Educational Tourism and Local Development: The Role of Universities
Abstract
:1. Introduction
1.1. Purpose and Organization of the Study
1.2. Background Context
2. Materials and Methods
- Educational tourism (in general): definitions and frameworks related to educational tourism.
- Travel and experiential learning: connections between educational tourism, travel and experiential learning.
- Educational tourism destinations. How can the stakeholders in a destination manage local educational tourism to contribute to local development, and how can universities, significant stakeholders in their own right, contribute to the touristic offer? This topic also includes the concept of civic university.
- The educational tourism of international students. What are the characteristics of international students as educational tourists? What motivates a student to choose international mobility, and what criteria determine the choice of a destination?
- The social benefits of educational tourism for international students and the destination. What personal benefits do international students gain from educational tourism? How does the presence of international students impact a destination?
- The impact of educational tourism. What is the impact of educational tourism on a destination?
- Section 3.1. Defining educational tourism: cluster 1;
- Section 3.2. Educational tourism and travel: cluster 2;
- Section 3.3. The role of higher education institutions in fostering educational tourism: clusters 3, 4 and 5;
- Section 3.4. Impact of educational tourism on the destination: cluster 6;
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Defining Educational Tourism
3.2. Educational Tourism and Travel
3.3. The Role of Higher Education Institutions in Fostering Educational Tourism
3.3.1. Universities and Educational Tourism
- Environmental factors: provide tourists with knowledge-based information and educate them to respect the local environment. Sustainable actions promote the preservation of biodiversity and enhance attention to the cultural heritage;
- Engagement: active participation of tourists is central to making them feel fully immersed in the context and to cultivating their special interests;
- Exploration: help tourists authentically experience the place by contributing to in-situ learning-by-doing practice.
3.3.2. International Students as Educational Tourists
3.3.3. Benefits of Educational Tourism
3.4. Impact of Educational Tourism on the Destination
- on-campus spending directly related to their studies;
- off-campus spending on housing, food, books, transportation, clothing and entertainment;
- contribution to the local tourism industry through domestic travel and other tourist activities;
- non-educational tourism spending by students, visiting friends and relatives (VFR) and the return visits of alumni.
- higher prices for accommodations and shop rentals in the university area compared to the suburbs;
- fewer part-time and full-time jobs for local people, as international students take them at lower pay;
- the decline of the local economy in the summer, when students are away;
- excessive competition in the market for services dedicated to students.
4. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Economic Impact of International Students in the U.K. (a. y. 2014–2015) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Type of Economic Contribution | Overall Contribution to U.K. Economy | ||||
Payment of Tuition Fees to U.K. Universities | Payment of Tuition Fees + Accommodation | Off-Campus Expenditure + Visitors’ Expenditure | Transport and Retail Sectors (% of the Total Increase in Economic Output) | Tax Revenues for the U.K. Exchequer | £6.1 billion |
£4.8 billion | - Additional £13.5 billion in gross output; - £13.8 billion: contribution to gross value added to GDP | - £25.8 billion in gross output in the UK; - £13.8 billion: contribution to gross value to GDP | 13% and 12% | £1 billion |
Definition of Educational Tourism | Authors |
---|---|
“Educational tourists (students, adults, and seniors) are those respondents who indicated that they took part in study tours or who attended workshops to learn new skills or improve existing ones while on vacation” | Gibson [33] |
“Tourist activity undertaken by those who are undertaking an overnight vacation and those who are undertaking an excursion for whom education and learning is a primary (education first segment) or secondary (tourism first segment) part of their trip” (p. 18). | Ritchie [32] |
“A form of tourist experience that explicitly aims to provide structured learning in situ through active and engaged intellectual praxis. Learning is explicit and core to the delivery of the product” (p. 6). | Pitman et al. [34] |
“Organised trip led by skilled guides where leisure-travel activities and learning processes occur simultaneously through interaction between related stakeholders (participants, tour operators/leaders, and local community) as part of the total experience. The educational tourism experience occurs within a certain period of time (minimum of 24 h away from home) and generally ensues in an informal setting.” (p. 107) | Sie et al. [7] |
Motivation | Authors |
---|---|
A search for new experiences | Juvan and Lesjak [52] Sanchez, Fornerino, and Zhang [53] Taylor and Rivera [54] |
A good opportunity to travel | Sanchez, Fornerino, and Zhang [53] van Hoof [55] |
To live in or learn about another culture | van Hoof [55] |
The desire to be somewhere different | Juvan and Lesjak [52] |
Exposure to a different culture/language | Doyle et al. [56] |
Desire for personal growth and increased independence | Glover [51]; Castillo Arredondo et al. [57] |
Wish to immerse themselves in another culture and language | Chew and Croy [58]; Lee [13]; Abubakar et al. [11]; Liang et al. [41] |
Gaining academic knowledge | Lam et al. [10] |
Understanding of the host country | Sie et al. [59] |
Living a complete social experience | Huang [2]; Sie at al. [59] |
Future opportunities given by study abroad, also about professional and career development | Glover [51]; Nyaupane et al. [9]; Lam et al. [10]; Abubakar et al. [11]; Tashlai and Ivanov [12] |
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Tomasi, S.; Paviotti, G.; Cavicchi, A. Educational Tourism and Local Development: The Role of Universities. Sustainability 2020, 12, 6766. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12176766
Tomasi S, Paviotti G, Cavicchi A. Educational Tourism and Local Development: The Role of Universities. Sustainability. 2020; 12(17):6766. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12176766
Chicago/Turabian StyleTomasi, Sabrina, Gigliola Paviotti, and Alessio Cavicchi. 2020. "Educational Tourism and Local Development: The Role of Universities" Sustainability 12, no. 17: 6766. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12176766