The impact of educational tourism on Saudi students' life and social skills.

Abstract

Educational tourism plays a crucial role in enhancing skills and fostering cross-cultural understanding, significantly impacting welfare, quality of life, and economic progress. In Saudi Arabia, the Ministry of Education has been criticized for failing to prioritize curricular improvement, highlighting the importance of experiential learning in improving student experiences. Further, the study examines the impact of experiential learning on social skills, environmental awareness, and cultural knowledge, as well as the challenges faced by educational institutions in integrating it. The results highlight the importance of experiential learning in the Saudi curriculum's goal of improving student experiences. To fully understand the long-term impacts of educational tourism and experiential learning on instructors and students, a longitudinal strategy is recommended. Overall, the success of educational tourism depends on institutional support and the involvement of teachers in experiential learning. This study explores the impact of educational tourism on the experiential learning of Saudi students and also explores the challenges faced by Saudi education system in the adoption of experiential learning. This research heavily draws from Kolb’s experiential learning theory and Ritchie’s segmentation model; and highlights how educational tourism caters to cultural understanding, social skills, and to a lesser extent, environmental awareness. The study aptly demonstrated that educational tourism improves student’s personal and professional development, through a quantitative survey of 138 students and teachers from Saudi Arabia. A strong positive correlation was witnessed between educational tourism and cultural awareness and interpersonal skills of students. However, the research also showcased a weak correlation between environmental awareness and educational tourism, suggesting a growing need to include sustainability into educational programs. Moreover, the study also examined the role led by educational institutes in enhancing teachers’ job satisfaction through experiential learning environments, withstanding that organisational backing is detrimental for the success of such programs. The regression analysis demonstrated that teacher’s job satisfaction is enhanced when there is strong institutional support for experiential learning. However, the study highlights the need for further curriculum development in environmental education, along with institutional frameworks to support both teachers and students in educational tourism initiatives. It is recommended to conduct further research on this scope of work to expand it across different regions and to explore the long-term effects of educational tourism on student development.