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Educational tourism is a rapidly expanding area in the travel and tourism industry. It is also known as career enhancement or self-enrichment programme which comes in various formats namely foreign student exchange programmes and business conventions. However, all forms of educational tours have one point in common, which is to increase the travellers’ knowledge. Therefore, educational tourism should undeniably be used as a form of education as it effectively facilitates learning and greatly benefits the travellers.
One of the benefits of joining educational tourism is that the foreign students who involved in the exchange programme will return home as a more independent and self-reliant person. This is because the participants will be able to carry out their daily routines without relying on others. Participants will develop higher level of confidence in making decisions in the future because they are obligated to complete certain tasks on their own.
In addition, by participating in educational tours, students can gain more experience such as the lifestyle and culture of other countries. Students will be able to get in touch with the language of the foreign country and could learn in through practical immersion. It is a much safer way for students to gain knowledge because they will be accompanied by their friends and led by their teachers. When students are travelling in a group, they can exchange information and improve each other’s learning. Students will have an enjoyable experience and parents will feel relieved as their children are in a safe environment.
It is argued that educational tourism has been doing more harm than good as it degrades the environmental conditions. It has been indicated that the air, water and wild life’s original state have been disrupted due to the increasing number of educational tourists. However, this argument is invalid because the natural