The perceived influence of travel experiences on learning generic skills

Empirical work exploring the role of travel in assisting the learning of skills is of interest to travellers, educators and employers. Pearce and Foster’s generic skills attributes list was used as a basis to investigate the amount and nature of perceived learning by North American University students. It was established through survey research and tested with ANOVA comparisons that travel experiences were perceived as assisting the learning of generic skills, especially amongst those who had travelled internationally four or more times. Key skills seen as influenced by travel included independence, being open-minded and feeling comfortable around all kinds of people. There was a moderate increase in communication skills. The findings showed close links with previous studies of youth budget travellers. Employers and educators can consider travel to be a learning opportunity affecting the acquisition of key business and generic skills.