This research points to a number of options for facilitating interaction between local people and volunteer tourists. One opportunity involves placing volunteer tourists in host families in order to enable greater immersion into the local community. In some cases, living with a host family was not only seen as a means to integrate into the culture, but also as an important part of the challenge of the volunteering experience. In the case of one programme especially, the fact that their volunteers lived with local families was perceived as an essential component of the programme: