Decision to study abroad dimensions among international Edu-tourists in Malaysia: An Exploratory Factor Analysis (original) (raw)
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This article examined the underlying dimensions that influence the choice of Malaysia as a preferred edu-tourist destination. About 500 international edu-tourists from Africa, Asia and the Middle East were sampled in 13 public and private Malaysian universities through the use of questionnaires. An Exploratory Factor Analysis was applied. The results of the principal component analysis (PCA) revealed the emergence of five dimensions with eigenvalues > 1. An inspection of the scree plot revealed a clear break in the five dimensions, explained by a variance of 59.04% with Malaysia's edu-tourism image contributing (30.99%), socio-cultural factors (10.60%), economic factors (6.94%), significant others (6.10%), and environmental factors (4.42%). The results of the Varimax rotation revealed that the structure of the five dimensions of Edu-tourism Destination Country of Choice (EDCC) with strong loadings determine the choice of Malaysia as a preferred edu-tourist destination among international edu-tourists from emerging countries. Since the focus of the Malaysian government is on making Malaysia the edu-tourist destination hub of South East Asia, the factors that are capable of attracting international edu-tourists from other emerging countries need to be identified. This will enable the government of Malaysia and managers of the Malaysian edu-tourist industry to develop appropriate feasible policies and strategies that are capable of attracting edu-tourists. This paper provides an extensive block of 25 indicators, split into five dimensions, which are capable of determining the choice of Malaysia as an edu-tourist destination.a.
2016
This article examined the underlying dimensions that influence the choice of Malaysia as a preferred edu-tourist destination. About 500 international edu-tourists from Africa, Asia and the Middle East were sampled in 13 public and private Malaysian universities through the use of questionnaires. An Exploratory Factor Analysis was applied. The results of the principal component analysis (PCA) revealed the emergence of five dimensions with eigenvalues > 1. An inspection of the scree plot revealed a clear break in the five dimensions, explained by a variance of 59.04% with Malaysia's edu-tourism image contributing (30.99%), socio-cultural factors (10.60%), economic factors (6.94%), significant others (6.10%), and environmental factors (4.42%). The results of the Varimax rotation revealed that the structure of the five dimensions of Edu-tourism Destination Country of Choice (EDCC) with strong loadings determine the choice of Malaysia as a preferred edu-tourist destination among i...
This article conceptualised the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that influence international edutourists from the emerging economy to study in an emerging economy like Malaysia. A growing body of models has been developed to explain the factors influencing international edu-tourist from the emerging economies to choose to study abroad in the developed economy. In view of the new mobility trend of the international edu-tourists from the emerging economies to study abroad in an emerging country, including, limited model to explain this new mobility trend in Malaysia, this article contributes to the Malaysia literature pertaining to this subject. The article proposes 4 intrinsic and 2 extrinsic antecedent variables in predicting the new mobility behaviour of the international edu-tourists from the emerging economies who chooses to study abroad in Malaysia (an emerging economy). The limitations of this article stem from the nature of the study itself. Being a preliminary study, it integrated the factors identified in the existing literature. Thus, future empirical research on this subject is required to examine the existing relationships among the aforementioned factors, by giving and analyse the weight of each factor influencing the choice to study abroad in an emerging economy by the international edu-tourists from the emerging countries. Therefore, determining the relative importance of each element and factors that constitute an important source of information for future work in international edu-tourism studies.
