Academic Tourism: Perspectives on International Mobility in Europe [1st ed.] 9783030572877, 9783030572884

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Tourism, Hospitality & Event Management

João P. Cerdeira Bento Fídel Martínez-Roget Elisabeth T. Pereira Xosé A. Rodríguez  Editors

Academic Tourism

Perspectives on International Mobility in Europe

Tourism, Hospitality & Event Management

This book series covers all topics relevant in the tourism, hospitality and event industries. It includes destination management and related aspects of the travel and mobility industries as well as effects from developments in the information and communication technologies. “Tourism, Hospitality & Event Management” embraces books both for professionals and scholars, and explicitly includes undergraduate and advanced texts for students. In this setting the book series reflects the close connection between research, teaching and practice in tourism research and tourism management and the related fields.

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/15444

João P. Cerdeira Bento • Fídel Martínez-Roget • Elisabeth T. Pereira • Xosé A. Rodríguez Editors

Academic Tourism Perspectives on International Mobility in Europe

Editors João P. Cerdeira Bento Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering and Tourism (DEGEIT) University of Aveiro Aveiro, Portugal Elisabeth T. Pereira Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering and Tourism (DEGEIT) University of Aveiro Aveiro, Portugal

Fídel Martínez-Roget Department of Applied Economics University of Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Xosé A. Rodríguez Department of Quantitative Economics University of Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela, Spain

ISSN 2510-4993 ISSN 2510-5000 (electronic) Tourism, Hospitality & Event Management ISBN 978-3-030-57287-7 ISBN 978-3-030-57288-4 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57288-4 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG. The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

Preface

The significant increase in the international mobility of students between different institutions of higher education is a fact that is sufficiently contrasted today. Due to the many opportunities offered by scholarships, exchange programs, and agreements between universities, thousands of students each year spend less than a year at universities in other countries. The number of higher education students studying abroad has virtually tripled in the last two decades. Although obviously some countries have a greater role, both in the departures and arrivals of students, it is a global phenomenon in which countries around the world participate. On the European continent, international mobility has experienced strong growth since the late 1980s, driven by the Erasmus program. There is some confusion when it comes to classifying and conceptualizing the mobility of higher education students from a tourism point of view. There are related or similar concepts, such as youth tourism, educational tourism, and even cultural tourism, which have probably led to this confusion. Under certain conditions, university mobility can be considered as tourism, and the activities carried out by students during their trips and stays for studies, traineeships, or language can be defined as academic tourism. At the same time within academic tourism, it is possible to differentiate between domestic academic tourism (if the move to study takes place within the country) and international academic tourism (if the move is abroad). One of the objectives of this book is precisely to clarify and delimit the concept from its similarities, but also from its differences, with other related concepts. In the last decade, interesting research published in high-impact journals in the field of tourism has focused on the study of academic tourism, particularly in international academic tourism. These studies have shown that academic tourism is a very different type of tourism from what we can consider conventional tourism. First of all, it must be borne in mind that these are trips and whose main objective is to carry out studies or practices related to them in the field of a university institution. Although during the trips and stays other types of “typically” tourist activities are carried out, there are of course objective conditions, and those are led by push and v

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pull motives, and the differential characteristics of academic tourism. In terms of motivations, the pull factors acquire special relevance and relate to the reputation of universities, the quality of education, and the flexibility of exchange programs, but also the language, lifestyle, security of the country, host, or word-of-mouth recommendations. The aspirations and expectations of students and their families, as well as the socio-economic conditions of the sending countries, often act as important push factors. It is also commonly agreed that specific characteristics of academic tourism and its impacts in the destination can be different regarding the objective of the stay, the pull and push motives, including the characteristics and conditions for visitors. First of all, and as just mentioned when talking about the motivations, the demand for this type of tourism does not depend mainly on economic factors but depends on elements such as the reputation of the host institutions, the language, the level of security, hospitality, the variety of exchange programs, or the effect of other students’ recommendations on making the decision to study abroad. Second, the longer the length of stay and patterns of consumption and spending are more similar to those of the residents themselves, the greater its economic impact than that of conventional tourism. Thirdly, and from an environmental point of view, the longer length of stay, together with consumption patterns and a high concern for climate change, contributes to academic tourism offering higher levels of sustainability than conventional tourism. Finally, academic tourism has the potential to contribute to the innovation of the tourism sector as it is a segment of demand with greater knowledge and a greater propensity to use new technologies. Precisely because of these peculiarities and its potential for future growth, academic tourism is arousing growing interest, not only among the authorities responsible for higher education institutions around the world, but also and especially among the agents involved in the management of the tourist activity in the different destinations that receive international students. The growing interest in academic tourism is a major motivation for the publication of this book. Other reasons could be the need to contribute to the knowledge of this type of tourism, specifying the concept, analyzing the motivations of academic tourists, investigating their impacts, and ultimately filling in the gaps arising from the non-existence of such a publication. Santiago de Compostela, Spain Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Fídel Martínez-Roget Xosé A. Rodríguez

Acknowledgments

First, we would like to thank the institutions that helped and supported us during the development of this book, in particular Erasmus+ program to support staff mobility in the higher education sector, the University of Aveiro, and the University of Santiago de Compostela. Second, we would like to thank the authors of the chapters for providing their expertise, patience, and ultimately high-quality contributions. We are also grateful for the assistance from several colleagues at the University of Aveiro and at the University of Santiago de Compostela for sharing with us their knowledge and experience, and to all those who undertook considerable editorial support and deserve both recognition and our deep gratitude. Finally, and most importantly, we would like to thank our families and friends for being supportive while we prepared this book.

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Contents

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Introduction to the Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . João P. Cerdeira Bento

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Academic Tourism: Conceptual and Theoretical Issues . . . . . . . . . . Fídel Martínez-Roget and Xosé A. Rodríguez

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Academic Tourism and Dynamics of Tourism Destinations . . . . . . . Çiğdem Unurlu

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Revisiting an Academic Tourism Destination: An Empirical Analysis of the Role of Motivations, Attitudes, Satisfaction, and Electronic Word of Mouth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bartolomé Deyà-Tortella, Rebeca Mendez-Duron, and Francisco Rejón-Guardia

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Staff Teaching Mobility of Selected Polish Universities on the Example of Erasmus Plus Programme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alina Zajadacz, Renata Krukowska, and Małgorzata Durydiwka

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Language Tourism in Higher Education: An Overview . . . . . . . . . . Montserrat Iglesias

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How Do Others Think About Us? The Effect of Country Perceptions on the Behavioural Intentions of Foreign Students . . . . 101 Ana Sousa, Helena Nobre, and Minoo Farhangmehr

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The Role of Big Data in Knowledge Co-creation for Academic Tourism Experiences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 Ruhet Genç

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Exchange Students’ Views on Tourism: The Impact of First-Hand Experiences on Transversal Skills Development and Loyalty to the Host Destination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 Sandra Filipe, Belem Barbosa, Claudia Amaral Santos, Margarida M. Pinheiro, Dora Simões, and Gonçalo Paiva Dias

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Academic Tourism and Sustainability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161 Xosé A. Rodríguez and Fídel Martínez-Roget

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Economic Impact of Academic Tourism in European Countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 Elisabeth T. Pereira, João P. Cerdeira Bento, and Aisté Osteikaité

Editors and Contributors

About the Editors João P. Cerdeira Bento holds a PhD from the University of Reading, UK, and is a senior lecturer in the Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering, and Tourism at the University of Aveiro. He is also a research fellow at the Research Unit on Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policy. He is an economist, and his research interests include the study of international trade and investment, energy and environmental sustainability, and tourism economics. Fídel Martínez-Roget holds a PhD in economics and is a professor in the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC) (Spain). Between 2005 and 2011, he was Secretary of the Centre for Tourism Studies and Research (CETUR) at USC. His main areas of research are related to the analysis of rural tourism, the impacts of tourism, and economic well-being. He was lead researcher of the projects “Software for the calculation of the economic impact of tourism at regional and local level” and “An indicator of tourism loyalty towards Galicia”. He has published in international journals such as Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism Management, Sustainability, Tourism Economics, Regional Studies, Social Indicators Research, and EURE. Elisabeth T. Pereira is an associate professor of economics in the Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering, and Tourism at the University of Aveiro, where she coordinates the International Mobility for Economics studies. She holds a PhD in Business and Economics Competitiveness from the University of Aveiro. She is a full researcher at the Research Unit on Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policy. Between 2012 and 2016, she was chair of the Subject Committee of Economics and Business of Campus Europae—European University Foundation. Her research interests include competitiveness and innovation in

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tourism, academic tourism, and the impact of tourism in economic growth. She is author of several dozen articles published in international scientific journals indexed, book chapters, and institutional reports. She is also reviewer of national and international journals. Xosé A. Rodríguez is a professor of econometrics at the University of Santiago de Compostela. His research interests include econometric analysis, measurement of productivity and efficiency, mining economics, modeling and analysis techniques applied to the tourism sector, and sustainable development. Regarding tourism research, he has published interesting papers in leading journals, such as Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism Management, Tourism Economics, and Sustainability.

Contributors Claudia Amaral Santos Aveiro Institute of Accounting and Administration, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal Ana F. Antunes de Sousa School of Economics and Management, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal Belem Barbosa Aveiro Institute of Accounting and Administration, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal João P. Cerdeira Bento Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering and Tourism (DEGEIT), University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal Bartolomé DeyàTortella Department of Business Economics, University of las Islas Baleares, Palma, Spain Gonçalo Paiva Dias Aveiro Institute of Accounting and Administration, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal Małgorzata Durydiwka Department of Tourism and Recreation, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland Minoo Farhangmehr School of Economics and Management, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal Sandra Filipe Aveiro Institute of Accounting and Administration, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal Ruhet Genç Department of Economics and Administrative Sciences, TurkishGerman University, Beykoz-İstanbul, Turkey Montserrat Iglesias School of Tourism, Hospitality and Gastronomy, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

Editors and Contributors

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Renata Krukowska Department of Tourism and Recreation, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland Fídel Martínez-Roget Department of Applied Economics, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain Rebeca Méndez-Durón Department of Business Economics, University of las Islas Baleares, Palma, Spain Helena Nobre Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering and Tourism, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal Aisté Osteikaité Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering and Tourism (DEGEIT), University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal Elisabeth T. Pereira Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering and Tourism (DEGEIT), University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal Margarida Pinheiro Aveiro Institute of Accounting and Administration, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal Francisco Rejón-Guardia Department of Business Economics, University of las Islas Baleares, Palma, Spain Xosé A. Rodríguez Department of Quantitative Economics, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain Dora Simões Aveiro Institute of Accounting and Administration, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal Çiğdem Unurlu Trakya University, Edirne, Turkey Alina Zajadacz Department of Tourism and Recreation, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland

Chapter 1

Introduction to the Book João P. Cerdeira Bento

Due to increasing international students and academic staff mobility in higher education, a new type of tourism known as “academic tourism” has emerged (Rodríguez et al. 2012; Bento 2014). There is a growing interest in themes related to academic tourism within tourism, but this tourism type remains an underresearched topic. The rationale behind the book is to addresses specifically this research gap in the literature and to present a wide range of chapters on academic tourism in the domain of tourism economics, regional development planning and business studies. The book can also be viewed as an organised guide to the state of knowledge on academic tourism. The editors have sought contributions that attempt to address the following (but not limited to) topics: • • • • • •

Academic tourism demand and expenditure Economic impacts of academic tourism Academic tourism and sustainable tourism planning Academic tourism and regional development Academic tourism and internationalisation of higher education Academic tourism and dynamics of tourism destinations

Qualitative and quantitative methods and approaches to these chapters have been welcomed. Chapters are research-based, case studies, and contain exploratory or critical literature reviews and conceptual/theoretical analysis of academic tourism in contemporary tourism. This, then, is the first book compilation to focus on topics and perspectives related to academic tourism. This collection is composed by 10 chapters and incorporates diverse writing styles from international authors sharing their knowledge and expertise. The book encompasses contributions from scholars and specialists in the field and grounds an international scope. This volume constitutes an J. P. Cerdeira Bento (*) Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering and Tourism (DEGEIT), University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 J. P. Cerdeira Bento et al. (eds.), Academic Tourism, Tourism, Hospitality & Event Management, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57288-4_1

