27/1/2023
A field survey was conducted in Crete and Cyprus in order to gather opinions on educational tourism issues in the two regions. A total of 1,482 young people aged 16-25 and 1,006 tourism and education professionals participated. An educational tourism activity should take into account the popularity of the destination, the possibility of shopping, safety, the possibility of entertainment, visits to local events, the gastronomy of the area and the climate. At the same time, the link between the educational institutions and the potential organisers, as well as the possibility of granting a training certificate.
An important issue is the proper organisation, infrastructure, duration and the issue of an educational tourism package which was clearly highlighted by the respondents. The development of educational tourism in the two regions can be based on the natural environment , history, tradition, religious heritage and gastronomy, while it is hindered by the lack of knowledge and the difficulty of organization. Cooperation with educational institutions, as well as with professional organisations, local bodies and cultural institutions, is recommended for the organisation of educational tourism activities.
According to the results of the questionnaire of professionals in Cyprus, we have come up with the following recommendations for the exploitation of the results of EduTourism:
– Creation of a legal entity consisting of educational institutions, local organizations and local government in order to promote educational tourism between Cyprus and Crete.
– Involvement in educational tourism of the local government of cultural and local organisations.
– Creation of a participatory scheme to encourage tourism professionals who do not consider educational tourism to be profitable and will not attempt any action on their own.
– Create a specialised educational tourism package for universities.
As far as Greece is concerned, young people need to be made more familiar with the concept of educational tourism. It seems that so far the participation of young people in educational tourism is from formal education activities such as school trips, summer schools and conferences. Satisfaction with the participation is high and the percentage of intention to participate in future Educational Tourism activities is high.
The general belief is that there is moderate utilisation of Greece and Cyprus in Educational Tourism. The “Difficulty of Organisation” seems to be the main obstacle while gastronomy and the natural environment are the resources that Cyprus and Crete need to exploit. Also, the participants in the survey conducted rated highly all the attractiveness factors of an Educational Tourism product. Also, 8 out of 10 express their intention to participate in future Educational Tourism activities in Crete and Cyprus.
The EduTourism project is implemented in the framework of the INTERREG V-A Cooperation Programme “Greece – Cyprus 2014-2020” and is co-financed by the European Union (E.T.P.A.) and National Funds of Greece and Cyprus.
