Yohei Okamoto

Lifestyle mobility can be defined as “ongoing semi-permanent moves of varying duration … [and] sustained as an ongoing fluid process, carrying on as everyday practice over time” (Cohen et al., 2015, p.158). There is a diverse range of lifestyle mobility today, such as digital nomadism, vanlife, and lifestyle migration (Rickly, 2016). Those who practice lifestyle mobility can be labelled as lifestyle travellers: “individuals who actively pursue travel indefinitely and as a way of life rather than as a temporal break from normality” (Williamson, Hassanli, & Grabowski, 2022, p.234). Global nomads (Kannisto, 2016), permanent travellers (E. Cohen, 1974), are other similar terms used by commentators. Lifestyle mobility is a contemporary phenomenon and concept emerged as a result of increasing mobility in contemporary society and seeing mobility as an important means to fulfil self-identity needs (Mclntyre, 2009), as well as changing dynamics between work and leisure, home and away (S. A. Cohen et al., 2015). Active investigation on lifestyle mobilities, as a unified term began around the 2010s (S. A. Cohen et al., 2015; Mclntyre, 2009) as the new mobility paradigm started to gain traction (Sheller & Urry, 2006, 2016). However, to date, there has not been any attempt to focus on specific dimensions in defining lifestyle travellers. Therefore, the present research aims to address this knowledge gap by proposing the following five defining characteristics of lifestyle travellers.

This working paper presents lessons learnt based on the lived experiences of delivering a short-term student mobility program in Hokkaido, Japan, through applying the Critical Incident Technique (CIT). Academic staff from four culturally diverse backgrounds reported on Critical Incidents (CIs) observed during the program. The result was 38 CIs analysed, which suggest six themes for consideration by those planning study abroad programs. These six themes are: (1) Student preparedness, attitude and mindset, (2) Moments of recognition, celebration and success and lightbulb moments, (3) Cross-cultural issues, (4) Challenging physical conditions, external factors and the program’s logistical constraints, (5) Institutional policy and infrastructure issues, (6) Language and communication issues, and (7) Divergent stakeholder expectations. The findings of this study create an empirically supported, pedagogical approach to the development and evaluation of study abroad programs.

There has been increased global advocacy in recent years for the need to integrate sustainability agendas in tourism education and practice. Concurrently, there is growing interest and research on game-based learning (GBL), and its effectiveness in achieving pedagogical and learning outcomes in higher education. While there have been a number of studies about GBL across diverse educational disciplines and contexts, there has been no significant study to date investigating the application and effectiveness of Digital Game-based Learning (DGBL) for sustainable tourism education. The aim of this conceptual paper is to examine the key attributes influencing learning effectiveness (knowledge acquisition outcomes) of DGBL within the context of sustainable tourism education. The study will review current research agendas within the dimensions of (1) sustainable tourism education, and (2) gamification and game-based learning. These will be discussed within the context of a Sustainable Tourism Simulation Game, which was developed to incorporate game-based strategy as part of the blended learning curriculum in an undergraduate sustainable tourism unit. A proposed conceptual framework recommends key assessment indicators for measuring DGBL outcomes in sustainable tourism education.

This interactive lecture provides a brief overview of the concept of sustainable tourism and its application in practice. It first introduces the development of sustainable tourism from a historical perspective. It then examines the management of tourism development and its relationship to the conservation of natural, social and cultural resources at the destination. Finally, using case studies and industry best practice examples, the session leads to critical discussions of sustainable tourism applications from a contemporary international tourism perspective.

This study takes a systematic quantitative literature review of the academic literature that concerns practices and issues of tourism training and education in an Australian context. The study examines papers published from 2001 to 2014. The review focuses on the analysis of five aspects: 1. researcher location, 2. location of sample origin, 3. focus of study, 4. published year and 5. journal. Forty-one academic articles were collated from online databases. Preliminary findings suggest that there is a growing trend in this study field, attracting both Australian and international academics. Further studies are called to fill the gap in the area of Vocational Education and Training (VET), particularly given the emerging link between the VET and Higher Education sectors.