International Student’s Mobility and Tourism: Relations, Opportunities, and Insights for Canadian University Cities

The increase in student enrollment and mobility in Canadian universities every year generates a continuous flow of people that move, study, work, and live in university cities across the country. The presence of international students contributes to the prosperity of Canada, positively impacting its socio-cultural and economic development. The multiplicity of needs and services related to this segment of the urban population also makes their way through to the travel and hospitality sectors. Indeed, students visit and travel in the country, contributing to urban tourism and the local economy. In addition, the uncertainty related to the post-pandemic period and the hybridization of academic activities provided by several Canadian universities in response to the conditions created by the pandemic, will continue to impact the use of space, places, and services and increase the level of the temporary and flexible hospitality demands. This study investigates the relations and the opportunities between the mobility of university students and urban tourism, with implications for partnerships between destinations and their higher education institutions, a topic rarely explored in the tourism field and its literature