Edu-Tourism Destination Selection Process in an Emerging Economy
Journal of Tourism Management Research, 2019
International Edu-tourists seeking university education outside of their countries of origin was 4.1 million in 2010 and the figure is forecasted to hit 7.2 million by the year 2020, thus creating a market value worth US$342billion. Exporting university education services contributed US$6.6billion to Malaysia"s Gross National Income (GNI) in 2009. Malaysia plans to earn US$14.67 billion yearly from 2020, including, creating 536,000 jobs. This highlights the importance of international Edu-tourists for Malaysian Edu-tourism industry promotion. Explaining the stages international Edutourists go through to select Malaysia as their preferred Edu-tourism destination, including validating factors that contribute to this tourist travel decision form the basis of this study. The study is based on the push-pull theory and 500 international Edutourists in 13 Malaysian universities were sampled. Results of confirmatory factor analysis revealed that Edu-tourists" socio-cultural factors, the quest for career development, and economy status of their country of origin all contributed to Edutourists" decision to study abroad. The socio-cultural and economic factors of Malaysia attract Edu-tourists to Malaysia, while the institutional and internationalisation attributes of Malaysian universities encourage them to choose these universities. It is suggested that tourism operators in Malaysia make the most of the attractive socioeconomic environment in Malaysia for the effective positioning strategy of Malaysia in the global Edu-tourism market. Edu-tourism destination marketing strategies should be designed for Malaysia, using her socioeconomic attributes. The reputation of Malaysian universities as essential Edu-tourism assets should be promoted to develop the Malaysian tourism industry. Tourism destinations in Malaysia should encourage social interaction between Edu-tourists and host destinations. Contribution/Originality: This study contributes to tourism literature by branding university education as tourism product. It validates factors that influence the choice behaviour of international Edu-tourists in selecting Edu-tourism destinations in emerging economies. The present study helps to increase the explanatory power of the push-pull theory in explaining contemporary Edu-tourist mobility trends.
JOURNAL OF TOURISM MANAGEMENT RESEARCH, 2019
International Edu-tourists seeking university education outside of their countries of origin was 4.1 million in 2010 and the figure is forecasted to hit 7.2 million by the year 2020, thus creating a market value worth US$342billion. Exporting university education services contributed US$6.6billion to Malaysia‟s Gross National Income (GNI) in 2009. Malaysia plans to earn US$14.67 billion yearly from 2020, including, creating 536,000 jobs. This highlights the importance of international Edu-tourists for Malaysian Edu-tourism industry promotion. Explaining the stages international Edutourists go through to select Malaysia as their preferred Edu-tourism destination, including validating factors that contribute to this tourist travel decision form the basis of this study. The study is based on the push-pull theory and 500 international Edutourists in 13 Malaysian universities were sampled. Results of confirmatory factor analysis revealed that Edu-tourists‟ socio-cultural factors, the quest for career development, and economy status of their country of origin all contributed to Edutourists‟ decision to study abroad. The socio-cultural and economic factors of Malaysia attract Edu-tourists to Malaysia, while the institutional and internationalisation attributes of Malaysian universities encourage them to choose these universities. It is suggested that tourism operators in Malaysia make the most of the attractive socioeconomic environment in Malaysia for the effective positioning strategy of Malaysia in the global Edu-tourism market. Edu-tourism destination marketing strategies should be designed for Malaysia, using her socio-economic attributes. The reputation of Malaysian universities as essential Edu-tourism assets should be promoted to develop the Malaysian tourism industry. Tourism destinations in Malaysia should encourage social interaction between Edu-tourists and host destinations
This article developed and validates the psychometric properties of attributes that influences edu-tourists from emerging economies to study in emerging country (AISE) in respect to Malaysia. A survey was done on 1000 international edu-tourists from Africa, Asia and Middle-East in 13 Malaysian edu-tourism institutions. The structure of the underlying dimensions of decision to study abroad was framed based on the Push andPull theory and literature. Reliability analysis, exploratory, and confirmatory factor analysis were applied to investigate internal consistency and construct validity of the AISE model using SPSS and Analysis of Moment Structure version 22. The Composite Reliability (CR) and Average Variance Extracted (AVE) were examined to determine the construct reliability and convergent validity. Result of exploratory factor analysis showed that four dimensions emerged with 20 corresponding items. The confirmatory factor analysis confirmed a three-dimensional model with14 corresponding indicators of a good fit. Dimensions in the final model include: Social-cultural factor, Economic factor, and Career development with valid Cronbach's Alpha values and a good construct reliability. The value of the AVE shows that the AISE model has adequate convergent validity. Since the focus of the Malaysian government is to attract 200, 000 international edu-tourists by the year 2020. Factors capable of determining international edu-tourists from other emerging countries to decide to study abroad in Malaysia need to be identified. This study suggests a three-dimensional AISE model capable of explaining the decision to study abroad behaviour of international edu-tourists from emerging economies.