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essential reading for students, researchers, tourism practioners and academics in tourism studies. The introductory chapter sets out to identify the main themes of the edited book and covers the specific nature and scope of its elements. Additionally, it summarizes and highlights the key findings of this collection. Chapter 2 is based on recommendations and work undertaken by the World Tourism Organization. This chapter specifies the concept of academic tourism by defining it as the activities performed by people during their travels and temporary stays, outside usual environment in higher education institutions. Taking as reference the push-pull model, the motivations inherent in academic tourism are analysed. The push factors point out aspects specific to tourists such as the needs for personal and professional growth and aspects related to the socio-economic conditions of the emitting regions. The pull factors relate to aspects such as the reputation and quality of the institutions of the destination country, the attractions, the language or the image of the host country are indicated. Finally, this chapter also refers to the specific characteristics of academic tourism that make its effects and impacts different from those of other types of tourism. Among these specific characteristics are, from the perspective of the demand side, a longer stay, spending patterns more similar to those of the residents themselves than those of conventional tourists, a lower environmental impact or the preference for the use of new technologies. Chapter 3 argues that global economies have enhanced the acceleration of human mobility. Primarily, in order to receive world class training, learn new languages and get new experiences, the increase of human mobility has become more striking day by day, and this situation has brought new economies into existence. When considered from this point of view, academic tourism has attracted a great deal of attention as a new economy. In this regard, the aim of this chapter is to expand the awareness of the stakeholders concerning the concept of academic tourism to ensure that the stakeholders reach their idealized aims more effectively and to make contributions to the tourism sector and literature. Concordantly, firstly the concept of academic tourism, which is an alternative type of tourism, is clarified, and academic tourism will be addressed as a touristic product. Within this scope, international agreements, projects and cooperation’s (Bologna, Socrates, Erasmus, Mevlâna) are evaluated. After reviewing several definitions among technical, economical and holistic approaches, the pull and push factors of academic tourism are addressed, and then the components of academic tourism based on tourism literature are evaluated in the five groups: (1) education tourist, (2) geographical factors, (3) educational institutions, (4) industrial factors, (5) external environment. Chapter 4 starts by considering that academic tourism is a worldwide phenomenon experiencing significant growth. Beyond the benefits for students, host academic institutions obtain direct economic benefits from the mobility program, and the destinations receive indirect spillovers out of the living expenses of the students. This chapter develops a structural equation model aimed to explain the behaviour of students after visiting a given academic institution. Using the information on a large sample of Erasmus students, the model helps to explain the subjects’ recommendations on both the institution and the destination, and their intention to revisit the

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destination for leisure purposes. The study finds that the intention to recommend the host academic institution, followed by the attitude toward it, are the primary determinants of the intention to revisit. Moreover, push and pull motivations are fundamental in explaining the attitude toward the institution. Finally, both satisfaction and electronic word of mouth (eWOM) influence the intention to revisit indirectly, through the intention to recommend. Consequently, destinations of academic tourism should assess their visiting students’ ex-ante motivations and attitudes toward the institution to improve satisfaction and, simultaneously, potentiate electronic word of mouth to increase the probability of revisiting. The chapter also discusses the implications of academic tourism for leisure destinations suggesting some lines of work for future research. Chapter 5 makes a throughout diagnosis of trips for academic purposes from 2014 to 2017 and a prognosis for the following years up to 2020 in three selected Polish universities: the University of Warsaw, the Maria Curie-Sklodowska University in Lublin, and the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan. Statistical data has been obtained in cooperation with the departments of international cooperation at each university that were responsible for organizing and providing administrative support for the trips taken by university staff. The analyses refer to characteristics such as the number of participants of respective trips in a given year split according to their gender, the scientific disciplines they represented, destinations, trip duration, as well as funding obtained for travel and the cost of stay. The section concerning prognosis (pursuant to the time horizon in the Erasmus+ programme) includes forecasts for the 2019–2020 period, which takes into account features listed in the diagnosis by means of two methods: No-change Extrapolation Method and Simple Moving Average Extrapolation Method. The conclusions resulting from the analyses administered at the diagnostic and the prognosis stages allow for the identification of tendencies connected with academic tourism of university staff within the whole realisation of the Erasmus+ programme. There is a greater activity of women in relation to men and more frequent trips of representatives of social sciences and humanities in comparison with other disciplines. The majority of destinations selected are southern European countries (Spain, Italy, Portugal), which leads to the conclusion that the motivation for choosing a destination is linked to whether it is appealing in terms of tourism. These results are important in the context of the academic tourists’ arrival at specific destinations. This knowledge is especially significant for shaping sustainable policy for developing tourism both in the areas that generate tourist movement and where tourist traffic is received. Chapter 6 focuses on the need of learning a foreign language which is particularly significant among contemporary university students, since developing their communicative competences can be determining for their employability as global citizens. Internationalisation through student mobility in the context of tertiary education is meant to foster such development. In a higher education environment language learning overseas can be a means to an end or a fundamental motivation for academic travel. This chapter explores the role of language learning and language tourism in relation to international higher education programmes worldwide. Moreover, it offers an overview of this scarcely studied tourism niche, with a special focus

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on research conducted in Spain. The main outcomes deriving from market reports and academic papers on this topic are accounted for with respect to mobility trends and other tourism related aspects, such as services used, tourist expenditure or behaviour. The impacts of language tourism are discussed as well, and potential avenues of investigation are outlined. Chapter 7 aims to analyse the influence of country image (CI) dimensions on the intentions of foreign consumers in purchase, visit, and invest in a particular country. The analysis focuses on the Portuguese market and inquiries about the beliefs and emotions among international European students about Portuguese CI. It extends research on CI by simultaneously analysing the influence of country affect and country cognitions on foreign consumer’s buying behaviour. Through the selfreported perceptions of more than 300 European university students, findings suggest that the cognitive and the affective dimensions of CI influence European consumer’s behavioural intentions towards Portugal. Findings also suggest that CI dimensions might be useful to estimate the influence of each dimension on international students’ purchase intentions, as well as to evaluate the countries as travel and investment destinations. This chapter discusses the main findings and also suggests directions for further research. Chapter 8 turns to knowledge co-creation as a fundamental element in tourism since it allows tourists and service providers to create tourism-related information together where individuals share their tourism experiences in online platforms. Academic mobility of students is conceptualised as a type of tourism as it meets required factors related to the definition of tourism. Moreover, technology has led to the emergence of large datasets called Big Data along with the software tools to capture, analyse, storage and deployment of these datasets. Big Data is used in many areas ranging from business intelligence analysis to statistical purposes. This chapter underlines the importance of Big Data in academic tourism and investigates the process of knowledge co-creation in academic tourism experiences and their accumulation as Big Data. It starts with the discussion of Big Data and its specific aspects regarding the tourism sector. The discussion moves then to the relationship between Big Data and knowledge co-creation in academic tourism, namely how students become capable of sharing their experiences online and how this information accumulates into a form of demand which encourages institutions to consider the demands of students accordingly. Later on, a model is suggested to analyse the direct impact of knowledge co-creation process and academic touristic experiences on tourism and hospitality services which accumulates as Big Data. This chapter concludes that Big Data is a valuable source for knowledge co-creation which leads to the development of institutions to live up to students’ academic tourism experiences. Chapter 9 builds on the main contributions in the literature that associate tourism with student mobility, particularly in Europe, positioning tourism both as a motivator and an enhancer of mobility’s success, namely by developing transversal skills and loyalty to the host destination (for example, the intention to return to the host destination for tourism or work and its recommendation to peers). This chapter presents the analysis of a qualitative study conducted with 32 exchange students

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that have spent one or two semesters at the same Portuguese University by using focus groups for collecting participants’ views and experiences. Data is subject to thematic content analysis. Participants in this study agreed that they travel as much as they can during their mobility, being an essential part of their intercultural experience. The student’s narratives and dialogues provide evidence that travelling contributes to developing transversal skills that are important for their self-awareness and for their future professional careers, such as time management, money management, and intercultural communication. Chapter 10 recognises the importance of the tourism sector in the world economy as a wealth-generating industry, and also the possible negative impacts that tourism activities might have on the corresponding destinations. Precisely because tourism activities can have undesirable effects on tourist-receiving communities, only sustainability-based tourism policies are the best option for this sector to continue to make a significant contribution in the future to the improvement of tourism-sight of citizens’ lives. In this context, this chapter assesses the importance of the concept of sustainability, and from a practical point of view the relevance and difficulties of implementing tourism policies aimed at sustainability. It focuses on the relationship between tourism and sustainability, and once this relationship is established, the sustainability of the specific case of academic tourism is studied by taking into account any existing empirical evidence. These evidences indicate that academic tourism, due to its clearly differentiated characteristics from what can be considered conventional tourism. These evidences allow to define and set up an empirical procedure that allows to evaluate levels of sustainability in academic tourism. The chapter concludes by setting out proposals aimed at improving these levels of sustainability. Finally, Chap. 11 analyses the economic effects of international academic tourism in European countries. The analysis starts with presenting the theoretical concepts surrounding the economics of academic tourism. It then reviews previous research on the topic followed by an empirical assessment on the economic impact of academic tourism with data comprising a panel of 30 European countries for the period from 2000 to 2016. Results are obtained by means of the generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator. Based on the theoretical ground, the economic effects of academic tourism are positive and small, but the estimation results indicate that the economic impact of academic tourism is mainly driven through the channel of student spending. The results also highlight the interdependence between incoming and outgoing international students and their mobility activities. This suggests that more efficient and cooperative higher education institutions, which affect the transmission of student mobility abroad, will enhance the market for academic tourism, implying that some efforts aimed at developing these markets should be taken.

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References Bento CJP (2014) The determinants of international academic tourism demand in Europe. Tour Econ 20(3):611–628 Rodríguez A, Martínez-Roget F, Pawlowska E (2012) Academic tourism demand in Galicia, Spain. Tour Manag 33(6):1583–1590

João Paulo Cerdeira Bento holds a PhD from the University of Reading, United Kingdom, and is a senior lecturer at the University of Aveiro Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering, and Tourism. He is also a research fellow at the Research Unit on Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policy. He is an economist and his research interests include the study of international trade and investment, energy and environmental sustainability, and tourism economics.

Chapter 2

Academic Tourism: Conceptual and Theoretical Issues Fídel Martínez-Roget and Xosé A. Rodríguez

2.1

Introduction

Student mobility in higher education has undergone significant growth in recent decades, supported by the growing importance of exchange programmes and student travel. Globally, the number of higher education students studying abroad has almost tripled in less than 20 years, from 1.9 million in 1999 to 5.3 million in 2017, as shown in Fig. 2.1 (UNESCO 2020). Foreign students currently account for 2.4% of all higher education students worldwide. In absolute terms, traditional study destinations receive the most students. The United States stands out in first place, with nearly one million inbound internationally mobile students in tertiary education in 2017, followed by the United Kingdom and France. Australia is also a country that has traditionally received many international students, especially thanks to the appeal of the language and the close relations with Asian countries that allow it to attract a significant number of Asian students (Gribble 2008). The rapid growth of international mobility in higher education is explained above all by the boom experienced in Europe, but also in areas of Asia and the Middle East. Countries such as China, Japan, Turkey and Malaysia have been taking an increasing share of the market. China, with more than 900,000, is undoubtedly the country with the most outbound international mobile students, followed by India and the Republic of Korea. If we compare the incoming and outgoing flows of international students in tertiary education, the United States is the F. Martínez-Roget (*) Department of Applied Economics, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain e-mail: fi[email protected] X. A. Rodríguez Department of Quantitative Economics, University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, Spain e-mail: [email protected] © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 J. P. Cerdeira Bento et al. (eds.), Academic Tourism, Tourism, Hospitality & Event Management, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57288-4_2

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Fig. 2.1 Total outbound internationally mobile tertiary students studying abroad, 1998–2017. Source: Prepared by the authors on the basis of UIS Education Statistics. UNESCO

country with the highest positive balance and close to 900,000, followed by the United Kingdom and Australia. On the contrary, China is the country with the highest negative balance, close to 800,000, followed at some distance by India. International mobility in higher education is now a global phenomenon. If we analyse the outflows, for the whole of Asia the percentage of students of tertiary education going abroad reached 5.2% in 2017. For the African continent as a whole the percentage was 3.6%. In the case of Latin America and the Caribbean the percentage is 1.2%, while in North America it is less than 1%. In Europe, around 3.3% of students in tertiary education study abroad. In terms of arrivals, Oceania and Europe, with percentages of 21% and 7% respectively, is where the number of foreign students represents a greater percentage within the higher education students of each of these areas. In some small countries such as Liechtenstein or Luxembourg, foreign university students account for more than 50 per cent of enrolments, but even in other countries with larger populations such as the United Kingdom or Australia, they account for nearly 20%. In Europe, international mobility has undergone significant growth, driven by the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and Bologna Process. The Erasmus programme (European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students), created in 1987 to facilitate and promote university mobility through institutional cooperation between universities, has been one of the main factors responsible for the increase in university exchanges in Europe (Pawlowska and Martínez-Roget 2010). The Erasmus programme marks a before and after in the internationalisation process. From that moment on, the budgetary allocations increased, the creation of infrastructures to support mobility was promoted, and the programme was extended to other geographical areas through new programmes such as TEMPUS, ALFA, ATLANTIS or ERASMUS MUNDUS (Haug 2010).

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Fig. 2.2 ERASMUS student mobility, 1987–2018 (Higher education participants: students for studies and students for traineeships) (From the academic year 2013–2014 onwards, the data are annual). Source: Prepared by the authors on the basis of European Commission data. Erasmus+. Statistics

Since the launch of the Erasmus programme, international mobility has increased significantly and continuously, from just over 3000 students in the 1987–1988 academic year to almost 350,000 in 2018, as can be seen in Fig. 2.2. During this period, more than four million students have participated in international exchanges, either to continue their studies or to carry out a work placement in a different country. The number of participating countries has also increased during this period, going from 12 countries to 33 at present, and there are agreements with a large group of partner countries (European Commission 2020). The mobility of higher education students implies, as its name suggests, a movement of people away from their place of habitual residence and for a short period of time, in which they carry out a series of activities in the destination with economic consequences. From this point of view and under certain conditions, this mobility could be conceptualized as tourism. The mobility of students in higher education is driven both by internal factors, specific to the students, their families or their regions of origin, and by external factors, related to the attributes of the host countries. On the other hand, this mobility presents a series of specific characteristics and creates different types of effects in the destination countries. The following sections will firstly attempt to conceptualise the mobility of students of higher education from a tourism point of view, secondly analyse the motivations for this tourism mobility and finally, attempt to reflect its specific characteristics and potential effects on the destination regions.

