The popularity of volunteer tourism has increased since the 1990s, as have empirical studies and academic debates on the topic. Despite the broad topics covered – such as volunteers’ motivations, impacts on the local community, and the role of the sending organisations – approaches based on gender differences and feminism are still uncommon among critical tourism studies. Through a semi-systematic literature review, a variety of topics emerged, such as the gendered reproduction of colonial dynamics in voluntourism; volunteer tourists’ motivations, preferences and differences according to gender; and the expectations around traditional gender roles faced by volunteers, the local community and the sending organisations. This paper proposes a feminist research agenda where knowledge gaps and future lines of investigation are illustrated. Finally, feminist standpoint theory and its implications are discussed to offer a more in-depth exploration of the transformation of gender relationships in voluntourism experiences.

Currently, many are the phenomena that occur around intangible cultural heritage (ICH), related to its politics and legacy. With a critical analysis perspective, this article aims to describe the processes of patrimonialisation, commodification, and touristification of ICH, especially of the Guatemalan Mayan fabrics. The ongoing movement of Guatemalan weavers to protect and vindicate the cultural value of this art brings to light the role of different actors that intervene in intangible cultural heritage and, of greater relevance, indigenous communities. The following analysis framework on the diverse conceptualisations of heritage, authenticity, commodification and touristification allows for a deeper understanding of the Mayan weavers’ situation. The methodology used in this article consists on a case study, through which the following main conclusions arise: the lack of protection of ICH of this case study given the complex definitions and categorisations; the need to identify the consequences of commodification and touristification of ancestral tapestries, highlighting the importance of tourism management from the communities; and, finally, the key role of women as transmitters and protectors of ICH, who have headed a process of movement and empowerment.

En nombroses ocasions, el patrimoni cultural immaterial pot ser indesxifrable per a les persones que el volen gaudir a causa de la seva intangibilitat. És per això que el present article pretén trencar amb aquesta barrera a través de tres propostes de mediació per a una ruta turístico-cultural al districte de Sarrià -Sant Gervasi (Barcelona). A més, també es busca descentralitzar l'activitat turística de la ciutat augmentant l'oferta cultural a zones menys centrificades. Concretament, l'itinerari té l'objectiu d'explicar la història d'aquest districte a través dels seus personatges més emblemàtics, destacant elements patrimonials, fets, curiositats i anècdotes del barri. Les tres propostes de mediació són: una visita teatralitzada on els participants són els actors, una visita amb codis QR a través dels quals es plantegen reptes als usuaris i una visita nocturna de terror que finalitza amb un escape room. Per acabar, es proposen futures línies de recerca vinculades per una banda a les ciutats i, per l'altra, a la proposta concreta. Paraules clau:Barcelona; itinerari turístic; mediació; patrimoni immaterial; posada en valor.