Daisuke Sawauchi

Travel Behavior of International Students at a University in Japan: A Comparison of Chinese and Non-Chinese Students

The purpose of this study is to investigate the travel behavior of international students. Specifically, it is to examine the differences between two groups of students: Chinese and non-Chinese. A mail survey of international students at a university in Japan was conducted. The overall results indicated that international students tended to visit destinations within day-trip distance. A statistical test showed that Chinese students rarely used booking services for car rentals and preferred to stay at tourist hotels; public media was a major source of travel information for them. The non-Chinese students, on the other hand, preferred lodging at campgrounds/cottages and tended to rely on word-of-mouth recommendations of their friends.