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2.2

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Academic Tourism: Conceptual Clarifications

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) indicates that tourism refers to the activity that visitors carry out and defines the visitor as “a person who travels to a main destination outside his/her usual environment, for less than a year, for any main purpose (leisure, business or other personal purpose) other than to be employed by a resident entity in the country or place visited. These trips made by visitors are considered to be tourist trips.” When classifying tourist trips by the main reason for the trip, the UNWTO includes education and training within the personal reasons and refers to the undertaking of courses; following particular programmes of study (formal or informal), the acquisition of specific skills, or the undertaking of language courses. Furthermore, the UNWTO includes under the category of visitors, students taking shortterm courses (less than 1 year), whereas indicates that those taking long-term courses (1 year or more) should be excluded from visitors, as these would be within their usual environment (UNWTO 2010). From a conceptual point of view, university mobility would fit into the category of tourist travel, since it responds to the parameters used by the UNWTO. Similarly, university students who travel to another country for study purposes and for a period of time of less than 1 year can be considered as visitors to that country. However, there has been no consensus on what this mobility should be called from the point of view of tourism and it has often been confused with, or incorporated into, other related concepts such as youth tourism, educational tourism and even cultural tourism (Rodríguez et al. 2012). These concepts are, in turn, quite vague, with no clear dividing line between them. Different studies point out, for example, the lack of a single universal definition of youth tourism despite its growing importance and dynamism within world tourism (Ahmed Saikia 2018; UNWTO 2008). Difficulties arise both in specifying the term ‘young’, as well as in defining the different market niches related to this tourism. UNWTO and WYSE (The World Youth Student and Educational) consider that youth tourism “includes all independent trips for periods of less than one year by people aged 16-29 which are motivated, in part or in full, by a desire to experience other cultures, build life experience and/or benefit from formal and informal learning opportunities outside one’s usual environment” (UNWTO 2008, p. 1; WYSE Travel Confederation 2020). In a paper on operational definitions of types of tourism, the UNWTO notes that education tourism “covers those types of tourism which have as a primary motivation the tourist’s engagement and experience in learning, self-improvement, intellectual growth and skills development”. According to the UNWTO, educational tourism encompasses a wide range of activities related to academic studies, school trips, courses related to career development, language courses or vacations to enhance skills and sports training, among others (UNWTO 2019). Education tourism could include travel incorporating learning elements and student tourism (Ritchie 2003). Student tourism in some countries is mostly limited to the movement of

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Fig. 2.3 Contextualization of the concept of academic tourism. Source: Adapted from Rodríguez et al. (2012) and McGladdery and Lubbe (2017)

young people in higher education, while in others student tourism also refers to travel by schoolchildren (UNWTO 2008). The language tourism defined by Iglesias (2016) as “a tourist activity undertaken by those travellers taking a trip which includes at least an overnight stay in a destination outside their usual place of residence for less than a year and for whom language learning is a primary or secondary part of their trip” could also form a part of educational tourism. This is an example of the lack of consensus regarding the nature and scope of educational tourism, as indicated by authors such as McGladdery and Lubbe (2017). Often, the analysis of student-related tourism in higher education is also included in the field of cultural tourism, with the understanding that the objectives of student mobility are not strictly limited to training related to their respective studies. They include a set of broader aspirations or experiences. Authors such as Richards (2011) suggest that the growth of educational tourism derives precisely from the fragmentation of cultural tourism. The UNWTO defines cultural tourism as “a type of tourism activity in which the visitor’s essential motivation is to learn, discover, experience and consume the tangible and intangible cultural attractions/products in a tourism destination” (UNWTO 2020). Motivation related to training and contact with the culture of the destination country, which are essential in mobility within higher education, would therefore have typical features of cultural tourism. Ultimately, student mobility in higher education is related to other types of tourism such as cultural tourism, youth tourism or education tourism (see Fig. 2.3), but at the same time, since it involves the movement of students of higher education to other universities for studies or traineeships, it has its own characteristics and therefore requires a specific definition. Following Rodríguez et al. (2012) we will use the term ‘academic tourism’ to refer to all stays lasting less than 1 year and

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carried out in higher education institutions outside the person’s usual environment. Furthermore, just as a distinction is made between international and domestic tourism, we can speak of international academic tourism, which would include the movement of university students between different countries, and domestic academic tourism, which would include the movement of national university students within the same country. Academic tourism has received increasing attention in recent years. However, most scientific studies that have analysed academic tourism have done so from an international perspective.

2.3

Travel Motivations of Academic Tourists

The UNWTO notes that young people consider travel an essential part of their daily lives. For young people, more than a brief escape from reality, tourism is a way of learning, of getting to know other people and other cultures and a way of developing both personally and professionally (UNWTO 2016). The WYSE Travel Confederation with the support of the Association for Tourism and Leisure Education (ATLAS) conducted a survey in 2002, which was repeated in 2007, with the aim of gaining a deeper understanding of international youth and student travel. In total they obtained 2300 responses in 2002 and over 8500 in 2007. The four main motivations pointed out by the young people for their trips were “explore other cultures”, “increase my knowledge”, “experience everyday life” and “interact with local people”(UNWTO 2008). Yunusovich (2018, p. 2) to answer the question why do young people travel? Pointed out “the main motivation, as a rule, is the study of other cultures, followed by the search for new sensations, raising the level of knowledge—all this demonstrates the desire to push with “other” people and territories”. Motivation can be defined simply as the desires and needs, both biological and psychological, that determine a person’s behaviour and activity (Devesa et al. 2010; Yoon and Uysal 2005). It is widely accepted that motivation is one of the central elements in determining tourism behaviour (Caber and Albayrak 2016; Alegre et al. 2011; Heitmann 2011). Devesa et al. (2010) pointed out that motivation determines the reasons for travelling, the specific destination of travel and the results obtained with the trip. Therefore, investigating the reasons why people travel contributes to understanding tourism as a psychological phenomenon and helps in making decisions related to it (Park and Yoon 2009). There is a broad consensus that tourism motivation depends on two forces. People travel either because they are pushed by internal factors, specific to them (push motivation), or because they are pulled by external factors, related to the attributes of the destination (pull motivation) (Fieger et al. 2017; Whyte 2017; Xu and Chan 2016). Push factors refer to intangible or intrinsic desires, such as the desire for evasion or escape, the need for rest and relaxation, adventure, the need for social interaction or the desire to learn. Pull factors refer to tangible resources and tourism products of the destination, such as natural, cultural or technological resources and

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the attractions of a given destination such as the tourism image or the hospitality of the local population (Huang et al. 2018). There is no consensus in explaining the relationships between push and pull motivations (Xu and Chan 2016). Some authors suggest that push and pull factors are related in a simple way (Klenosky 2002), while others indicate that pull factors can reinforce push motivations (Devesa et al. 2010; Yoon and Uysal 2005), and others note that push factors precede and influence pull factors (Wong et al. 2017; Caber and Albayrak 2016; Dann 1981). The push-pull motivation model is one of the most widely used in the analysis of tourists’ motivations, and is also a tool widely used by researchers when analysing student mobility motivations (Li and Qi 2019; Jiani 2017; Lee 2017; Li and Bray 2007; Mazzarol and Soutar 2002; McMahon 1992). In the area of student mobility, push factors would be related to elements that are specific to students and, as Rodríguez et al. (2011) point out, to elements from their countries of origin, considered by students as being unsatisfactory, which push them to study elsewhere. The pull factors would be related to elements specific to the destination country. In a review of the literature related to the factors that contribute to students’ decisions to study abroad, push factors are usually noted such as the possibilities of professional and personal growth, the habits and preferences of students, the income levels in the students’ country of origin, or the availability of educational opportunities in the home country. Meanwhile, pull factors are frequently referred to as elements such as the climate of the destination, the language, the distance, the reputation of the institutions, staff expertise, courses offered, or the word-of-mouth (WOM) recommendations (Ahmad et al. 2016; Cubillo and Cerviño 2006; Mazzarol and Soutar 2002). Table 2.1 contains a summary of the papers published in the last decade and a selection of the most relevant motivations of higher education students when going abroad to study. In general, the results of this sample of studies confirm the push and pull motivations noted above. Push factors include personal aspects related to the students’ or their parents’ own aspirations and economic aspects related to the standard of living in the countries of origin. Pull factors include the reputation and image of the host institutions, the word-of-mouth (WOM) recommendations, the language, the cost of travel or the image and lifestyle of the destination country, among others. Different studies have analysed the importance of tourist motivation in tourist behaviour. In particular, motivation has been identified as one of the main determining factors of satisfaction and in the tourist’s loyalty (Brandano et al. 2019; Albayrak and Caber 2018; Antón et al. 2017). In the area of student mobility, there is also evidence of the relationship between student motivations, satisfaction and loyalty. Chau and Cheung (2018), in a study among students attending higher education institutions in Macao, found that academic motivation and student engagement were positively related to academic satisfaction. Similarly, in a study of international students at the University of Bergen, Norway, Jamaludin and Sam (2018) found that destination motivation (pull), orientation to mainstream and heritage culture, together with psychological adaptations, were the most important

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Table 2.1 Studies on higher education mobility and motivations References Li and Qi (2019)

Geographic area China

Push motivation Career choice and career development; parent expectations and peer influence

Ahmad et al. (2016)

United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Seeing and learning experiences

Cao et al. (2016)

China

Impact from parents; language and intercultural training of home institutions; economic situation of home country

Nilsson (2015)

Sweden

Lesjak et al. (2015) Rodríguez et al. (2012) Rodríguez et al. (2011)

Europe/ (Erasmus)

Personal development; experience as a merit later in life; cultural experience Professional and personal growth

Spain/ (Erasmus)

Habits and preferences; income levels

Europe (Erasmus)

Income per capita

Malaysia

Improve job opportunities; to find a better environment to study

Lam et al. (2011)

Pull motivation To gain a recognised doctoral qualification; supervisors; overseas academic experience; overseas living experience Reputation of Institutions; quality of education; images of the city; recommendations from various group Future career prospects; quality of host institutions; mobility cost; climate environment in host country; geographical distance Courses taught in English; cost of living; reputation of institutions and programs Infrastructure; image; lifestyle; commercialization Universities reputation; cost of travelling; word-of-mouth recommendations Country size; cost of living; distance; educational background; university quality; language; climate Academic and research quality of the institution; institution’s academic infrastructure and facilities

variables influencing their decision to revisit and to recommend the destination to others. The motivation of academic tourists conditions their behaviour in the destination, specifically the satisfaction and loyalty of these tourists. Satisfied tourists are usually loyal tourists, who recommend the destination to others through WOM, which translates into a very effective and cheap marketing strategy. In a context such as the current one in which universities compete to attract students to their centres (Verbik and Lasanowski 2007), university managers and tourism managers in general should take into account these results with the aim of responding to students’ motivations and thus achieving high levels of satisfaction and loyalty among them.

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15

Characteristics and Impacts of Academic Tourism

Youth tourism is one of the fastest growing and most dynamic markets in the global tourism sector. According to UNWTO forecasts, annual youth tourism trips will reach nearly 300 million by 2020. Eusébio and Carneiro (2015) note that youth travellers are in the first phase of their travel career, and the experiences they have today may potentially affect their future travel behaviour. For this reason, the youth tourism market is regarded as the one of the most important tourism markets. Youth tourism is a market with great potential, both for the tourism industry in general and for the economy of the countries and the university system in particular. Understanding the behavioural patterns of this tourism and maintaining an enduring relationship with international students becomes an essential task for higher education providers (Pham et al. 2019), even more so in a context as competitive and changing as that of today. Tourism by young people has a number of characteristics and generates different impacts than tourism in general. The UNWTO in the report “Youth Travel Matters– Understanding the Global Phenomenon of Youth Travel” indicates youth travel is a different type of travel and young travellers like to develop their own identity and travel style, want to help people and make a contribution to the places they visit, and contribute to spread tourism outside major gateways. These are tourists who use the new travel technologies from an early age and who consult a wide range of information sources in planning their trips. Furthermore, young people are “experience hungry” and they want to explore other cultures, increase their knowledge and experience everyday life in the destination (UNWTO 2008). If we focus on academic tourism, Rodríguez et al. (2012) note that academic tourism is different from other types of tourist mobility because firstly, the objective of the stay is to take part in studies organized by higher education institutions (i.e. universities). Secondly, the duration of stay is typically much longer than in other types of tourism and the type of accommodation used by academic tourists is typically very different from that of a conventional tourist. Finally, academic tourism has a consumer patterns more akin to those of residents and a high capacity to generating new visits. In turn, Corradi (2017), referring to Erasmus mobility, similarly notes that it is characterised by the longer duration of the stay and the high cultural level of the participants. Furthermore, and taking into account the age ranges of the participants, this mobility includes both adults and autonomous people, and is therefore different from dependent and subordinate mobility, carried out for example by students during their school excursions. The author points out that staying in a city for several months allows the Erasmus student to participate in local life and is another of the differential characteristics of this mobility. It is only very recently that tourism related to studies has been approached in a different way. Until very recently, many countries did not have a specific policy for student and youth tourism and did not identify it as a separate market or collect statistical information (UNWTO 2006). It is now acknowledged that this market niche is very important for educational institutions, tourism-related businesses,

