ANALYTICAL INQUEST ON EDUCATIONAL TOURISM IN NORTH EAST INDIA
Educational tourism refers to program in which participants travel to a location as a group with the primary purpose of engaging in a learning experience directly related to the location (Rodger, 1998). According to Hayes and McCann (2008), educational tourism is defined as containing a diversity of activities including foreign exchange-student programs, leave and staff exchanges, training and educational tours, school workshops and trips, study and work tours, short courses, method and language courses, conferences and seminars, academic meetings, continuing adult education programs, winter and summer schools, advance practice training, internship periods, sports and coaching seminars, cultural and historical tours. The sub-types of educational tourism may be categorized as: a) cultural / historical, b) eco-tourism / nature-based tourism/ rural tourism, and c) study abroad programs (Ankomah and Larson, 2004). Educational tourism also includes heritage tourism and student exchanges between universities and educational institutions. It is a part of lifelong learning which includes all learning activity undertaken throughout life, with the aim of improving knowledge, skills and competence, within a personal, civic, social and/or employment-related perspective. The role of universities in education tourism takes into account the following areas. These are, delivery of instructions to the participants and the basic knowledge of the tourism, pay personal attention to the participants, devoting time, money and efforts to meet the challenges, usage of technology, communication of advantages and limitations, cultural traits, language and communication problems, environmental factors, commitment and exploration. In India, there have been improvements taking place in the system of education. Though there have been formulation of measures to make improvements in education tourism. These are, taking into consideration the needs of the students, building of tourism educational inventory, financial assistance, conducive environmental conditions, training of individuals in educational tourism, organization of educational fairs and sessions, counselling and guidance, employment-oriented programs, pursuance of short-term courses and availability of accommodation.
Educational Tourism, Higher Education and North East India