International students as tourists: Implications for educators

Abstract

This chapter investigates international tourism students as tourists. Given the nexus of education and tourism, a term that has been adopted to describe this distinct market segment is that of ‘edu-tourist’. The implications for tourism education, in creating a closer symmetry between education and tourism for tourism students, are explored. Additionally, benefits such as the nurturing of global citizenship and cross-cultural understanding are considered. Of particular significance to tourism educators is the finding that tourism students adapted their travel behavior, reflected on or embraced different aspects of their tourism experience due to what they had learnt regarding sustainable tourism and destination product. It would be powerful for tourism educators to harness this influence so that students would gain as much as possible from their experience of being away.