Tourist Behavior of Foreign Students in Higher Education in Turkey

Abstract

Having globally reached up to 5,3 million in 2017 and expected to achieve eight million students by 2025 according to estimates before the pandemic, international student mobility has become a subject of research for various disciplines owing to both the quantitative volume and the other dimensions. This mobility is approached as youth tourism in terms of tourism and, in particular, as education tourism. The purpose of this study, which can be nominated as the pioneering study for Turkish education tourism, is to analyze the international position of Turkey according to various aspects of education tourism and to examine the touristic behaviours of higher education students who are educational tourists in terms of accommodation, travel, gastronomy and recreation which are the four fundamental components of tourism. This study is based on the analysis of the data which were obtained with questionnaire forms that were applied face-to-face or via e-mail to 384 students who receive higher education in Turkey. The subsequent results revealed that the tourist behaviors of the students that preferred Turkey for education showed difference according to their sexes, nationalities, level of the educational programmed and level of incomes. Additionally, it was also found out that the primary was with low-cost and bed & breakfast facilities for accommodation preference, bus for transportation, local restaurants for
food and beverage, and sea and culture as in the main travelling purpose.