A study of tourism awareness among undergraduate students at the University of Jordan
Abstract
The study aimed to identify the primary methods of recognizing tourist sites in Jordan from the point of view of Jordanian university students and sought to indicate the negative effects of tourism in Jordan, and the role played by the tourism authorities in Jordan. The researcher relied on the analytical statistical method mainly to analyse the data obtained through the study tool (questionnaire) distributed to (422) people in the available sample method and analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software (SPSS). The study concluded that the most important methods for recognizing tourist sites in Jordan, according to the viewpoint of Jordanian university students, is that there are sufficient university curricula and courses to spread tourism awareness among students in Jordanian universities, and that the importance of tourism in Jordan, according to the viewpoint of the study sample members, is that tourism awareness contributes to spreading culture and increasing international understanding. The study recommended the need to provide Jordanian university students with sufficient information about tourism in Jordan and tourist sites by setting compulsory courses for all students as a university requirement and holding awareness courses in order to spread tourism awareness among students
Keywords: Awareness, Tourism, University of Jordan, Undergraduate education.
Introduction
Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries at the present time, so countries have become interested in tourism due to its great role in supporting the national economy, providing job opportunities for residents, and highlighting the civilised and historical face of nations and peoples. Focusing on the tourism sector can help address economic and regional challenges in the Middle East, by intensifying the development of tourism and educating the tourism community to raise tourism awareness of its importance (Ibrahim and Shujaa, 2022).
Tourism awareness is a condition that describes the active participation of the community in promoting a favourable climate for the growth and development of tourism in an area. This requires efforts to enable a tourism destination to be more optimal by recognising their responsibility as a good host for tourists, and understanding the rights of tourists as a manifestation of basic leisure needs. Therefore, tourism awareness must be developed as an essential element in supporting the development of tourism destinations and implemented by all stakeholders (et al. 2019 Sihombing).
Therefore, tourism awareness in Jordan is an issue for Jordanian society because the tourism sector in Jordan is based on human beings (population) as a result of the accumulated importance of human relations in tourism, which is common to people's behaviours. Also, tourism awareness is important to discover a tourism system capable of investment and competitiveness, as investment in tourism projects is highly associated with tourism awareness (Al-Ajlouni, 2016), so this study discusses the means to identify tourist sites in Jordan, the importance of tourism in Jordan through the viewpoint of students of the University of Jordan as a sample for the study, the potential negative effects of tourism in Jordan according to the members of the study sample, and the role of the concerned authorities and ministries to study this topic.
Study Problem and Questions
The travel and tourism industry is one of the largest industries in the world and accounts for 9% of global GDP (World Travel and Tourism Council, 2011). Both international tourism arrivals and international tourism revenues grew by 4% in 2012 and reached a new record of US$1,075 billion in revenues globally (World Travel and Tourism Council, 2011) (van Nieker k et al. 2013).
Tourism awareness contributes to improving the tourism image in Jordan in order to get rid of the negative effects facing the tourism sector, so the sector strives to build a tourism-educated society through the cooperation of all parties and ministries within Jordan, as the work on tourism development is not limited to the public and private sectors, but the citizen is the main element in the tourism development process. Therefore, this study came to study tourism awareness in Jordan and its importance from the point of view of the students of the University of Jordan, as the University of Jordan is the oldest Jordanian university (Al-Ajlouni, 2016, p. 81). By asking the following questions:
- What are the approaches to identifying Jordanian tourist sites from the point of view of students at the University of Jordan?
- What is the importance of tourism in Jordan from the point of view of the study sample?
- What are the possible negative effects of tourism in Jordan from the point of view of the study sample?
- What is the role played by the tourism authorities from the perspective of the students of the University of Jordan?
