The impacts of mobility and international student experiences in Dalarna, Sweden

Abstract: Tourism is a large umbrella that primarily encompasses travel and movement. Within movement comes the idea of mobility. Mobility is the movement of things and people from one place to another. When students move across international borders, this is referred to as mobility by international students. Every year international students travel to foreign countries for study purposes, which falls directly within the tourism concept of mobility. The study, therefore, set out to find out what the experiences of international students were interms of mobility in Sweden. This was done by conducting semi-structured interviews of 8 international students, all studying different programs at Swedish universities, with a majority from Dalarna University, a university situated in Dalarna County. Dalarna county, Sweden, is in the Northern part of Europe. Sweden is becoming a popular study destination for students from within the European Union for Erasmus, a short exchange study period offered by Higher Education within Europe. Sweden has, over the years, become so popular as a study destination that students come from other parts of the world for a high standard of education. All these international students have different experiences when making their way to their universities of choice and face various obstacles which are subjective to them. This study focuses on the experiences of international students mobility. In particular, what experiences they have had collectively and individually, how these current students view mobility and how it can be improved for prospective students.