 51% of the total workforce of Scottish VAs, while over onethird of the paid workforce was employed on a seasonal basis (Moffat Centre, 2018). This evidence suggests volunteers may represent a significant resource for the VA sector. © 2022 selection and editorial matter, Kirsten Holmes, Leonie Lockstone-Binney, Karen A. Smith and Richard Shipway.