Abstract:

Spain is the European country most favored by Erasmus Exchange Students Program. Each year the number of Erasmus students increased and its goal, besides studying part of their studies in Spain, is to learn both the language and cultural traditions. Bearing in mind that one of the main strengths of the Spanish economy lies in its tourism sector (Piédrola Ortiz and Artacho Ruiz, 2011), and it is estimated that 15% of gross domestic product (GDP) of a State is bound to language (Instituto Cervantes, 2014), we have to point put the great importance of promoting the language and culture abroad to strengthen the image of Spain. On this basis and the objectives of knowing the profile of international students at the University of Cordoba (Spain) and main motivations in selecting destiny, a semi structured questionnaire was conducted during academic year 2015/2016. The study analyzes six large blocks of possible motivations that explain why the international student decide to choose the city of Cordoba to attend the academic year destination (Geographic, cultural, socioeconomic, academic, professional and personal reasons). This analysis is completed by studying the role of language during academic period as well as the analysis of the economic implications in the destination city, pointing out the importance of language as economic factor to attract new tourists. The results of this research and its findings will serve to implement improvements in planning activities, strategies, techniques and methodological approaches to improve the situation of language tourism in Córdoba Spain

Keywords:

Erasmus, Idiomatic Tourism.