International Students in Asia: Travel Behaviors and Destination Perceptions

Abstract

This study investigates the incidence of international student travel in Taiwan. It was found that Chinese, Asian and other international students behave somewhat differently from respondents in prior studies conducted in Western settings. Cultural background influenced the travel behaviors of international students as well as their perceptions of Taiwan as a tourism destination. The visiting friends and relatives (VFR) market induced by Asian respondents offers greater tourism-related potential than the travel activity that students themselves undertake. The contrary was found for non-Asian students where the student-induced VFR market is small and prospectively less attractive than the student market. The Chinese international student travel market and induced VFR market showed less potential than anticipated, perhaps because of the embryonic stage of diplomatic and commercial relations between Taiwan and mainland China.

Chinese Participation in Adventure Tourism

“…In recent years, another youth tourism market has emerged—that relating to the international student who is studying abroad—and a body of literature on this developing market is growing (e.g., Brown 2009; Glover 2011; Lee and King 2015). Like Western backpackers, international students tend to take independent trips, but the nature of these trips varies greatly from trips by their Western counterparts (Gardiner, King, and Wilkins 2013).…”

Motivations for Studying Abroad and Immigration Intentions

“…Overall, international students should be treated with fairness rather than making them victims of the misconception that they are constantly seeking permanent residency (Tran & Vu, 2016) because they bring major opportunities to their host countries and institutions. Restricting or rejecting international students from one country will allow another country to gain these potential labor forces, especially when more and more countries are offering international education (Lee & King, 2016).…”

“…The total number increased from 0.8 million in 1975 to 4.1 million in 2010 and is predicted to reach 8 million by 2025 (Kritz, 2012). The top five host countries of international students are the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, and France (Kritz, 2012;Lee & King, 2016). Recent years have also seen the rise of international education in Asian countries.…”

“…For example, the number of international students in China increased from 77,715 in 2003 to 377,054 in 2014 (Ding, 2016). Likewise, the number of international students in Taiwan for degree and non-degree programs doubled from 38,285 in 2009-2010 to 78,261 in 2013-2014 (Lee & King, 2016).…”

The Information Search Behavior of International Students when Travelling within the Countries of Study in Relation to the Effectiveness of DMO Websites

“…This has the potential of generating a huge profit for tourist destinations. One of the reasons why international student travel is because they are far from their homes, it is not convenient for them to visit their home countries, thereby seek for an opportunity to travel within the country of study and subsequent experiencing the culture of the host countries and the indigenous people (Buffa, 2015;Lee & King, 2016;Michael et al, 2003). As mentioned previously, international students not only bring financial resources to the destination countries through living expenses while participating in education, but also generate a large amount of financial resources by travelling.…”