Significance and Rationale of the Study
Tourism awareness among tourists contributes significantly to the development of the tourism movement, which is one of the main sources of national income, belonging and a sense of cultural identity and introducing tourists to the ancient civilisation, in addition to the role it plays in preserving the effects, behaviours and negative practices at tourist sites in Jordan. Tourism awareness is a key pillar for the development of the tourism sector and an urgent and indispensable necessity, as it represents an effective means of achieving the desired benefits of tourism activity, and contributes to the development of tourism, improving the image of tourism in society and minimising some of the negative effects that accompany the tourism industry, through building a tourism-educated society aware of the importance of the achievements and successes achieved by the tourism sector and the economic opportunities and gains offered by this sector that are reflected on the members of Jordanian society (Ibrahim and Shujaa, 2022).
Objectives of the study
The study seeks to achieve the following objectives
- To identify the means by which tourist sites in Jordan can be recognised from the perspective of students at the University of Jordan.
- Revealing the importance of tourism in Jordan from the point of view of the study sample.
- Identify the negative effects of tourism in Jordan.
- Identify the role played by the tourism authorities from the perspective of the students of the University of Jordan.
Methodology
Sources of data
Primary data: Data and information collected through the field study according to the questionnaire.
Secondary Data: Obtaining information and data issued by: Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Ministry of Higher Education, University of Jordan, and Tourism Promotion Authority, as well as books, university theses, and scientific research related to tourism.
Study Instrument (Questionnaire)
A special questionnaire was designed consisting of five parts, including: Demographic data of the study sample members, data and information about the means to identify tourist sites in Jordan, and data about the importance of tourism in Jordan from the point of view of tourism students: The importance of tourism in Jordan from the point of view of Jordanian university students, data on the potential negative effects of tourism in Jordan, and data on the role of tourism stakeholders from the point of view of the study sample.
Reliability and validity of the instrument
The questionnaire was presented to a group of specialists in the field. The required amendments were made based on their comments, and the amendments were added based on the feedback from applying the questionnaire to a survey sample consisting of (25) students from the University of Jordan. Next, the Cronbach's alpha coefficient was extracted in order to determine the degree of stability of the measurement tool after distributing the questionnaire in its final form; the value of Cronbach's alpha reached (83.8).
Study population and sample
The study population consisted of all students of the University of Jordan enrolled in the summer semester of the bachelor's level, and the study sample was selected from students of the University of Jordan as a case study, and a questionnaire was distributed to a random sample of bachelor's students at the University of Jordan, so the size of the study sample (individuals responding to the study) was determined, and the questionnaire was distributed to an exploratory sample of (25) questionnaires for the study area, to identify the suitability of the questionnaire and achieve the objectives of the study and modify the questionnaire. The answers to one of the questions were selected in the exploratory sample. To determine the size of the sample, the sample was taken by the Admission and Registration Unit in terms of the number of University of Jordan students enrolled in the summer semester for the academic year (2023-2024), which is 35,900 students, and the formula was applied, and the size of the study sample reached (422) students, as follows:
Table (1): The number of students at the University of Jordan at the level of colleges and the size of the sample population
Source: Researcher's work, relying on SPSS software
No.
Faculty
No. of Students
Relative Weight
Sample Size Determined
1
Arts
3823
10.6
6.7
2
Educational Sciences
2300
6.4
37
3
Business
2590
7.2
37.8
4
Foreign Languages
2540
7.2
37.8
5
Law
2420
6.7
38.2
6
Sharia
1416
3.9
20.4
7
Arts
2290
6.3
26.5
8
Archaeology and Tourism
2266
6.3
28.5
9
Sciences
2233
6.2
26.1
10
Agriculture
1400
3.8
16.3
11
Pharmacy
677
1.8
7.5
12
Physical Education
720
2.9
12.2
13
International Studies
210
0.5
0.01
14
Medicine
2390
6.6
27.8
15
Dentistry
955
2.6
10.9
16
Rehabilitation Sciences
1787
4.9
20.6
17
Engineering
3944
10.9
45.9
18
Information Technology
1900
5.2
21.9
Total
35900
99.9
422
The questionnaire was distributed to a randomly selected sample of 25 questionnaires representing the students of the University of Jordan, in order to determine the suitability of the questionnaire and its fulfilment of the objectives of the study, and then modified in order to determine the sample size. (422) questionnaires were analysed on the software; (9) questionnaires were excluded because they did not meet the necessary conditions for analysis.
Full text:
PDF
References