To read this content please select one of the options below:

To return or not to return: an investigation of dilemma among medical students to revisit Ukraine for educational tourism

Samiha Siddiqui (Department of Commerce, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India)
Sujood (Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, Jamia Millia Islamia Central University, New Delhi, India)
Naseem Bano (Department of Commerce, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India)
Sheeba Hamid (Department of Commerce, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India)

International Journal of Tourism Cities

ISSN: 2056-5607

Article publication date: 28 September 2023

Issue publication date: 12 September 2024

142

Abstract

Purpose

Ukraine hosts thousands of international students for educational tourism, of which more than 18,000 Indian medical students were compelled to escape Ukraine under emergency conditions of war. This paper aims to examine their intention to return to Ukraine to complete their education based on an integrated theory of planned behaviour (TPB) framework with added constructs, i.e. risk perception, career anxiety, rescue and relief memory.

Design/methodology/approach

The data were collected from 26 February 2022 to 30 June 2022 in two phases and two modes. It was ensured that the respondents were strictly confined to Indian medical students who had travelled to Ukraine for educational tourism. SPSS 25 and AMOS 23.0 were used to analyse the data. The hypotheses proposed were statistically tested.

Findings

The analysis reveals that the extended TPB model resulted in a strong model and the empirical findings corroborate that the students’ attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control and career anxiety significantly and positively influence the students’ revisit intention (RI) while risk perception and rescue and relief memory have a negative influence on the RI.

Research limitations/implications

The study provides timely insights and implications to the Ukrainian tourism industry, particularly educational tourism business and medical institutions under the present turmoil, which can also act as blueprint research for destinations with a similar unstable political background.

Originality/value

The primary value of this research work is that it provides an understanding of the intention of medical students (educational tourists) towards revisiting the war-hit destination of Ukraine.

Keywords

Citation

Siddiqui, S., , S., Bano, N. and Hamid, S. (2024), "To return or not to return: an investigation of dilemma among medical students to revisit Ukraine for educational tourism", International Journal of Tourism Cities, Vol. 10 No. 3, pp. 789-816. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJTC-03-2023-0050

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2023, International Tourism Studies Association

Related articles