The impact of educational tourism on economic growth: a panel data analysis

Since the early 21st century, the educational tourism sector has been growing rapidly especially in developing countries and it is one of the major sources of export in a number of developed countries. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to determine the impact of educational tourism on economic growth with controlling the impact of exports of goods and foreign direct investment. A panel dataset of 11 countries was selected as the main group in international education exporter for the years 2002-2017 and this study utilised static panel data analysis. The results found that educational tourism and exports have positive impact on economic growth. The study also found that there is a country specific effect through different constant. This study proved that other than exports of goods, certain countries can benefit from the educational tourism sector as the new engine of economic sustainability.