Abstract Book of the 8th International Conference on Research in Management
Year: 2025
[PDF]
Exploring Environmental Sustainability Practices at Universities through the Eyes of Educational Tourists
Sina Vahedi, Hamed Rezapouraghdam
ABSTRACT:
For many years, since 1978, sustainability topics in the tourism field have become one of the significant debates in different aspects of academia and the industry (Agarwal et al., 2024). Although this topic has been studied in various destinations and a variety of tourism forms, there are not any significant studies to explore sustainability solutions in educational tourism, particularly through the eyes of educational tourists. Previously, a study conducted by Rezapouraghdam et al. (2022) emphasized the importance of education for sustainable tourism, and another study scholars explored the perception of educational tourists over climate change, which is one of the consequences of unsustainable development within a destination (Rezapouraghdam & Vahedi, 2024). However, additional research is required on this topic. To fill this gap, this study is going to explore perceptions of educational tourists over sustainable educational tourism solutions within their campus. The sample of the study is from tourism students in the largest university in Northern Cyprus, and related data was gathered from the interviews. In the interview, students were asked to identify sustainable and unsustainable incidents that occurred within their university campus after an observational trip. According to the initial results, tourism students were focused more on different topics. In one hand, students identified unsustainable practices in waste management and resource allocation within campuses, on the other hand, they agreed that the usage of public transportation and providing greenery space for students are part of sustainable act of their institutions. Based on the students’ perceptions, these recommendations not only contribute to the literature but also provide a suitable pathway for government and educational stakeholders to adjust their policies toward sustainable educational tourism.
Keywords: Educational Tourism; Environment, North Cyprus, Sustainability, University Campus