Fonte: Journal of Tourism & Development; Vol 42 (2023); 191-209
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Resumo: This study explored educational tourism as a strategy for sustainable tourism development, with a specific focus on Windhoek-based universities, Namibia. Based on twenty-three interviews conduc ted with international students and international relations-related staff across the three Windhoek-based universities, this study adopted a qualitative approach in exploring the perceptions of how the universities could leverage their educational tourism (edu-tourism) potential, so as to enhance sustainable tourism development in Namibia. By way of implementing a thematic analysis, the empirical findings suggest that the universities enrolled both long-term degree-seeking and short-term semester-based exchange students. While both categories of students were a potential source of sustainable edu-tourism receipts, no active structures were available for leveraging strategies for attracting such students. Furthermore, the respondents concurred that all three Namibian universities possessed the potential to attract international students to enrol in their programmes, which would contribute to the enhancement of cultural exchange and socio-economic leverages. The study proposes new insights into edu-tourism development in the Namibian context, the need for focused strategies, the development of policies and focused stakeholder engagement for capitalising on this tourism niche. The outcomes present practical leverages prompting Windhoek-based universities to recognise the importance of active participation in edu-tourism promotion, while contributing to the existing literature on the subject, especially in the developing context.
