ABSTRACT

The pursuit of a postgraduate higher education in tourism studies, particularly for students from developing nations, is largely achieved by studying in the countries of the developed world. This has, therefore, created patterns of temporary migration to, and an international marketplace for, higher education institutions in Europe, North America and Australasia that have developed expertise in tourism studies. In this chapter we are interested to explore the implications of this phenomenon for the form, content and context of postgraduate higher education in tourism. By the mid-1970s a small number of international postgraduate students began arriving in the UK to study tourism. Thirty years later we estimate that approximately 1000 postgraduate students are studying tourism in UK universities, the majority of whom are from outside of the European Union. International students now dominate postgraduate tourism studies at both levels and in all forms of postgraduate study; taught qualifications up to Master's level and research degrees leading to Master's and doctoral awards (Botterill & Platenkamp, 2004; Botterill, Haven, & Gale, 2002; Lengkeek & Platenkamp, 2004).