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official tourism organisations, and governments themselves. The motivations and specific characteristics of youth tourism in general and academic tourism in particular condition their behaviour and consequently their effects and impacts. In general, there seems to be a consensus that this type of tourism generates positive economic, social, cultural, and environmental impacts, and even impacts in terms of innovation (UNWTO 2016). From an economic perspective, these tourists tend to stay much longer and therefore spend more than the average tourist, generating a greater economic impact. In an analysis focused on Galicia (Spain) it was found that the lengths of stay of academic tourists were much longer than other foreign visitors (in terms of overnight stays, one foreign student is equivalent to 18 conventional tourists) and their average expenditure was over four times greater than that of conventional tourists (MartínezRoget et al. 2013). Young and academic tourism often attract other visitors to the destination, which magnifies the economic impacts. Another important feature from an economic and viability standpoint is that these tourists are more likely to return to the destination in the future (Eusébio and Carneiro 2015). In addition, these tourists have patterns of behaviour that are closer to local consumers, so the economic impacts of their spending tend to be more concentrated in the local economy, reducing leakage (Pawlowska 2011). In the same direction, the UNWTO (2016) indicates that unlike tourists in general, young travellers spend a higher percentage of their travel budgets at the destination and also try to avoid chains, spending their money directly on local suppliers, which reduces leakage and increases local impact. It also seems, and there is evidence from the economic crisis of 2008, that in difficult times young people continue to travel, making the market more resilient to crisis situations. In addition to the economic effects, academic tourism generates positive sociocultural impacts and can even contribute to environmental protection and innovation. Yunusovich (2018) points out that during their travels, young people increase their personal, cultural and linguistic values. As a result of travel, young people become more tolerant and friendlier, which has a number of advantages from a socio-cultural perspective. In the same line, the UNWTO (2016) notes that youth tourists benefit culturally from their travels and they themselves contribute to the places they visit by engaging in greater social interaction with local communities. From the point of view of sustainability, young people are generally more aware of and committed to environmental protection. Furthermore, as their journeys are characterised by longer stays, the environmental costs of transport are lower (Gössling et al. 2018). In this way, academic tourism can contribute to sustainable development. Finally, academic tourism can also contribute to innovation within the tourism sector since being at the forefront of change, leadership and innovation is precisely one of the characteristics of young people and academic tourism.

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17

Conclusions

Student mobility in higher education has undergone significant growth in recent decades. Worldwide, outbound international mobility has almost tripled since the beginning of this century. Parallel to this growth, interest in the study of this mobility has also grown in the scientific field, with numerous papers published in recent years (e.g. Jamaludin and Sam 2018; Wilkins et al. 2012; Verbik and Lasanowski 2007). Activities carried out by students travelling outside their usual environment for a period of less than a year can be considered as tourist activities. However, there is no single concept to define this tourist mobility, not even in terms of the definition of each of these different concepts. Taking into account the recommendations of the UNWTO and previous studies (Rodríguez et al. 2012; Martínez-Roget et al. 2013) in this article we have defined academic tourism as the activities carried out by people, during their trips and temporary stays outside usual environment, in higher education institutions. Tourist motivations are a key element in determining tourist behaviour, conditioning everything from the choice of destination to the assessment of the trip as a whole. In the field of academic tourism, there are studies that show that tourist’ motivations condition their satisfaction and loyalty (Chau and Cheung 2018; Jamaludin and Sam 2018). Taking the push-pull model as a reference and based on a review of the existing literature, among the factors that push a person to engage in academic tourism, we can point out intrinsic aspects of tourists such as their needs for personal and professional growth and aspects related to the socio-economic conditions of the countries of origin. Among the factors that pull visitors to a specific destination there are aspects such as the reputation and quality of the host institutions, the language, attractions and image of the destination country or word-ofmouth (WOM) recommendations, among others. In comparison with other types of tourism academic tourism has a series of distinguishing characteristics. These characteristics also condition differential effects and impacts on destinations. On the one hand, the length of stay of academic tourist is longer than that of the average tourist, and the spending patterns are similar to those of the destination’s own residents. These two characteristics mean that, on the one hand, the average expenditure per tourist is greater than that of an average tourist and, on the other hand, the leakages derived from these expenditures are lower, which increases the impacts at the local level. The longer duration of the stay, together with the concern of young people for environmental problems, make academic tourism an important tool from the perspective of sustainability. Finally, the characteristics of academic tourism demand, specifically its preference for the use of new technologies, mean that this tourism can also contribute towards innovation in the tourism sector.

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Fídel Martínez-Roget holds a PhD in economics and is a professor in the Department of Applied Economics at the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC) (Spain). Between 2005 and 2011, he was Secretary of the Centre for Tourism Studies and Research (CETUR) at USC. His main areas of research are related to the analysis of rural tourism, the impacts of tourism and economic wellbeing. He was lead researcher of the projects “Software for the calculation of the economic impact of tourism at regional and local level” and “An indicator of tourism loyalty towards Galicia”. He has published in international journals such as Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism Management, Sustainability, Tourism Economics, Regional Studies, Social Indicators Research or EURE. Xosé A. Rodríguez is a professor of econometrics at the University of Santiago de Compostela. His research interests include the econometric analysis, measurement of productivity and efficiency, mining economics, modelling and analysis techniques applied to the tourism sector, and sustainable development. Regarding tourism research, he has published interesting papers in leading journals, such as Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism Management, Tourism Economics or Sustainability.

Chapter 3

Academic Tourism and Dynamics of Tourism Destinations Çiğdem Unurlu

3.1

Introduction

One of the most important side effects of globalization is that it has significantly increased human mobility along with the mobility of goods. International student mobility is just one of these side effects. Increasing student mobility due to higher education is especially noteworthy. On the other hand, global economies caused the national borders to lose importance, and this situation has popularised cross-border education. In this regard, global economies have increased the importance of universities in educating people who can think globally. This situation revealed the need for educational institutions to cooperate and develop strategies. In this respect, economic crises, global environmental problems and research on a sustainable future have made it necessary to share information and make use of technology commonly. Academic tourism is a type of alternative tourism, where knowledge is shared and intercultural interaction is increasing. It is also a candidate to receive more shares from the tourism cake day after day. In order for the destinations with academic tourism potential to get more shares from the cake, they should develop some policies and strategies towards internationalization. In this sense, the importance of elements such as access, quality and institutional capacity becomes apparent in educational institutions (Higher Education Council 2017). Collaborations such as the Bologna process, Erasmus+, and Socrates have a critical role in order for the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), North America and the Far Eastern countries to get a share from academic tourism and compete against each other. Innovation in information and communication technologies stimulates this competition (European Commission 2010).

Ç. Unurlu (*) Trakya University, Edirne, Turkey © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 J. P. Cerdeira Bento et al. (eds.), Academic Tourism, Tourism, Hospitality & Event Management, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57288-4_3

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Academic tourism, which can also be evaluated as higher education export, could be considered as an alternative to mass tourism which has traditional, large and standard features. It could also be addressed in the category of special interest tourism (Rodger 1998; Heydarov 2019). On the other hand, although academic tourism has been one of the fastest growing alternative tourism types of the travel and tourism industry in the last 40 years, it is a subject that has been ignored by tourism professionals and marketers. The economic value and social effects of the issue are not yet understood by politicians, too (Heydarov 2019). In this regard, this study emphasizes the importance of internationalization in educational institutions, aims to increase the awareness of stakeholders about academic tourism, and makes suggestions for stakeholders to benefit more from the opportunities created by academic tourism. For this purpose, the study primarily included academic tourism, and international collaborations such as Erasmus, Bologna, Socrates and Mevlâna, which have a key role in shaping academic tourism and promoting international student mobility, were discussed. International agreements such as Socrates, Erasmus+, Bologna and Mevlana have prepared the ground for the development of academic tourism, encouraging international student mobility. For this reason, international agreements and the importance of these agreements for academic tourism were discussed in this study. After that, the dynamics of academic tourism were discussed in terms of motivation theories, and these dynamics were classified as push factors and pull factors. Push factors were reviewed as the personal and psychological needs of international students who are the subjects of academic tourism; pull factors were considered as the unique qualities of educational institutions. In the following part of the study, the components of academic tourism were discussed. In this part, academic tourism was evaluated as a tourist product and the components of this compound product were evaluated in terms of academic tourism. Lastly, the components of academic tourism were evaluated under five categories: the academic tourist, geographical factors, transportation, educational institutions and external environment.

3.2

Academic Tourism

European Commission (2010) defined “international students” as individuals traveling from their own country to another country for the purpose of studying. Rodriguez et al. (2012) evaluated academic tourism based on this definition. Individuals who travel to another country from their country for education, language learning, and internship are the subjects of academic tourism. International collaborations such as the Erasmus program (European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students) are extremely critical for the promotion of this type of tourism. Although academic tourism is perceived as educational tourism principally, it is necessary to distinguish the two concepts (European Commission 2010). Rodger (1998) defines educational tourism as individuals who travel from one place to another for at least 24 h in order to receive education. However, Williams

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(2010) stated that the definitions of educational tourism are not very homogeneous and that the primary purpose of these traveling individuals is to receive education. In addition, individuals traveling for educational purposes should be evaluated closely in terms of their period of stay. As a matter of fact, in academic tourism, the duration of touristic accommodation differs in terms of features such as the level of utilization of economic resources in the destination location and the type of accommodation (sharing a room) (Rodriguez et al. 2012). Rodríguez and Pereira (2017) characterizes those traveling for educational, research and study purposes as visitors in the relevant statistics. However, this category also includes those who study for a short term in another country and stays longer than 1 year are not included. However, the mobility of those traveling to other countries through programs promoting student mobility such as ERASMUS cannot see the value it deserves, and its economic contributions in the destination are ignored (Rodríguez and Pereira 2017). More importantly, this contradictory situation in the statistics causes the importance of academic tourism to be ignored. Abubakar et al. (2014) characterize individuals who pursue the goal to learn new things such as receiving intellectual services and learning new languages. They also characterize individuals who travel to another country other than their own country, and those who travel internationally as academic tourists. Activities such as international exchange programs, training and teaching mobility provided to teaching staff in universities, summer schools, and language schools are evaluated within the scope of academic tourism. Academic tourism, which requires active participation and a conscious and open learning experience, has different qualifications in terms of the distance travelled, duration of stay, and purpose of travel (Heydarov 2019). In summary, students going to another country for a maximum of 1 year to receive education at international standards is defined as academic tourism. In addition to receiving education, students can also adopt goals such as learning a new language, learning different cultures, making new friends and doing internships in academic tourism. In this respect, although academic tourism is a sub-branch of educational tourism, it is also a kind of youth movement, and can partly be described as youth tourism and cultural tourism (Rodriguez et al. 2012). The differences between educational tourism and academic tourism are presented below: • At least 24 h of mobility is considered as educational tourism while in academic tourism, this period covers 3 months, 1 year or even longer. • While it is enough to travel from a permanent place to another place for educational tourism mobility; international travel is a must for academic tourism. People travelling from one place to another in their own countries for educational purposes cannot be considered as academic tourism. This mobility is within the scope of educational tourism. • Academic tourists use more economic resources in the destination country compared to educational tourists. • Educational tourism has a more heterogeneous structure compared to academic tourism. Academic tourism is more homogeneous with its specific features.

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Many researches have revealed that international students are affected by many internal (the socio-economic background, character and personal characteristics of the student) and external (transportation, living costs, study opportunities, educational institutions) factors when choosing the destination (Kozak 2002; Gallarza and Gil 2006; Mazarrol and Soutar 2002; Rodriguez et al. 2012). In addition, factors such as higher education opportunities in the sending country, the economic opportunities of the student, ethnic structure, language opportunities, cultural proximity, the perceived quality of educational institutions and future job opportunities are also effective in students’ destination selection. On the other hand, the quality of educational opportunities abroad, the expenses of the educational institution for education, physical proximity, living costs, per capita income and the financial opportunities of the student are also among the influential factors in this choice (Rodríguez and Pereira 2017).

3.3

International Agreements

Globalization and increasing digital opportunities have made the internationalization of educational institutions mandatory and increased the role of higher education institutions in global human education. This mobility, which has been increasing in the last 40 years, has created important economic and social effects. Bilateral and multilateral collaborations between educational institutions, which are aware of the importance of this subject, encourage the academic tourism mobility. In this sense, bilateral and multilateral collaborations are an extremely important attraction that should be taken into account in the formation of academic tourism demand. In this part of the study, international agreements such as Bologna, Socrates, Erasmus and Mevlana, which have a critical importance in the popularity of academic tourism, are mentioned.

