Purpose Educational tourism is under-researched in the literature. This paper argues that this stems from a lack of consensus regarding the nature and scope of educational tourism as a theoretical concept and market segment. Design/methodology/approach Through a review of research over the last decade and a half, the paper aims at providing a concise overview of the key perspectives and concepts in educational tourism, whilst highlighting the potential for future directions of the sector. Findings Ritchie"s (2003) segmentation model of educational tourism is usually considered the international standard for writing on the subject. However, it excludes certain sectors of tourism that may be considered educational. In response to this, a new conceptual model is presented. Further research is needed to understand the schools" educational tourism market. When international educational tourism is considered, the majority of empirical research and academic debate has originated in the closely related field of international education. Educational tourism has the potential for hybridization with other segments of tourism and non-tourism sectors, and to contribute towards global peace. Originality/value This paper offers an alternative process-driven and outcomes-based conceptual model of educational tourism. It identifies directions for future research in schools" and international educational tourism and proposes a typology to aid hybridization of the phenomenon with other sectors. Finally, it discusses the potential of educational tourism to foster peace through the integration of global learning into touristic practice.
a b s t r a c tPassengers' expectations of service quality at airports are becoming increasingly important as air traffic grows. This research investigated passengers' perceptions of airport service quality at O.R. Tambo International Airport, South Africa. An existing model placing the concept of passenger expectations central to measuring an airport's specific level of performance was applied. The results proved significant in terms of the investment made by the airport in staff training and highlighted areas for improvement. The results show that business travellers and leisure travellers have different opinions regarding the importance of services offered by airports and of the level of performance at ORTIA in particular. Significant differences also occur in the perceptions of frequent travellers and infrequent travellers.Ó 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
BackgroundSince 2006, the Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA) has invested about $2.5 billion expanding and upgrading infrastructure across its network of airports, aimed at matching infrastructure to anticipated tourist traffic growth. What differentiates these investments from others is the 2010 FIFA World Cup because all infrastructure investments essential to success was brought forward. Under this investment programme focus was placed on the end-user or air traveller with an airport-wide staff training programme being instituted aimed at providing exceptional levels of service, particularly for the period of the tournament (Airports Company South Africa, 2010). As a result, much media attention was focused on the quality of service to be expected at South African airports and particularly at O.R. Tambo International Airport (ORTIA) in Johannesburg, the key entry point into the country. Here we undertake an evaluation of whether ACSA was achieving its goal in meeting expectations on service quality at ORTIA. The concept of expectations underlies the selection of Fodness and Murray's (2007) methodology for measuring service quality with its focus on passenger expectations in service quality. Fodness and Murray suggest that for a model to be fully developed as a global measure of airport service quality, application within different cultural contexts is necessary. Thus, a secondary aim here is to apply the model of Fodness and Murray in a specific cultural context. Previous work on airport service quality has primarily focussed on service performance measure methodologies and Fodness and Murray suggested that literature could benefit from the application of gap-theory methodology for analysing service quality. As a result they developed, from best practices in marketing and services research, a conceptual theory-based model focussing on the dimensionality of passenger expectations of airport service quality. They conceded that in their study passenger data was collected in a "contextual void" because respondents were asked to indicate their expectation for airports in general, without taking into consideration passenger, trip or airport chara...
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.