Little empirical research has been done on the opportunities presented to the event management profession by the significant growth in the size, scope, length and visibility of the tourism industry, as indicated by hallmark events such as numerous world fairs, festivals and sport events. The aim of this research was to determine the motivational factors that push and pull the local residents of Potchefstroom, South Africa, to attend and participate in the Aardklop National Arts Festival (Aardklop Festival), as well as the situational inhibitors that discourage them from participating in the festival. The specific festival activities they enjoyed most were also identified. The research for this dissertation was undertaken in Potchefstroom where the Aardklop Festival has been held annually since 1998. This is one of the largest arts festivals in South Africa and highly popular on the annual events calendar. The findings of the research are significant as they may promote the sustainability of the Aardklop Festival in South Africa's growing and competitive festival and events market by assisting the festival management to gain greater insight into strategies for profitable marketing and future communication. The research findings may assist event organisers not only to understand the importance of research, but also to consider and understand the needs of the local residents in the host community, since various authors have indicated that these residents play a pivotal role in the sustainability of a festival. Copyright / Dissertation (MPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Tourism Management / unrestricted

Inflows of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) into Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) between 2000 and 2014 remained a minute fraction (at only 2% and 1% respectively) of global inflows. This study seeks to explain this phenomenon by examining the push (global) and pull (domestic) factors that may help to explain inflows of FDI and FPI in SSA and the mechanisms through which these factors affect inflows (the how). As ongoing regional integration efforts in Africa through trading blocs, the study also discusses the role of regional trading blocs in explaining capital flows into SSA. In the process, the research challenges some of the established theories and contributes to policy for managing international capital inflows. The study identifies possible explanatory variables from existing theory and empirical studies. Data on possible determinants of FDI and FPI is largely extracted from the World Bank and IMF databases. The determinants considered are macro-economic, infrastructural, institutional, resource endowment and geographical related. These are modeled into econometric model of FDI and FPI. Several hypotheses on the possible determinants are then tested using panel regressions with random effects. The results indicate that SSA's FDI during the period reviewed is mainly pulled by macroeconomic dynamics, infrastructure and human resources factors and pushed by global macroeconomic performance. Likewise, FPI is largely pulled by GDP and infrastructure factors. The results further show that FDI and FPI inflows in regional trading blocs of SADC, COMESA and ECOWAS are affected by different risk, return, macroeconomic, trade and distance factors. The effects of factors such as distance and macroeconomic factors also vary across the regional trading blocs, suggesting their importance of these blocs in capital flows.

Some tourists travel for medical reasons, and this is known as medical tourism. The growth of medical tourism is mainly spurred by globalisation and the availability of quality healthcare services in receiving countries. Once a medical need arises, a prospective medical tourist would usually search and gather information about prospective medical tourism destinations. Various push and pull factors would determine whether a destination will be selected by tourists to satisfy their medical needs. The aim of this study was thus to identify the push and pull factors of a medical tourism destination, and based on these, to measure South Africa’s performance as a medical tourism destination. Making use of a qualitative research approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 medical tourism tour operators. Content analysis was used to analyse the data. Some of the push factors identified were the cost and lack of treatment/medical services in medical tourists’ home countries, the availability of expertise and medical facilities at the receiving destination, and the wish to avoid long waiting lists. The quality of hospitals, cost of surgery, expertise of the physicians, as well as the accessibility of destinations were indicated as the pull factors. The findings also show that medical tourists seem to be more interested in the reputation of the healthcare providers and hospitals than in typical tourist activities in medical tourism destinations. The findings of this study highlight the fact that South Africa is not known as a medical tourism destination. Hence there is a need for South Africa to be promoted by government and other stakeholders as a credible, affordable and accessible medical tourism destination. The study contributes to the available literature on medical tourism but from the perspective of medical tourism tour operators as major stakeholders in the medical tourism industry. / Dissertation (MPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Tourism Management / MPhil / Unrestricted

The predominance of International Higher Education has switched from the USA, Canada, England and Australia, the pioneers of internationalization of higher education, to Europe and other countries. European countries have become the higher study destination for many students from all over the world. Own strategies and policies for internationalization have developed by European countries, building on and seeing beyond the policies stipulated by the European Commission. As a member of European Union, Swedish Government and universities have developed strategies, measures and tools to attract international students. Scholarships and grants, different projects, extended visa, education quality, social security, ranking of institutions etc. play important role behind third country students choosing Sweden for higher studies. However, other features such as education cost, ideological affinity, language aptitude, job availability, easy visa process etc. can influence the choice of students. These features make Sweden attractive as higher education destination to Bangladeshi Students. This study tries to understand the factors behind decision of Bangladeshi students choosing Swedish University for tertiary education. The study also attempts to discuss the experience of Bangladeshi students during their study period in Sweden as well as after finishing study. The theory of “Push and Pull factors” is used as the main theoretical reference to discuss findings of the study. Social insecurity, political instability, education opportunity and quality of home country, personal choice, job opportunity etc. are recognized as major ‘push factors and education quality, world class institution, social security, standard of life, easy application process etc. are recognized as ‘pull factors’ behind the decision of Bangladeshi student choosing Sweden as higher education destination. The Study not only discusses the challenges and experiences of Bangladeshi students including covid-19 situation but also gives implications for future students.  The data was collected by taking interviews from the Bangladeshi students studying at masters’ level in Umea university, Sweden and used qualitative method for analysis.