3.3.1

Bologna

In terms of internationalization, one of the most important studies carried out globally, which is the Bologna Process, started under the leadership of France, Germany, Italy and England in 1998, and it was carried out with the participation of 29 countries in 1999, 33 countries in 2001, 40 countries in 2003, 45 countries in 2005, 46 countries in 2007 and 47 countries in 2010. The Bologna Process started as a result of globalization and aims to set some standards in relation to higher education and other academic issues among primarily European countries and the other countries of the world, and keeping the inconsistencies between university education in different countries at the lowest level and creating a harmonious higher education area. Briefly, it is the process of harmonizing the universities in different countries within the framework of some standards, both locally and nationally,

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through the implementation of newly determined functions (Gündoğdu et al. 2016). With this process, higher education institutions have taken important steps towards internationalization and promoted student and academic staff mobility for international education. Over time, this increase in international student mobility has caused academic tourism to take shape. In other words, the Bologna process accelerated the formation of academic tourism, paved its way, and prepared the necessary ground for its development. Among the main objectives of the Bologna Process is “adopting the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), popularizing it, appealing to the countries that are not included in the process, and ensuring internationalization”. In Europe, an attempt has been made to create a system of high quality which provides flexible teaching activities, enables lifelong learning, and enables the exchange of compatible, competitive students and academic staff. Considering this aim of the process, ensuring internationalization is one of the top priorities in terms of educational institutions. From the perspective of educational institutions, internationalization can be evaluated as educational institutions sending their students abroad for the purposes of studying, internships, etc., setting up branches that offer university education abroad if possible, and establishing partnerships with foreign institutions through stakeholders (Gündoğdu et al. 2016). Some areas of activity have been identified for the internationalization of higher education institutions in the Bologna Process. These include: International Qualifications Framework, Quality Assurance Association, European Credit Transfer System (ECTS), Diploma Supplement, Student and Academic Staff Mobility, Joint Degrees and Lifelong Learning (Alkanat-Akman 2010). International Qualifications Framework Qualifications define what knowledge and skills a student who completes any higher education program will possess. The Qualifications Framework represents a structure that classifies the qualifications that the student will acquire. The specified qualifications frameworks generally include the common objectives determined within the Bologna Process. The Qualifications Framework for the European Higher Education Area is valid for the associate, undergraduate, master and doctorate levels of higher education. The European Qualifications Framework for Lifelong Learning starts at primary school and is valid at all levels of education (Higher Education Council 2017). Quality Assurance Association As the number of higher education institutions increases internationally, cooperation among institutions increases and competition emerges. In this context, the fact that higher education institutions can find themselves in a competitive environment reveals the importance of the concept of quality. The European Quality Assurance Association in Higher Education (ENQA), one of the stakeholder organizations within the scope of the Bologna process, published the “Higher Education Quality Assurance Principles and Standards Report” in 2005 in order to carry out the process at a certain quality level. The standards specified in this published report guide the works carried out within the scope of the process. The main objective in developing such a standard is to ensure that higher education

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institutions in member countries have more compatible and comparable service standards in terms of quality (Erdoğan 2013). European Credit Transfer System The main purpose of the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) is to produce solutions to problems. For example, higher education systems carried out in different ways in the member states are insufficient in terms of recognition and these differences affect the mobility of academic staff and students negatively. In the ECTS credit calculation, workload is taken into account. The workload here covers all the time required for the theoretical lessons, practices, seminars, exams, projects, homework and other studies for the student to pass any course successfully. ECTS represents a 25-h or 30-h workload (Edinsel 2008). Diploma Supplement It is the document that provides an accurate understanding of which degree a student graduating from a higher education institution has taken and is given in addition to the diploma. This document provides an easy understanding of the diploma degree obtained in a member country of the Bologna Process by any institution in other member states. This document includes; personal information, the degree earned, the level of the degree earned, the content of the program, the lessons taken, the notes of the lessons, the academic and professional rights gained, and the information on the higher education system of that country. In this sense, when students who graduate from any program goes abroad for either work or education purposes, the content of the education they received in their own country, the period of education, the knowledge, skills and abilities they possess are easily understood (Akdeniz University 2016). Student and Academic Staff Mobility It means that students or academic staff stay in another country for a certain period of time to participate in activities such as training, internship, study, seminars etc. Mobility is an activity that closely concerns the social aspect of the Bologna Process, helping to create a more moderate and tolerant society. Aiming to increase student mobility abroad, Erasmus Program is preferred as the exchange programs that support mobility targets set within the Bologna Process (Kondakçı 2003). Joint Degrees Within the Bologna Process, one of the most emphasized issues is the joint degrees to make the European Higher Education Area more attractive. In this context, firstly, a dual rating system (Bachelor and Master degrees), then a triple rating system (by adding the PhD program to the degrees) have been adopted in the Bologna Process. Targets set in terms of providing joint degrees include: The students of the institution included in the rating system spend some of their education period in other institutions; the time spent and exams carried out in different institutions are recognized by other institutions; the academic staff arranges the program of the institutions involved in the process commonly and make the evaluation together; the mobility increases; the graduates are rewarded with a joint degree as a result of this process; and the degree achieved is recognized in all member states (Gündoğdu et al. 2016).

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Lifelong Learning It can be expressed as activities in which individuals can participate at any age to reveal and develop their personal knowledge, skills and abilities. In this context, exchange programs such as Comenius Program (School Education), Erasmus Program (Higher Education), Leonardo Da Vinci Program (Vocational Education) and Grundtvig Program (Adult Education) are preferred programs to support Lifelong Learning (Ünal 2011). Since 2014, these programs have been combined under the name of Erasmus+ program (Gündoğdu et al. 2016).

3.3.2

Erasmus+ Program

Erasmus Program is a student exchange program established by the European Union (EU) in 1987. The program was named after the Dutch philosopher Desiderius Erasmus. ERASMUS is also an acronym for the words “European Region Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students”. In 1995, Erasmus has become part of the Socrates Program, a framework education program established by the European Commission, and its range of activities has been gradually expanded to include the mobility of higher education staff and international cooperation between universities. In addition to this, student mobility has continued to form the basis of the program and become the EU’s most recognized education program. In 2013, the EU Culture and Education Committee accepted the proposal to replace the Erasmus Program (with six other programs) with a single new program under the name of Erasmus+, which will continue throughout the 2014–2020 period. Erasmus+ has gathered all the current plans of the EU in the fields of education, training, youth and sports under one umbrella program. In this context, the following activities are supported (Higher Education Council 2017): Student Mobility It includes university students studying in a different program country for at least 3 months or doing an internship in any institution/organization for at least 2 months. The Erasmus Program ensures that the time the students spend abroad is recognized by their university, as long as the conditions that are previously agreed on are complied with. One of the main features of the program is that students do not pay extra tuition fees to the university they visit. Students can also apply for an Erasmus grant to cover the additional costs of living abroad. Students with disabilities can apply for additional grant support to cover their extraordinary expenses. Staff Mobility It involves the academic staff teaching at a higher education institution in a different program country, or all academic and administrative staff of higher education institutions attending a course/training or follow-up training/monitoring activity for their professional development in a different program country. Apart from Student and Staff Mobility, the Erasmus+ Program in higher education supports strategic partnership projects among the educational institutions of the program member countries in order to develop, transfer and/or implement innovative practices at institutional, local, regional, national or international level.

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Socrates

Socrates is one of the main educational programs of the European Union and its main purpose is to promote cultural exchange, language learning, the circulation of people and innovations in the field of education across Europe. Therefore, financial support is provided to those who want to engage in education, learning and training activities in another country through this program. In addition, projects organized jointly by educational institutions receive support from the Socrates program. The Erasmus program, sometimes called “Socrates-Erasmus”, is one of the eight actions under Socrates. Therefore, although it is perceived as a different program from Socrates from time to time, Erasmus is actually the part of Socrates that covers applications related to higher education (The National Unions of Students in Europe 2016). In order to mediate the successful execution of the EU’s employment policy, the Erasmus program has been completely removed from the Socrates program since 2014 and has been renamed as Erasmus+. The content of the program added topics in various fields such as sectoral and strategic partnerships (Çelik 2018). Activities supported within the scope of Erasmus are (The National Unions of Students in Europe 2016): (1) student and teaching staff mobility, (2) cooperations for the development of education programs, (3) the generalization and practical use of the information obtained as a result of curriculum development projects (Curriculum Development-CD), (4) establishing scientific platforms (Thematic Networks) where departments and/or faculties at European universities can jointly carry out their academic studies in a particular area, (5) language courses and intensive programs, (6) the setting of European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). The action areas supported under Socrates are as follows (The National Unions of Students in Europe 2016): • • • • • •

Comenius: school education Erasmus: higher education Grundtvig: adult education and other alternative ways of education, Lingua: learning of European languages, Minerva: the use of information and communication technologies in education, Observing education systems and policies and supporting innovations in this area, • Joint actions with other European Union education programs.

3.3.4

Mevlâna Exchange Program

Mevlâna Exchange Program is a program that enables the exchange of students and teaching staff among the higher education institutions of the member countries. The program includes higher education institutions whose diploma equivalents are recognized by the Higher Education Council. All organizations and studies within the scope of the program are carried out by the Mevlâna Exchange Program

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Institutional Coordination Offices established in universities and the coordinators assigned in these offices. The member countries of this program as of 2016 include: Turkey, Albania, Azerbaijan, Algeria, Djibouti, Morocco, England, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kosovo, Libya, Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta, Romania, Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Oman, Yemen (Higher Education Council 2017).

3.4

The Dynamics of Academic Tourism

In this part of the study, the dynamics of academic tourism are discussed in terms of the motivation concept. In terms of this concept, the qualities affecting academic tourism mobility were evaluated in two categories as push factors and pull factors. These factors are the main foundations of academic tourism dynamics that shape the mobility of academic tourists and motivate them internally and externally. These factors are the incentive factors that shape touristic decisions and mobilize tourists. While the individual and psychological needs of the tourists constitute the push aspects of the academic tourism dynamics, the unique qualities of educational institutions are the pull aspects of academic tourism dynamics. The harmony and integrity of the driving and attractive factors create academic tourism dynamics and cause academic tourism mobility. Push factors constitute the intrinsic, emotional aspect of motivation which mobilizes and encourages tourists such as motivation, desire and wishes. While Crompton (1979) and Cha et al. (1995) argue that pull factors are related to the characteristics of the destination; Yoon and Uysal (2005) state that pull factors are related to the external and cognitive aspects of motivation (Roget et al. 2006).

3.4.1

The Push Effects of Academic Tourism

Push factors are the inner motivations that lead the individual to travel. In literature, it is revealed that one of the most powerful driving forces that lead the individual to travel is escape. Escape can be described as the individual’s need to move away from the daily life routine or the individual’s need to move away from the ordinary or mediocre. Relief has been identified as the second important push factor. Innovation is also often identified by research. The innovation factor can be described as the need to learn, discover and experience new things. Another push factor is socialization. Actions such as making new friends and meeting new people are considered as socializing. The search for information is another push factor. Researching interesting things, learning and discovery can be described as the search for knowledge. Another push factor that drives people to travel is prestige. Services that are perceived as luxury can be evaluated in this category. However, ego satisfaction,

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Table 3.1 Taxonomy of the push factors of academic tourism Studies Ryan (1998) Lee and Pearce (2002), Pearce (2005) Jamrozy and Uysal (1994)

Klenosky (2002) Mannell and Iso-Ahola (1987) Backman et al. (1999) Cleaver et al. (1999) Norman et al. (2001) Sellick (2004) Jang and Wu (2006) Sangpikul (2008) Hanqin and Lam (1999)

Push factors Fulfilment, self-esteem and development, relationship, safety/security, relaxation Novelty, escape/relax, self-actualization, nature, kindship, self enhancement, romance, kinship-belonging, autonomy, selfdevelopment, nostalgia, stimulation, isolation, recognition Escape, novelty, family/friends togetherness, sports, adventure and excitement, familiar environment, luxury/doing nothing and prestige Excitement, accomplishment, self-esteem, fun, enjoyment Self-determination, a sense of competence or mastery, challenge, learning, exploration and relaxation, social interaction Education, camping, socialization, relaxation and information Nostalgics, friendlies, learners and escapists Escape, education, family, action, relaxation and ego Discovery and self-enhancement, enthusiastic connectors, reluctant travellers and nostalgic travellers Ego-enhancement, self-esteem, knowledge-seeking, relaxation and socialization Novelty and knowledge-seeking, rest and relaxation and ego-enhancement Knowledge, prestige, enhancement of human relationship, relaxation, novelty

family/friendship, culture, adventure, entertainment, rest and sightseeing are among the other push factors (Karasakal and Dursun 2018) (Table 3.1).

