GadjahMada University as a potential destination for edutourism

Educational tourism is a growing sector in world tourism market and it has attracted great attention because of its direct impact to the community. Educational tourism occurs when an individual travels to somewhere and during the trip intentionally or unintentionally involves in the process of learning. Since tourism is considered as one of the main industries and sectors highly contributing to economic development in Indonesia especially in Yogyakarta, this can be an ideal case for studying the issue of educational tourism. This paper aims to discuss the education tourism potential at GadjahMada University. Edu Tourism is a means to empower academics, local community, local businesses, and to improve the economic welfare. This study was design using qualitative methods which include Interview, direct observation, survey and best practice method. The findings show that there is a positive relationship between attitude, environmental impact, economic impact, socio-cultural impacts and practice in the field. The findings incorporate new insights in to the socio-cultural and economic potential of education tourism and practices related to community development at GadjahMada University. Educational tourism can create sustainable development for local communities, academic society, universities and stakeholders.