CHARLES UNIVERSITY IN PRAGUE FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Institute of Sociological Studies Department of Sociology Valeriia Galushkevych 'Czech people' coming from Ukraine, their understanding of national identity Thesis abstract Key words: Czech Republic, integration, migration, national identity, perception, push and pull factors, resettlement, Ukrainian migrants. In this thesis, I analyze various aspects of migration from Ukraine to the Czech Republic under the resettlement program of ethnic Czechs introduced by the Czech government in 2015. This program was initiated upon the request of the Czech society in Ukraine in response to steady economic decline and worsening living conditions in Ukraine. The population of my study is ethnic Czechs living in Ukraine and who moved to the Czech Republic within the resettlement program. I study the determinants of their move, speed of integration in the Czech Republic, progress on the Czech labor market, migrants' satisfaction with life in the destination country, discrimination and their plans for the future. I collect qualitative data from individual interviews mostly conducted in hotel rooms where the migrants temporarily reside. A significant distinguishing feature of this study is that I analyze migrants with Czech roots who moved to the Czech Republic under...

From 2015, a huge influx of refugees came from the Middle East, the Balkans, Central Asia and Africa to Europe. It is triggered by various persecutions, armed wars, economic impossibility. The majority of those arrived were refugees, those who had fled their country due to imminent threat or persecution and were even trying to reach the European continent at the risk of their lives. The others are economic immigrants who have migrated to the European Union in the hope of a better life - to work, study or reunite. The UK has been a major destination for both migrants and refugees for many decades. The dissertation draws attention to the complex effects of migration, with a particular focus on the host country, and highlights, especially in the UK, the need for migrants in an aging society in Europe, even if the public thinks otherwise. With the Brexit, the UK has exited the European Union, cut back on previous benefits for EU migrants and is opening up to former Commonwealth members as sending countries.

Under de senaste åren har flyktingströmmarna till Sverige nått historiska nivåer. Många av de som kommer flyr krigets Syrien. Gruppen av syrier som fått permanenta uppehållstillstånd och nu ska skapa sig ett nytt liv i Sverige är stor. Hur ska Sverige utnyttja denna grupps kompetens och hur ska flyktingarna själva ta plats i samhället på såväl arbetsmarknad men även få social tillhörighet. Detta kan antas bli en återkommande fråga i den offentliga debatten. Vi upplever att det finns kunskapsluckor om dessa människor och deras tankar om Sverige, hur de trodde att det skulle bli och hur det blev. Detta är en intervjustudie där sex syrier har tillfrågats om sina förväntningar på och upplevelser av Sverige. Resultatet visar att intervjupersonerna hört om Sverige som ett fritt, demokratiskt, jämställt land med generös flyktingpolitik och permanenta uppehållstillstånd. Ett land där man kan bli vad man vill bara man kämpar. När de summerar hur det blivit efter de första åren konstaterar de att mycket stämmer men att det är lång väntan på uppehållstillstånd och yrkesvalideringar, att det dröjer innan de får sitt första arbete och att det är svårt att hitta forum där de kan prata svenska. Studien kan i framtiden utvecklas till att undersöka hur samma grupp som varit i Sverige ytterligare en tid uppfattar sin situation. / In recent years, the flow of refugees to Sweden reached historic levels. Many of those who will flee Syria war. The group of Syrians who have permanent residence and is now going to create a new life in Sweden is great. How should Sweden take advantage of this group's expertise and how the refugees themselves will have a place in society in both the labor market but also socially. This is likely to be a recurring issue in the public debate. We feel that there are gaps in knowledge about these people and their ideas about Sweden, the way they thought it would be and how it turned out. This is an interview where six Syrians were asked about their expectations and experiences of Sweden. The results show that the respondents heard about Sweden as a free, democratic, egalitarian country with generous refugee policy and permanent residence permits. A country where you can be what you want only one struggling. When they add up how it has been for the first few years, they acknowledge that this is true but it is a long wait for a residence permit and yrkesvalideringar, it will take time before they get their first job and that it is difficult to find a forum where they can speak Swedish. The study can be developed in the future to investigate how the same group that has been in Sweden for some more time then understand their situation and if it changed.