3.4.2

Pull Effects of Academic Tourism

Pull factors are related to the characteristics of the destination and the cognitive orientation of the individual towards the destination. When the motivation studies based on destinations are examined, it is seen that the most common pull factors are historical sites. This dimension can be evaluated with historical expressions and expressions of cultural heritage. Another dimension that appears most frequently among pull factors is natural beauty. This dimension stands out with the natural scenery, beauties and natural resources that the region has. The activity dimension is also a very important factor in preferring a destination. This dimension can be described as social activities, leisure activities and outdoor activities. Culture, cultural attractions and different cultures have been found as pull factors in many studies. Another pull factor that has emerged in literature review is security. Climate/ weather, warm and beautiful weather conditions have also been found as pull factors. Along with this, shopping opportunities, cleaning, transportation facilities, food and

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beverage, and the unique characteristics of the destination are among other factors (Karasakal and Dursun 2018). Mazarrol et al. (1997) suggest that there are six factors that affect the student’s choice of destination in educational tourism. These factors are: • To have knowledge about the country to be visited for educational purposes and awareness. The opportunity to easily obtain information about the potential destination is effective in the student’s choice of destination. The quality and reputation of the destination shapes this perception of the student. • Recommendations and references received from reference groups such as family, friends, and relatives are another effective factor in the student’s choice of destination. In particular, the advice of a person who has previously gone to the host destination and had experience will significantly affect the student’s final decision on destination choice. • Social structure such as higher education fees, living costs, travel costs, crime rates, security, and racism is another criterion in the choice of destinations. • The climate and living conditions of the potential destination are among other criteria. • The geographical proximity of the destination to the student’s own country is another factor that shapes the choice. • Having an acquaintance, friend or relative in the destination where the student plans to go also affects the student’s choice. Research has revealed that push factors are more effective compared to other factors in students’ choice of destination. The quality of the educational institution, market profile, program diversity, collaborations, experienced staff, level of innovation, level of use of information technologies, resources, and promotion and marketing efforts on the basis of graduating students are just some of these factors (Mazarrol 1998). There are many factors that affect the demand in international student mobility. Especially in Asia and Africa, the factors affecting the demand of international student mobility, which has been increasing day by day after the second half of the twentieth century, are the subjects of curiosity. The historical ties between the sending and receiving countries, and especially the colonial attitude, are thought to be the most important factors shaping this demand. Other factors include common languages, existing disciplines or technology-based programs, and geographical proximity is also among the criteria considered in country selection. On the other hand, the students’ perception of the quality of education in their own country and the economic criteria such as population density and GNP shape the students’ demand (Lee and Tan 1984). Agarwal and Winkler (1985), on the other hand, revealed as a result of their study on international students studying in the USA that the number of international students increased after the 1950s, but this increase decreased over time due to the developments in the higher education opportunities and the high education costs in the USA. For this reason, the factors that affect the demand for student mobility include criteria such as national income per person in the student’s own country, education costs and benefits of working in a foreign

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country (Agarwal and Winkler 1985). In other words, some of the studies on the pull factors affecting the demand in academic tourism in international student mobility are (Harazneh et al. 2018) (Table 3.2):

3.5

The Components of Academic Tourism

The touristic product is a compound product. Tourism establishments or transportation establishments do not create a flow of tourists on their own; in fact, each element of the touristic product is complementary to each other. In order to create academic tourism mobility, different elements that complement each other must come together (educational institutions, accommodation establishments, food and beverage, transportation, etc.). In this respect, academic tourism consists of these elements. In this part of the study, the dynamics of academic tourism will be evaluated in five groups based on the tourism literature: (1) academic tourist, (2) geographical elements, (3) educational institutions, (4) industrial elements and (5) external environment.

3.5.1

Academic Tourist

Rayner and Easthope (2001) consider educational tourists as people who constantly go to another place away from where they live in order to receive education and thus fulfil the dynamic characteristic of tourism. The most important feature that distinguishes academic tourists from other tourists is that they travel from their country to another country for education. Although there is no complete distinction regarding the duration of stay, the visa policy of the country visited is a determining factor. For example, in Malaysian visa and immigration policy, foreign students are given the right to stay for at least 1 day and a maximum of 5 years. Academic tourists are regarded as curious individuals who want to develop themselves in a certain field, do internships for a career, learn a language, complete a master’s or doctorate degree and travel to another country for this purpose, and care about personal development. This tourist profile actively participates in tourism, as well as using programs such as ERASMUS and Mevlâna to participate in a specific learning experience (European Commission 2010). This alternative tourism type, which includes long-term accommodation, makes serious contributions to the local economy of the destination (European Commission 2010; McGowan and Potter 2008). Another feature of this tourist profile is that it creates cultural interaction and thus is effective in reducing negative attitudes such as racism. On the other hand, international student mobility is not affected by seasonal fluctuations (European Commission 2010). In tourism statistics, international students may not be considered as visitors in terms of their stay in another country. However, according to the WTO (World Travel Organization), individuals staying in another country for up to 365 days

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Table 3.2 Taxonomy of the pull factors of academic tourism Studies Lam et al. (2011) Bodycott (2009), Counsell (2011) Soo and Elliott (2010) Counsell (2011), Lee and Morrish (2012) Petruzzellis and Romanazzi (2010) Anderson and Bhati (2012) Anderson and Bhati (2012), Bodycott (2009) Bodycott (2009), Maringe and Carter (2007) Counsell (2011), Eder et al. (2010), Ivy (2010) Eder et al. (2010), Urias and Yeakey (2008) Bourke (2000), Lam et al. (2016) Ho et al. (2007), Yang (2007) Cheung et al. (2011), Ivy (2010), Lee (2014), McCarthy et al. (2012) Mazarrol and Soutar (2002)

Jason et al. (2011)

Abubakar et al. (2014)

Pull factors Perceived risk e.g., discrimination and race To learn a second language Geographical proximity Cultural proximity Reputation for high-quality educational system Safety The need for international exposure Lack of higher education in the home country Career benefits Visa procedure Price of education and living costs Policies (e.g., part-time jobs, post-graduation employment or immigration opportunities) Social influence (e.g., family members, friends, teachers, relatives, agents and social media) The quality of countries and universities Marketing studies Academic personnel Academic cooperations Programs The reputation of the educational institution in terms of technology Geographical proximity Common language Historical links between the host and sending countries The availability of science and technology based programs Political interests and ties Financial support Tuition fees Merit-based scholarships Other aids Accreditation Reputation Job opportunities The quality of education Not being able to enter the university in their own country Culture New language Tuition fees and scholarships Issues such as security and discrimination in the host (continued)

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Table 3.2 (continued) Studies

Pull factors

Higher Education Council (2017)

country Political instability in their own country Visa policy of the host country Living costs in the host country Qualified academic staff Natural and environmental factors The number of academic education institutions and the variety of programs Whether it is part of the European higher education area Whether the destination is within the scope of international projects and collaborations Cultural diversity in destination Transportation opportunities Language opportunities at the destination Infrastructure opportunities for international student integration The promotion of the destination and branding efforts Accommodation opportunities The cost of higher education The eligibility of living costs Geopolitical location Foreign policies in the country where the destination is located Regional stability The perception of trust regarding the country of destination The situation regarding the equivalence of the diploma received from the educational institution by other countries Work opportunities

consecutively are also considered visitors. If some conditions are met, the stay of international students can be extended further and may take up to several years (Gardiner et al. 2013). Inconsistencies in reflecting these individuals who are qualified as academic tourists to statistics are also an obstacle to understanding the importance of academic tourism.

3.5.2

Geographical Factors

Geographically, academic tourism has three elements. These are the countries that send academic tourists, the countries that accept academic tourists, and transportation (Ritchie and Hudson 2009; Heydarov 2019). International students, who can be considered as academic tourists, provide transportation from their residential areas to attraction centers. In the last link of the chain, there are countries which expect to

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welcome academic tourists, have educational institutions, and accept educational tourists (Heydarov 2019).

3.5.3

Countries Sending Academic Tourists

Countries sending academic tourists have qualities that motivate the academic tourists both internally and externally, and these are the countries in which they have a residence and have lived permanently (Soutar and Tuner 2002). The country that sends students for academic tourism is among the main marketplaces for the academic tourism industry. Some functions of marketing for academic tourism are carried out in this geography (Heydarov 2019). This is the area where academic tourism begins and ends. Academic tourism mobility has some economic, social and cultural consequences in these regions.

3.5.4

Countries Accepting Academic Tourists

Countries that accept academic tourists are also considered as academic tourism destinations. These destinations are destinations which have host educational institutions that attract tourists in academic tourism. These destinations have certain qualifications that the countries sending academic tourists or destinations do not. These qualities are capable of meeting the expectations that the academic tourist wants to experience personally. These destinations have educational institutions that attract academic tourists, transportation opportunities, and other facilities and opportunities and that academic tourists may need (Heydarov 2019).

3.5.5

Transportation

Another element of academic tourism in terms of geography is transportation. Transportation refers to the means of transportation that enable academic tourists to reach the destinations from their own countries. These means can be airline transportation as well as sea, rail and road transportation. Therefore, transportation and transfer opportunities of academic tourism destinations are extremely important for academic tourists. Because the primary element of tourism is transportation. In other words, transportation, which enables tourists to participate in academic tourism activities, is one of the most valuable components of tourism (Heydarov 2019). Transportation is an extremely important factor in choosing a destination in international student mobility. The highway, airline, seaway, and rarely the railway, which provides the connection between the student’s own country and the host country, constitutes the “transport corridor” and determines the direction of the

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international student mobility. On the other hand, developments in transportation technology shorten distances and significantly reduce transportation costs. Among the factors affecting the direction and density of the transportation corridor in international student mobility are climate, distance, the attractions of the destination, transportation costs and cultural-political factors (Özgüç 2017). There are some routes that are frequently followed in the international tourism mobility; these routes turn into a tourism corridor by becoming traditional and stereotypes over time. Tourism corridors point to the geographical dimension of tourism transportation. For this reason, analysing the corridors preferred by international students frequently will be extremely important in terms of academic tourism planning. On the other hand, research has revealed that geographical proximity is an important pull factor in international students’ destination preferences. In this respect, it is thought that short distance tourism corridors are preferred more than long distance tourism corridors. The fact that there are many Erasmus students in Aveiro and Bragança in Portugal are examples of this situation.

3.5.6

Educational Institutions

Educational institutions choose to do branding in order to attract international students. The internationalization-oriented branding of educational institutions, and the fact that they can use technology and have a multicultural structure are considered as effective strategies to attract international students. The variety of programs that educational institutions have, international academic staff and the educational institution forming international strategic alliances affect the destination choice of international students (Heydarov 2019). Internationalization of educational institutions in the context of globalization is an effective strategy developed to meet the needs of international students in the world. Mobility often takes place between underdeveloped and developed countries. The most important elements that educational institutions should consider in order to get more share from student mobility include elements such as the number of institutions providing higher education services, the variety of programs in educational institutions, international projects involving educational institutions, cooperations, the cultural diversity of educational institutions, language opportunities in educational institutions, higher education costs, the recognition of the diploma received from educational institutions by other countries, the recognition of educational institutions, branding effort, working opportunities, qualified academic staff (Higher Education Council 2017), the image of educational institutions, location, financial aid opportunities such as scholarships, and social environment (Küçükkancabaş 2011).

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Industrial Factors

Academic tourism destinations must also have industrial facilities such as accommodation, food and beverage that meet the needs of tourists coming for educational purposes. Academic tourism travel agencies and academic tourism promotion offices in the country sending tourists increase the effectiveness of academic tourism. In this context, the presence of facilities that meet the needs of international students such as accommodation, food and beverage, entertainment and recreation in the country where they are trained can be evaluated as industrial components. However, the presence of travel agencies that have activities for international students is also seen as an important factor that increases international student mobility.

3.5.8

External Environment

In the twenty-first century, the tourism industry has an open system structure like all other systems. In other words, it is affected by the external environment and it affects the external environment with its activities vice versa. The external environmental factors that affect academic tourism are as follows (Heydarov 2019): Economic Factors Chen (2007) considers this factor as an important factor shaping the behavior of both academic tourists and businesses in the sector. Especially living costs in the academic tourism destination, education costs, employment opportunities in the destination and economic cooperation between the sending country and the academic tourism destination are evaluated in this context. National income per capita in the country sending tourists is also among the economic factors. In summary, conditions such as the general economic situation in the country where the education is received, the value of money purchase and infrastructure facilities and the suitability of these conditions significantly shape the international student mobility. Technological Factors Technology significantly influences the choice of academic tourists. For example, applications in academic tourism marketing and the availability of technological opportunities in the educational institution are addressed in this regard. The reputation of the educational institution in terms of technology (Mazarrol and Soutar 2002), the level of technology use in the educational institution (Mazarrol 1998) and the availability of science and technology-based programs in the educational institution (Jason et al. 2011) are considered as technological attractions that affect academic tourism demand. On the other hand, innovations in information and communication technologies significantly affect the competition in academic tourism. Social/Cultural Factors The search for intercultural experience, the opportunities to establish international connections, the internationalization tendencies of academic tourism destinations and the global understanding in the destination are

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among the influential variables in international students’ choice of destinations. However, it is suggested that international students are influenced by their peers, parents and the academic staff in their choice of destinations (Baharun 2006; Licata and Maxham 1998; Chen 2007). Physical/Environmental Factors The climate and weather conditions of the destinations where educational institutions are located affect international students’ choice of destinations (Kleckley 2008; Karasakal and Dursun 2018). Although academic tourism stakeholders cannot control these factors, they can adapt to this situation and increase their preferability. Political Factors These factors are the political or legal regulations that shape the mobility of international students in academic tourism. Government policies encourage, support and guide international student mobility. Political instability poses a serious challenge to international student mobility. Issues such as commercial cooperation between the sending and receiving countries, the security level of the receiving country, immigration policy, foreign policy, monetary and fiscal policy shape the destination choices of international students (Heydarov 2019). Security perceptions of international students regarding the destination, relations between the country sending students and the country accepting international students, and the level of racial discrimination in the country accepting international students (Kleckley 2008) are among the political factors affecting academic tourism.

