This article explores what volunteer tourists designate as moral in the practice of volunteering. Findings from in-depth interviews demonstrate how this experience’s moral worth relates to notions of moral personhood, rather than to responsibility for others. This article argues that in late modernity middle class volunteer tourists see the moral worth of the practice as resting on its capacity as an outlet for expression and cultivation of one’s true self. This emphasis reflects a contemporary ‘ethics of authenticity’, wherein being true to yourself is a moral principle and a contributing factor to a full existence. The article explores the ways this moral principle appears in interviewees’ wide moral perceptions and highlights the role of volunteer tourism in materializing these perceptions. By adding the moral layer to the quest for authenticity via tourism the article provides an insight into the role of tourism in peoples’ moral lives.

本文探讨了志愿旅游者在志愿服务实践中将什么称为道德。深入访谈的结果表明，这种体验的道德价值如何与道德人格观念相关联，而不是与对他人的责任相关。本文认为，在现代晚期，中产阶级自愿者游客将这种行为的道德价值视作其表达和培养自己的真实自我的渠道的能力。这种强调反映了当代的“真实性伦理”，其中对自己忠实是一种道德原则，也是充分存在的一个促成因素。本文探讨了这种道德原则在受访者广泛的道德观念中出现的方式，并强调了志愿旅游在实现这些观念中的作用。