One of Sweden’s most well known monopolies is approaching its end, Apoteket AB. A re-regulation of a state owned monopoly is nothing new but it happens within an interesting trade. Since the government is in total control of the whole re-regulation process, we found it interesting to see how they managed to include the potential individuals who want to take over a pharmacy. After all, many are the times the government has emphasized the importance of small firms. Out of the approximately 900 pharmacies owned by Apoteket AB, 150 are going to be sold to individuals. This group is called “small enterprise cluster”, and this cluster became the focus of our thesis. We wanted to get an insight into this group, since it is more complex and diverse compared to the large corporations entering the market. Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to measure the willingness to take over pharmacies among the employees of Apoteket AB, as well as to analyse how the government's support has affected the decisions of individuals. Method In order to get a good view of the re-regulation process we chose a qualitative approach, where we performed personal interviews with 6 respondents equally spread out on 3 pharmacies in a medium sized Swedish city and the surrounding area. The interviews where performed in a semi-structured manner. Besides the primary data, secondary data was collected. It builds the foundation for the theoretical framework and the analysis of the interviews. Since the theoretical framework was created before the research was performed, the study used a deductive research approach.

<p>One of Sweden’s most well known monopolies is approaching its end, Apoteket AB. A re-regulation of a state owned monopoly is nothing new but it happens within an interesting trade. Since the government is in total control of the whole re-regulation process, we found it interesting to see how they managed to include the potential individuals who want to take over a pharmacy. After all, many are the times the government has emphasized the importance of small firms.</p><p>Out of the approximately 900 pharmacies owned by Apoteket AB, 150 are going to be sold to individuals. This group is called “small enterprise cluster”, and this cluster became the focus of our thesis. We wanted to get an insight into this group, since it is more complex and diverse compared to the large corporations entering the market.</p><p><strong>Purpose</strong></p><p>The purpose of this thesis is to measure the willingness to take over pharmacies among the employees of Apoteket AB, as well as to analyse how the government's support has affected the decisions of individuals.</p><p><strong>Method</strong></p><p>In order to get a good view of the re-regulation process we chose a qualitative approach, where we performed personal interviews with 6 respondents equally spread out on 3 pharmacies in a medium sized Swedish city and the surrounding area. The interviews where performed in a semi-structured manner.</p><p>Besides the primary data, secondary data was collected. It builds the foundation for the theoretical framework and the analysis of the interviews. Since the theoretical framework was created before the research was performed, the study used a deductive research approach.</p>

Purpose: My purpose of this study was to examine the factors that motivate Swedes to travel to Egypt and Thailand. To answer the question, I have used two questions. What are the factors that motivate Swedes to travel to Egypt and Thailand? What is the motive for Swedes choose to travel to destinations such as Egypt and Thailand? Method: The method I am using  is the qualitative method. The qualitative method has been processed through interviews of Swedish travelers, the Swedish travel agencies as well as Egypt and Thailand tourist agencies specializing in trips to Egypt and Thailand via phone and e-mail. Theory: The theory I am using are motivators and push-pull factors in achieving an understanding of the factors that influence choice for Swedes to travel to destinations such as Egypt and Thailand. Empiricism: The goal was to get a much more qualitative data from the response from the Swedish travel agencies, Egypt and Thailand tourist agency and Swedish travelers who have traveled to both of these destinations. Result: What I have come up with in my study is that the factors that motivate Swedish travelers to travel to Egypt and Thailand, is the warm climate, sun and sea, culture, variety, the cheap price situation and that there are activities for different age groups. This has led to the heat in both Egypt and Thailand has attracted Swedish travelers to travel to both destinations. The reason for this is due to the bad weather here in Sweden which includes the winter and snow. / Syftet: Mitt syfte med uppsatsen har varit att undersöka vilka faktorer som motiverar svenskar att resa till Egypten och Thailand. För att besvara syftet har jag använt mig av två frågeställningar. Vilka är de faktorer som motiverar svenskar att resa till Egypten och Thailand? Vad är motivet till att svenskar väljer att resa till destinationer som Egypten och Thailand? Metod: Den metod jag har använt mig av är den kvalitativa metoden. Den kvalitativa metoden har bearbetats genom intervjuer av svenska resenärer, de svenska resebyråerna samt Egypten och Thailand turistbyråer som specialiserar sig på resor till Egypten och Thailand, via telefon och e-post. Teori: Den teori jag har använt mig av är motivationsfaktorer och push- pull faktorer för att uppnå en förståelse för vilka faktorer som påverkar valet för svenskar att resa till destinationer som Egypten och Thailand. Empiri: Målet var att få en mycket mer kvalitativ data från responsen från de svenska resebyråerna, Egypten och Thailand turistbyråer och svenska resenärer som har rest till båda dessa destinationer. Resultat: Det jag har kommit fram till i min studie är att de faktorer som motiverar svenska resenärer att resa till Egypten och Thailand är: det varma klimatet, sol och bad, kultur, dess variation, det billiga prisläget och för att det finns aktiviteter för olika åldersgrupper. Detta har lett till att värmen i både Egypten och Thailand har lockat svenska resenärer att resa till båda dessa destinationer. Anledningen till detta beror på det dåliga vädret här i Sverige som bland annat består av vinter och snö.