3.6

Conclusions

The phenomenon of globalization has increased the importance of educational institutions in training people who can think globally. In this respect, the internationalization of educational institutions and the resulting academic tourism have become an important multi-dimensional subject for the national economies. Innovations in information and communication technologies, on the other hand, have forced countries to get more shares from international student mobility and increased competition. In this respect, international collaborations such as Bologna, Socrates, Mevlâna and Erasmus+ have a critical role in shaping academic tourism and internationalizing educational institutions. The socio-economic benefits of academic tourism compel countries to compete in hosting more international students. In the context of academic tourism, stakeholders’ lack of knowledge should be eliminated, and their awareness should be increased regarding academic tourism. In this regard, more research should be done, the sector should be made conscious, and thus stakeholders should be able to benefit more from the possibilities and opportunities of academic tourism. Work should be done to increase the number of international students, and politicians should make some legal arrangements that reduce legal barriers. Especially, it is necessary to promote well-established educational institutions at an international level, allocate more resources for this purpose and cooperate with travel agencies and academic

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tourism. It is recommended that educational institutions do market segmentation for themselves and thus use their resources more effectively for marketing actions in target countries. In addition, the establishment of representatives for foreign students will be effective in solving the problems that students experience. Commissions should be created within the autonomous structure of educational institutions, and student and academic staff mobility should be encouraged. In addition, a common multicultural atmosphere can be created in educational institutions, and cultural amalgamating activities can be included more. In this regard, acting on the problems of international students will be an extremely effective solution. Increasing opportunities for employing graduated students in international foreign companies and marketing activities will contribute to the internationalization of educational institutions. On the other hand, one of the points to be considered in student and academic staff mobility is the language problem. This may cause international students to become isolated or prevent them from mingling with local students. To prevent this situation, it would be a good solution for universities to provide language education. Reducing the legal obstacles related to employing foreign academic staff of educational institutions and increasing the ratio of foreign academic staff among all the academic staff can be considered as an effective strategy in the internationalization of educational institutions. The most important contribution of this study is the evaluation of academic tourism dynamics in terms of the motivation concept, and the determination of what the push and pull factors are in academic tourism. In this regard, it is thought that this study will contribute to the field, sector and different interest groups. To be able to understand what the internal and external motivations that motivate academic tourists who are the subjects of academic tourism mobility are is a prerequisite to meet the expectations of academic tourists. A better understanding of the individual and psychological needs of academic tourists and their expectations regarding educational institutions by the interest groups in the sector will provide competitive advantages to these interest groups. However, more field studies need to be carried out on the push and pull factors that motivate the academic tourists. Moreover, ranking these factors in terms of their importance will also contribute to the field and the industry.

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Çiğdem Unurlu is a lecturer at Trakya University in the Department of Tourism and Hotel Management. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Tourism and Hotel Management from Abant İzzet Baysal University and a masters and PhD in business administration from Trakya University. Her research interests include consumer behaviour, destination marketing and branding.

Chapter 4

Revisiting an Academic Tourism Destination: An Empirical Analysis of the Role of Motivations, Attitudes, Satisfaction, and Electronic Word of Mouth Bartolomé Deyà-Tortella, Rebeca Mendez-Duron, and Francisco Rejón-Guardia

4.1

Introduction

Academic tourism is a worldwide phenomenon that has experienced significant growth during the last decades. International academic mobility programs allow students and professors to know other educational models, immerse themselves in different cultures and societies, and travel while studying abroad. Furthermore, international mobility programs benefit academic destinations. Host academic institutions benefit directly from the mobility programs (e.g., academic fees, international alumni, academic reputation), and the destinations receive indirect spillovers out of the living expenses of the beneficiaries. Moreover, current and former visiting students are an essential source of information for future visiting students. Understanding the effect of student exchange programs in the local economy demands inquiry about the key drivers influencing ex-ante mobility choices and ex-post behaviors. This study investigates whether and how the students’ visiting experience at a foreign academic institution influences the willingness to revisit the destination for leisure purposes. Unlike other mobility programs, the ERASMUS program sets the financial allowance of the student according to the home and host countries’ income standards. In terms of the students’ endowment, the potential Erasmus destinations are alike. Each student chooses among a pool of foreign academic institutions in the European Union with which his institution has signed bilateral exchange agreements. Extant studies find that, in choosing among their available options, students give importance to factors such as the host university’s reputation, agencies’ and relatives’ recommendations, the cost of living and transportation, safety, and connectivity, among other (Lam et al. 2011; Li and Qi 2019; Mazzarol and Soutar 2002).

B. Deyà-Tortella (*) · R. Mendez-Duron · F. Rejón-Guardia Department of Business Economics, University de les Illes Balears, Palma, Spain e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021 J. P. Cerdeira Bento et al. (eds.), Academic Tourism, Tourism, Hospitality & Event Management, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-57288-4_4

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In more recent times, the ubiquity of electronic referrals through blogs or social networks and their increasing influence in travel choices suggests that electronic word of mouth could also play a key role in choosing an academic tourism destination. In this sense, current and former visiting students constitute a source of firsthand information to future visitors. During their exchange visiting, international students get acquainted with the host region’s culture, traditions, and lifestyle. They also establish affective bonds with the local community, reinforcing their positive attitude toward the destination. Thus, mobility programs could increase the willingness to revisit the destination for leisure purposes. Moreover, by sharing their academic and life experience with their peers, exchange students provide potentially positive feedback about the university and its location that could influence the choices of others, generating positive externalities to the academic tourism destination. The present study develops a structural equation model (SEM) aimed to identify and evaluate the key variables that can explain the intention to revisit a former academic tourism destination. The dependent variables are the intention to recommend and revisit the academic tourism destination for leisure purposes. As explanatory variables, the study pays special attention to the influence of motivations, attitude toward the experience, electronic word of mouth, and satisfaction with the exchange visiting. The empirical analysis uses data on a sample of former Erasmus students who visited the Universitat de les Illes Balears in Majorca, Spain, between 2013 and 2018. The study contributes to the extant literature on academic tourism in several ways. First, the empirical exercise enlightens our understanding of the role that electronic word of mouth plays on creating expectations on and explaining the posterior satisfaction with an academic tourism destination. Second, the study shows that satisfaction with the exchange visit plays a mediating role in the intention to recommend the academic tourism destination. Third, it shows that there is a significant relationship between the intention of recommending an academic tourism destination and the intention to revisit it as a leisure destination. Finally, the model results also have relevant implications for academic tourism destinations involved in mobility programs. The rest of the chapter is as follows: Section 4.2 reviews the literature on academic tourism and introduces a model for the intention to revisit an academic tourism destination. Section 4.3 describes the sample and the methodological approach. Section 4.4 presents the main findings, while Sect. 4.5 offers a discussion of the results. Finally, Sect. 4.6 concludes by highlighting the main contributions to the academic tourism literature, discussing managerial implications, suggesting future extensions, and exposing the main limitations.

4 Revisiting an Academic Tourism Destination: An Empirical Analysis of the Role. . .

4.2 4.2.1

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Conceptual Framework Academic Tourism

Academic tourism is the activity in which internationally mobile students spend abroad an academic term for accomplishing part of their higher education studies (Bento 2014). Similarly, the OECD (2017, p. 38) defines internationally mobile students as “students who have crossed an international border between two countries to participate in educational activities in the country of destination, where the country of destination of a given student is different from their country of origin.” Academic tourists include (a) international students enrolled in courses no longer than 12 months; (b) exchange students arriving through bilateral exchange programs; and (c) language students (Pereira-López et al. 2016). Generally, academic tourists are considered as well educated and caring about the environment and cultures (Pitman et al. 2010). International mobility records indicate that 4.8 million of students moved abroad in 2016 (Migration Data Portal 2018), excluding those who participate in bilateral exchanges. On the other hand, the European Commission Erasmus+ report (2018) indicates that 236,892 students participated in the 2016 call. The literature on academic tourism focuses on two main issues. On the one hand, some studies examine the push and pull motives that lead a student to choose a particular destination for academic purposes (Abubakar et al. 2014; Harazneh et al. 2018; Lam et al. 2011; Mazzarol and Soutar 2002). Their principal findings are that the promise of prospects is the primary push motivator, while the university reputation is the leading pull motivator. On the other hand, some studies deal with the economic effects of academic tourism on the host destination (Antón-Rodriguez and Martínez-Roget 2013; Jamaludin et al. 2018; Martínez-Roget et al. 2013; PereiraLópez et al. 2016; Thrane 2015, 2016). In this sense, the international higher education sector contributes to the growth of local economies and constitutes a significant revenue generator for host destinations. The present study links these two streams of research by analyzing the motivations’ effect on attitude toward the academic destination, the reliance on electronic word of mouth, satisfaction with their academic visiting experience in their intention to recommend and revisit the host region for leisure and holidays.

4.2.2

A Model for the Intention to Revisit an Academic Tourism Destination

The revisit intention is an ex-post behavior in which the academic tourist decides to return to her former academic destination for leisure purposes. The study proposes a model that, drawing on push-pull motivations, links the intention to revisit with the attitude toward the academic destination, the information gathered through the

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Internet (electronic word of mouth), the level of satisfaction experienced, and the intention to recommend the academic destination.

4.2.2.1

Motivations and Behaviors (Push-Pull Model)

People travel due to internal and external motivational factors (Dann 1981; Fodness 1994; Kim et al. 2010). Motivations are a quintessential research topic within tourism, as they help to understand the tourist’s consumption behavior. The pushpull travel motivations model identifies the destination choice based on push motives, defined as the tourist socio-psychological motives, and pull purposes, defined as the destination’s sociocultural features (Crompton 1979). The push motivations carry the impulse of leaving home and seeking for a holiday destination, while the pull forces compel the tourist toward an appealing destination given its attributes (Kozak 2002). Within the academic tourism context, the push-pull analysis can be an appropriate framework with which to understand the reasons behind the selection of the student’s destination (Li and Qi 2019). Studies on academic tourism identify push factors such as enhancing the students’ career, job prospects, status, and language skills (Abubakar et al. 2014; Lam et al. 2011). Regarding the pull factors, the literature focuses on the host university reputation and accreditation, the culture at the destination, and the welcoming attitudes of the locals (Abubakar et al. 2014; Lam et al. 2011; Lam and Ariffin 2019). Therefore, we expect these motivations to affect the ex-post attitudes toward the academic destination directly (Fisher and Price 1992).

4.2.2.2

Attitude Toward the Experience

The attitude concept refers to the psychological proclivity of tourists for engaging in certain behaviors (Ajzen 2011; Schiffman and Wisenblit 2014; Vincent and Thompson 2002). A significant part of the reasoning behind the attitude and behavior relationship relies on the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen 2011). Thus, attitudes predispose individual actions and predict participation and satisfaction (Lee 2009; Sparks 2007). Tourist’s attitudes predict the choice of travel destinations (Lam and Hsu 2006), the visiting of specific areas (Lee 2009), or the practice of particular types of tourism, like wine or sailing (Sparks 2007). The theory of planned behavior supports the relationship between attitude and behavioral intention (Armitage and Conner 2001), and the attitude toward revisiting indirectly (Huang and Hsu 2009). Accordingly, the attitude toward the experience induces future behaviors.

4.2.2.3

Electronic Word of Mouth and Future Behavior

Academic tourism entails risk, prosperity ambiguities, an unforeseen likelihood of success in the studies, family disruption, and missed opportunities if they remain at

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home (Abubakar et al. 2014). Therefore, having access to sound information about potential academic tourism destinations is highly relevant for students. In this sense, word of mouth, and the electronic word of mouth, can help students to reduce uncertainty. Word of mouth refers to the informal, person-to-person transmission of information about a brand, a product, a service, or an organization (HarrisonWalker 2001, p. 63). In contrast, electronic word of mouth is the information obtained by consumers through Internet-based technology (Litvin et al. 2008, p. 461). Within the tourism industry, recommendations from other travelers’ experiences through either word of mouth or electronic word of mouth influence travelers’ consumption behavior and destination choices. The electronic word of mouth increases the purchase intention and loyalty, reducing the perceived risks (SerraCantallops and Salvi 2014), fosters travel intentions (Abubakar 2016; Reza Jalilvand et al. 2012), and improves the pre-visit and post-visit image of the destination (González-Rodríguez et al. 2016). Hence, electronic word of mouth becomes a credible information source that triggers visitor decisions.

4.2.2.4

Satisfaction and the Recommendation and Revisit Intentions

Tourism experiences are complex and change over time (Kane and Zink 2004). The multiple travelers’ phases (decision, participation, return, and memory of the trip) contribute to building the satisfaction of the experience (Borrie and Roggenbuck 2001). Positive feelings correlate with the quality of the experience quality and come from satisfying the traveler’s needs (Tribe and Snaith 1998). Concretely, tourist satisfaction is the positive perception derived from participating in leisure activities, expressed at different intensities (Beard and Ragheb 1980). Therefore, satisfaction is a reliable indicator of experience quality (Lee 2009; Lee et al. 2007). Tourism managers entrust on satisfaction assessment as a predictor of future behaviors (Bigné et al. 2001; Lee et al. 2007; Lee 2009; Tian-Cole et al. 2002), which leads tourists to recommend or revisit the destination (Söderlund 1998). Loyalty is an informative marketing indicator that reflects the satisfaction related to a product or service experience (Blackwell et al. 2001). Therefore, the revisit intention and product recommendations evidence consumer loyalty (Bigné et al. 2001; Lee 2009; Yoon and Uysal 2005). Consumers share information about their travels because they experienced emotions such as satisfaction, pleasure, or sadness. Some persons even rejoice in sharing their travel experiences because of the enjoyment of reliving the moment when telling someone about it (Litvin et al. 2008). Recommendation implies alluring other travelers to undergo similar emotions at the same destination. Recommendations put the reputation and credibility of the informant at stake; as a consequence, dissatisfied customers would never engage in recommending a destination. Therefore, satisfied students would have a higher predisposition to endorse an academic destination than disappointed students. On the other hand, the destination image, the student’s involvement, and the place attachment affect the traveler’s revisiting intentions (Prayag 2009; Prayag and Ryan 2011). Academic tourists have an ex-ante positive destination image that influences

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their destination choice. Academic tourism pushes the student to participate (during a long period) in learning activities that have a local imprint, interact with local professors and administrative staff, and engage in extracurricular activities. Thus, the level of involvement of academic tourists is consistently higher in comparison to other tourism segments. Finally, place attachment depicted as an intense longing and passion about a destination, derives from the emotions, the attractiveness of the destination, and the sense of trust the destination evokes (Tsai 2012). In summary, satisfaction is related to the destination image, the student’s involvement, and the attachment to the place, because they arouse ex-ante, in situ and ex-post emotions. Consequently, the level of satisfaction of academic tourism correlates positively with the probability of revisiting the academic destination as a leisure traveler.

