Global Tourism and Language Learning: the Study Abroad Sector

Abstract

Over the years, the globalisation of tourism has seen new players entering in the competition arena. The competition in the industry is high with offers of many products and travel experiences. The buyer decision is mostly influenced by the experience needed in a specific moment of the life. Audiences can be grouped in bubbles formed by niches of customers with same needs and intentions. The audience in the bubbles is temporary and the movement from a bubble to another depends by the needs at a specific stage of their life. In the last decade, we have observed an increase in the demand from people wishing to learn a foreign language, as a result there has been a corresponding increase in demand for holidays which include intensive language courses. A new profile of tourist is nowadays active and the tourism industry has seen the entrance of strong competitors that can offer a leisure product with a surplus: the language learning. The paper gives an overview of the dynamics of the sector and how it contributes to the growth of the global tourism industry.