Challenges in Upholding Edutourism Initiatives

Abstract

Edutourism was initiated to benefit from both the booming tourism industry and the growth of education sector in Malaysia. Edutourism is expected affect related sectors positively. However, edutourism activities suffers from various challenges. The study investigates the challenges and barrier faced by public universities in realising edutourism agenda. Primary data was collected through interviews with selected public universities. Among the factors that hinders the development of edutourism are unsuccessful collaboration between university and travel agency as well as university readiness in upholding edutourism agenda. This study contributes to an in-depth understanding of the factors that impede edutourism success. Practical and theoretical implications were highlighted.Keywords: Edutourism, Readiness; Malaysia; Public UniversitieseISSN 2398-4295 © 2018. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.