4.2.3

Academic Tourism and the Intention to Revisit Model’s Hypotheses

This subsection exposes the arguments that justify the development of a structural equation model (SEM), which identifies and evaluates the drivers of the intention to revisit a former academic tourism destination. Following the theoretical framework, the study gives special attention to the influence of push and pull motivations, the attitudes toward the experience, the electronic word of mouth, and the exchange satisfaction on the intention to recommend and the intention to revisit an academic destination as a leisure destination. Concretely, the model formulates the following hypotheses: H1 Academic tourist’s push motivations (PM) have a direct and significant effect on the attitude toward the destination (ATT). H2 Academic tourist’s pull motivations toward the university of destination (PUIB) have a direct and significant effect on the attitude toward the destination (ATT). H3 Academic tourist’s attitude (ATT) has a direct and significant effect on the intention to recommend the destination to other students (RI). H4 Academic tourist’s attitude (ATT) has a significant and direct effect on the intention to revisit the destination (REV). H5 Academic tourist’s attitude (ATT) has a significant and direct effect on student satisfaction (SAT). H6 Academic tourist’s attitude (ATT) will have a significant and direct effect on the reliance on electronic word of mouth (eWOM). H7 Academic tourist’s satisfaction (SAT) has a significant and direct effect on the intention to recommend the destination (RI).

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H8 Academic tourist’s satisfaction (SAT) has a significant and direct effect on the intention to revisit the destination. H9 Reliance on electronic word of mouth (eWOM) has a significant and direct effect on academic tourist’s satisfaction (SAT). H10 Reliance on electronic word of mouth (eWOM) has a significant and direct effect on the intention to recommend the academic destination (RI). H11 Reliance on electronic word of mouth (eWOM) has a significant and direct effect on the intention to revisit the academic destination (REV). H12 The intention to recommend (RI) has a significant and direct effect on the intention to revisit the academic destination (REV). Figure 4.1 exposes the conceptual model and the expected relationships among the different variables. The endogenous variables, recommendation intention, and revisit intention locate on the right-hand side.

4.3 4.3.1

Sample and Methodology Data Collection

The study uses a sample of students who visited the Universitat de les Illes Balears, located on the island of Majorca, Spain, within the Erasmus+ Program in the period 2013 to 2018. Majorca is a consolidated holiday destination for the sun and sea tourist segment in Europe, receiving an average of 12 million visitors per year (Institut d’Estadística de les Illes Balears 2018; Instituto de Estudios Turísticos 2013). In July 2019, the researchers sent an email to the 856 Erasmus students who visited the university with a link to an online questionnaire using computerassisted web interviewing tools (CAWI).1 After filtering for non-complete responses, the number of valid questionnaires was 214. Therefore, the final sample used to contrast the proposed model represents an estimate of 25% of the total initial study population.

4.3.2

Measurements and Survey Design

The study measures all constructs using a 7-point Likert scale adapted from several previous studies (Abubakar et al. 2014; Lam and Ariffin 2019; Martínez-Roget et al. 2013). Each item gives the lowest score to “strongly disagree” and the highest score 1 The survey is available at https://economiadeempresa.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_ 8lat9X9Bkp9r3I9

Fig. 4.1 Conceptual model on the relations among motivations, attitudes, satisfaction, eWOM, recommendation intentions, and revisit. Source: Own elaboration with SmartPLS v.3.2.8

52 B. Deyà-Tortella et al.

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to “strongly agree” (see Appendix). In particular, motivational variables rely on items consistent with the pull-push dimensions proposed by Abubakar (2016), Lam et al. (2011), McMahon (1992), and Mazzarol and Soutar (2002). To measure the attitude towards the university, the model introduces a scale adapted from Lam et al. (2011), while the electronic word of mouth scale draws on Abubakar (2016). Regarding satisfaction, we apply a measure of overall satisfaction that in one item summarizes the experience (Lam et al. 2011; Lee 2009; Lin et al. 2019). Finally, as the endogenous variables regard, we use the scale proposed by Pawlowska et al. (2011) for intention to recommend and the scale used by Lam et al. (2011) for the intention to revisit. The survey distributed among students has three main sections. The first section covers the push motivations for studying abroad and the pull motivations toward the destination and the host university. The second section deals with the influence of eWOM on destination selection, the experience during the stay at the university, the intentions to recommend and revisit the destination as a leisure traveler. The last section refers to demographic variables related to the student profile and features of their exchange, such as length of stay, monthly expenses, number of visitors they had during the stay. For further details, see the Appendix.

4.3.3

Descriptive Analysis

Table 4.1 provides descriptive statistics on the sample of Erasmus students. The sample presents a majority of female students (66.8%), and the most frequent length of stay is one semester (81.7%). Students come from several fields of knowledge, but predominantly from Humanities (40.8%) and Social Sciences (32.9%). Most students attended a Bachelor’s degree program (76.6%). The descriptive statistics also conclude that the number of visitors received during the stay was, on average, 4.20 people. The average monthly expenditure amounted to 742.66 euros (s.d. ¼ 853.65). The intention to revisit the destination in the long and short term was consistently high (6.61 and 6.29, respectively). Finally, the overall satisfaction with the academic destination was also significantly high (6.04).

4.3.4

Structural Model Analysis

The estimation approach is Partial Least Squares (PLS) and Partial Least Squares Correlations (PLSc) reflective measurement models, implemented with the SmartPLS v.3.2.8 software (Cheah et al. 2018). PLS aims to maximize the explained variance of the dependent variables. The PLS analysis is widespread among tourism and hospitality studies, given its advantages in comparison to the covariance methods (Ali et al. 2018; Shmueli et al. 2019). Namely, PLS is adequate for small samples and suits better to examine underdeveloped or developing theories (Hair

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Table 4.1 Sociodemographic features of the sample Sociodemographic feature Gender Length of stay

Field of knowledge

Academic level

Number of visitors received during the stay Monthly expenditure (in euros) Intention to return to Majorca for a leisure travel in the futurea Intention to return to Majorca in the next 2 yearsa Overall satisfactiona a

Female Male Three months One semester One year More than 1 year Sciences, technology, engineering and math (STEM) Health sciences Humanities Social sciences Bachelor’s degree Master’s degree Ph.D./doctorate 4.20 (s.d. ¼ 3.27) 742.66 (s.d. ¼ 853.65) 6.61 (s.d. ¼ 0.771)

n 143 71 3 174 34 2 44

% 66.8 33.2 1.4 81.7 16 0.9 20.7

12 87 70 164 49 1

5.6 40.8 32.9 76.6 22.9 0.5

6.29 (s.d. ¼ 1.227) 6.04 (s.d. ¼ 1.027)

Likert scale (1—Strongly disagree to 7—Strongly agree)

et al. 2019). The validation of the model follows two stages. The first stage implements a measurement model for assessing the reliability and validity of the constructs. The second stage estimates the path model for determining the significance and strength of the relationship between variables. We used the factor-weighting scheme for inner weighting. Statistical inferences rely on a 10,000-resample bootstrap procedure (Shmueli et al. 2019).

4.4

Results

Tables 4.2, 4.3, 4.4, and 4.5 summarize the results of the analysis. Table 4.2 presents factor loadings, factors’ average variance explained (AVE), composite reliability, and the Cronbach’s α. The average variance explained (AVE), and the Cronbach’s α values support the reliability of the constructs. Tables 4.3 and 4.4 present the discriminant validity according to the Fornell-Larcker, and the Heterotrait-Monotrait (HTMT) criteria, respectively (Bagozzi and Yi 1991). The results show that factors are discriminant among each other. The Harman’s (1976) one-factor test determines that the principal component of one fixed factor explains 35.93% of the total

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Table 4.2 Loadings, average variance explained (AVE), composite reliability and Cronbach’s α Variables Loadings PM—Push motivations (to study abroad) AVE 0.611 CR 0.825 Cronbach’s α 0.827 ρ_A 0.827 PM1—Can help me to enhance my career prospects 0.730 PM2—Can help me to enhance my future job prospects 0.797 PM3—Can help me to provide higher status for myself in future 0.816 PUIB—Pull motivations (to study at the University) AVE 0.573 CR 0.903 Cronbach’s α 0.903 ρ_A 0.909 PUIB1—University’s image and reputation 0.759 PUIB2—University’s learning atmosphere and environment 0.893 PUIB3—University’s academic infrastructure and facilities 0.685 PUIB5—Academic and research quality of university professors 0.683 PUIB6—Academic program’ suitability 0.678 PUIB7—Academic programs recognition throughout worldwide 0.754 PUIB8—Academic programs quality 0.822 ATT—Attitude toward the University AVE 0.487 CR 0.790 Cronbach’s α 0.792 ρ_A 0.797 ATT1—Improved my education and training 0.703 ATT2—Was, in general, a good experience 0.667 ATT3—Improved my career development 0.794 ATT4—Improved my personal skills 0.614 eWOM—I chose the UIB as my Erasmus destination because of the comments and opinions. . . AVE 0.527 CR 0.772 Cronbach’s α 0.775 ρ_A 0.774 eWOM1—of other people (friends, relatives, et cetera) 0.754 eWOM2—that I read on social media (i.e., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.) 0.683 eWOM3—that I read on online travel reviews (i.e., TripAdvisor, travel blogs, travel 0.745 guides, etc.) RI—Recommendation intention AVE 0.568 CR 0.723 Cronbach’s α 0.721 ρ_A 0.728 (continued)

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Table 4.2 (continued) Variables RI1—I have the intention to recommend the UIB as an Erasmus destination RI2—I recommended Majorca to other friends and students, while I stayed there as Erasmus student REV—Revisit intention AVE CR Cronbach’s α ρ_A REV1—How likely would you return to the Majorca for leisure travel in the future? REV2—How likely is your intention to return to Majorca in the next 2 years SAT—Satisfaction*—indicate your overall satisfaction level of your Erasmus period there (mono item scale)

Loadings 0.790 0.713

0.609 0.758 0.757 0.758 0.813 0.749 1.000

AVE average variance extracted, CR composite reliability; ρ_A Composite reliability indicator computed on unstandardized loadings Table 4.3 Discriminant validity: Fornell-Larcker criterion ATT PM PUIB RI REV SAT eWOM

Attitude Push motivations Pull motivations Recommendation intention Revisiting intention Satisfaction Electronic word of mouth

ATT 0.697 0.666 0.562 0.591

PM

PUIB

RI

REV

SAT

eWOM

0.756 0.453 0.667

0.782 0.118

0.753

0.519 0.636 0.224

0.393 0.508 0.422

0.163 0.367 0.086

0.688 0.697 0.426

0.781 0.518 0.203

1.000 0.279

0.727

RI

REV

SAT

eWOM

0.692 0.697 0.425

0.517 0.202

0.277

Table 4.4 Discriminant validity: Heterotrait-Monotrait ratio (HTMT) ATT PM PUIB RI REV SAT eWOM

Attitude Push motivations Pull motivations Recommendation intention Revisiting intention Satisfaction Electronic word of mouth

ATT

PM

PUIB

0.668 0.570 0.579

0.452 0.671

0.118

0.515 0.633 0.223

0.395 0.505 0.421

0.162 0.366 0.104

variance. These two latest methodologies allow us to discard a common method bias and a common method variance in the sample. The results support the estimation’s technical validity since there is no evidence of a Heywood case (Henseler et al. 2015). Furthermore, the construction and modelimplied indicator correlation matrices are positive, and semi-definite, and all

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Table 4.5 Structural model evaluation Relationship

Path coefficient

H1: PUIB ! ATT 0.458 H2: PM ! ATT 0.275 H3: ATT ! RI 0.156 H4: ATT ! REV 0.159 H5: ATT ! SAT 0.540 H6: ATT ! eWOM 0.175 H7: SAT ! RI 0.462 H8: SAT ! REV 0.155 H9: eWOM ! SAT 0.151 H10: eWOM ! RI 0.179 H11: eWOM ! REV 0.024 H12: RI ! REV 0.355 Endogenous variable R2 REV 0.493 RI 0.570 ATT 0.536 SAT 0.419 eWOM 0.046 Overall fit of the estimated model SRMR 0.068 d_ULS 1.174 d_G 0.526 Effect size f2 H1: PUIB ! ATT 0.454ª H2: PM ! ATT 0.180b H3: ATT ! RI 0.073c H4: ATT ! REV 0.031c H5: ATT ! SAT 0.601ª H6: ATT ! eWOM 0.052c H7: SAT ! RI 0.316b H8: SAT ! REV 0.000d H9: eWOM ! SAT 0.034d H10: eWOM ! RI 0.123c H11: eWOM ! REV 0.017d H12: RI ! REV 0.343b SRSR standardized root mean square residual ***