Educational tourism in Malta ELT industry in Malta : Gozo’s potential

Abstract

Educational tourism is becoming a dominant niche market worldwide, especially in Malta whereby it highly contributes to the number of inbound tourists yearly. Malta has successfully imaged itself as a dominant country in the English learning tourism market, with numerous quality schools operating in the island. This research aims to look at the potential of this niche market on Malta’s sister island Gozo, by identifying the main reasons as to why students are currently choosing Malta over Gozo as to understand what needs to be done in order for the island to fulfil its maximum potential in this market. This study takes the form of quantitative research that involves conducting surveys amongst 67 foreign students. Results from this study may be outlined as follows: Students that have considered Gozo when planning their trip to Malta as opposed to those who have not; the relation between age and if they have visited Gozo for leisure purpose whilst in Malta. The main reason why respondents would consider studying in Gozo is because of the landscape and greenery of the island whilst the main reason as to why they would not consider studying there is because of the lifestyle and leisure options. Moreover the study also looks into how the respondents ranked their overall study experience in Malta, quality of language schools was ranked the highest whilst the cultural exchange through host families and locals was ranked the lowest.