This paper proposes a theoretical model that integrates the different groups of factors which influences the decision making process of international students in selecting a university of study in Malaysia. The design / methodology that was adopted involves presention of hypothetical model which shows the choice of Malaysian university as an independent variable dependent on four factors: institutional reputation; financial factor, degree of internalisation of university; and social / geographical link. The consideration, whether conscious or unconscious on the part of the prospective international student, will determine the final choice made by these students in selecting a university of study in Malaysia. The limitations of this study stem from the nature of the study itself. Being a preliminary study, it aims to integrate the factors identified in the existing literature. Thus, future research on the subject will examine the existing relationships among the aforementioned factors. In particular, it will give and analyse the weight of each factor on the university choice intention of the international students, and the relative importance of each element for the factor it belongs to. Therefore, determining the relative importance of each element and factor would constitute an important source of information for future work in international edutourism studies. Since, there are few studies which try to tackle the decision making process of the prospective international student on choice of university in Malaysia from an integrated point of view. This paper contributes to bridging that gap.
Edutourism: The preliminary study on international students' tourism behaviour in Malaysia
The Proceedings of 4th Asia-Euro Conference 2012 in Tourism, Hospitality & Gastronomy, Taylor's University (Lakeside Campus), 28th-29th Nov 2012, Subang Jaya, Malaysia, 2012
This descriptive study aims to explore the tourism behaviour of students with the primary focus on "accommodation", "destination choice", "transportation" and other travel behaviour while travelling in Malaysia. A total of 130 international students studying in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) had participated in this study. Questionnaire survey was employed as the main method of primary data collection. The research findings indicated that Genting Highlands was found to be the most popular destination among the international students particularly for those who are studying in the Klang Valley. The image of Malaysia was found to be satisfactory among the international students since the mean score was above 3.0. The study concludes that decision makers should understand what defines value of their products or services in the customers" minds in order to meet the demands of value conscious customers. Although this research is preliminary in nature, it acts as a stepping stone for various destination and tourism service marketers to study further about leisure and tourism behaviour. It could elucidate the contribution to the tourism behaviour scholarship particularly on Malaysia.
International Journal of Innovative Research and Publications, 2021
Edu-tourism and education encompass globalization involving the same history over the years. It has been identified that Malaysia has become a prominent destination among international students for affordable living cost and quality education. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential of Edu-tourism sector in Malaysia and students' perception towards the selection of a destination for education which fundamentally changes tourism dynamics and faces the challenges of redressing Edutourism. In this research, data were collected through survey questionnaires from a total number of 228 students which were undergraduate and postgraduate students. However, this primary study was directed to realize the factors which create an impact on students to select International Islamic University Malaysia as their foreign learning institute. Data were analyzed based on factor analysis and to test the suggested research hypotheses, structural equation modelling using AMOS was applied. It has been found that satisfaction mediates the relationship between students' learning need and perceived value towards the selection of educational institute. Meanwhile, it ascertains guidelines for potential research on international educational tourism which will influence students' perception towards Edutourism and promote a general process of combination through comprehensive learning into touristic way.
s This paper examined edu-tourism policy strategies and instruments of key edu-tourist recruiting countries in the SouthEast Asia, and identified its emerging implications on sustainable edu-tourism industry in Malaysia. The article is targeted at Malaysian edu-tourism policymakers both at national and institutional levels, edu-tourism marketing officers and researchers in the area of international edu-tourism management. The methodology adopted involves analyses of national policies strategies and instruments for key international edu-tourist recruitment countries such as Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. The choice of these four countries is due to their active participation in international edu-tourist recruitment, including their similarity in term of size and edu-tourism system. The findings shows that among the four countries under focus, Singapore is fairly comparable with Malaysia in terms of population and participation in international edu-tourism in the SouthEast Asia sub-region. In terms of policy strategies and instruments of the four countries studied, only Singapore seems to have an edge over Malaysia. The implication of the above information is that Singapore may soon take the leading position as edu-tourism destination of choice in the SouthEast Asia among international edu-tourists if urgent step are not being taken to strengthen and make Malaysian edu-tourism policy strategies and instruments more attractive to international edu-tourists. In terms of edu-tourism competitive index, the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia are not comparable with Malaysia, however, Singapore does, hence, full liberalization policy, and provision of incentive schemes are encouraged for Malaysian edu-tourism industry to achieve being an edu-tourism hub of the SouthEast Asia. In respect to quality assurance and assessment development for world-class programmes, all the four countries have unique initiatives capable of strengthening the quality of edu-tourism services offered in the sub-region. The implication of this for Malaysia is urgent adoption of edu-tourism programme quality assurance re-engineering capable of differentiating the country's edu-tourism service offerings in the sub-region.