Education Tourism is one of the not well recognized dimensions of tourism. Mysore is known as Royal City and Heritage city. In this presentation I argue we need to position Mysore as a Knowledge City and boost the development of Mysore as a knowledge city as it USP and tell a unique story about Mysore and its intellectual capital which not only includes its heritage, culture , education and various other special characteristics of the city brand

1. Dr. Shalini Urs
MYRA School of Business
&
International School of Information
Management

2. ‘Cities of the future’ by PwC
“We need new perspectives on
cities, their
dreams, knowledge, creativity
and motivation in order to find
new ways to develop strategic
city management. Therefore
PricewaterhouseCoopers
(PwC) will develop a new
arena for dialogue with leaders
in cities as a tool for strategic
development and knowledge
sharing, resulting in added
value for people in
cities, organisations or
companies.”

3. What are the components of your city brand
(strategic assets) and what makes you different
from other cities?
Creating a corporate identity and brand in the
city.
The big cities of today and tomorrow operate in
a constant condition of competition. They
compete for positioning and attractiveness
through strategic city branding.

4. Tell a unique story about your city
1.“Strategy is playing a different game to your
competitors” (Michael Porter )
2.Every city needs to find ways to be unique, and
to develop an interesting profile that puts it in
pole position.
3.Stand out from the crowd to maximize the
attention it receives.
4.To do this it needs to create values that set it
apart from its competitors.

5. Strategic responses required for effective
leadership.
The constituent
elements of the city
asset groups, or capitals,
that form the basis for
developing a strategic
agenda that will take a
city forward.
People, knowledge,
natural resources,
technical infrastructure,
finances, democratic
and political aspects
and cultural values that
a city embodies

6. City of Oslo – The blue and green city
“City of Oslo
towards 2020 is
simultaneously
the
environmental
city, the cultural
city and the
knowledge city.
The knowledge city is about taking advantage of
and developing the lead we already have on the
competition as one of the best educated people in
Europe.

7. Barcelona – City of knowledge
“The vision of
Barcelona in 2015 is
that of a city
characterized by the
following:An economy
based on the
development of a
value-added and
innovative culture
An education system that can
guarantee proper training for our human resources

8. Why are cities important ?
1.The United Nations HABITAT report 2004
predicted that by 2030 around 60% of the
world’s population will live in a city and by
2050, two thirds of the population will be in
cities
2.Collaboration and partnerships between
different stakeholders is a way forward

9. Developing a strategic city compass (Knowledge
City)

10. What is the way forward for City Planners ?
1. Political stamina and government engagement;
2. Organized Intelligence and Security
3. Diversity
4. Rich cultural life
5. Scientific environment and knowledge tradition; and
6. Favourable geographical position and infrastructure for
transport and communication.
7. An intelligent city needs to have sustainability factors
8. For the Knowledge City one of the most important aspects for
the future of city is meeting places. An intelligent municipality
needs to create the context where knowledge workers can
exchange their ideas and engage their creativity.

11. 9. Knowledge centres – universities and other educational
institutions
10.Approach to the future – openness
11.Approach to “different” people - inclusiveness;
12.Global connections – networks and diversity;
13.Interactivity – between the city and corporate society;
14.Speed of communication – feedback between leadership
in the city organisation and citizens;
15.Adaptability – degree of innovation and development;
and
16.Attractiveness to people, companies and money (not
least venture capital).

12. How do we create a city’s USP ?
1. Historical events – fundamental to the culture and
story of the city
2. Physical landmarks – buildings and architecture
3. Cultural institutions and sport teams, including events
and exhibitions
4. Nature, environment and climate
5. Demographic structure
6. Traditions and civic culture, attitude, spirit and
mindset

13. Unique Story about Mysore
1.Many pioneering, unique, and innovative
stories to tell
a. Royal Heritage ( Palaces , Museums…libraries)
( Mysore City Library is 96 years old)
b.Crafts and Industries ( Sandalwood, Mysore
Silk, …)
c. City Planning (MUDA Established in January
1904)
d.Women’s education ( First Girls School in the
country)

14. USP stories
a. Music (Ex. Veene Sheshanna)
b.Mysore style painting , Ganjifa art , and more
c. Zoo
d.Irrigation and Water Supply system
(Shivanasamudra hydroelectric project was initiated
in 1899 , the first such major attempt in India)
e. Inclusive Approach ( Reservation System first
introduced )
f. AIR ( All India Radio)
g. State Bank of Mysore( Celebrating centenary this
year)

15. Mysore USP
1.Democracy (the first Representative
Assembly of British India, with 144
members, was formed in 1881)
2.Geographical Indicators ( More than 10 –
highest for an Indian city)
1. Mysore Silk
2. Mysore Pak
3. Mysore Jasmin
4. Ganjifa Cards
5. Mysore betel leaf
6. Mysore Agarabathi
7. Mysore Rosewood inlay
8. Mysore Sandalwood oil
9. Mysore Sandal soap
10.Mysore Traditional
Painting
11.Mysore Masala Dosa

16. Educational Tourism
Educational tourism is one of the fastest growing areas
of the travel and tourism and one that is too often
overlooked by tourism professionals and marketers is
“educational tourism.”
Educational tourism then comes in a wide variety of
formats, yet despite the differences all forms of
educational tourism have a number of points in
common – it is for education
When people travel to different places for education –
formal and lifelong

17. Forms of Educational Tourism
1.When people /students travel to different
cities for formal education and training
2.Conferences and Meetings
3.Study Abroad programmes
4.Student Exchange Programmes
5.School/college trips
6.Skill Enhancement Vacations (Ex. Yoga)
7.Educational cruises.
8.Travel is education
Often we
forget that
educational
tourism is
based
around
people on
vacation.

18. Economics of Educational Tourism
1. International education is vital to
strengthening economies and
societies both in the United States
and around the world (US
Department of Education)
2. US has 764,495 international
students and of these India
contributes 100,270
3. International students contributed
over $22.7 billion to the U.S.
economy in 2011(US Department of
Commerce)
Health
4%
Intensive
English
5%
Arts
6%
Social
Sciences
9%
Sciences
9%
Math/Computer
9%
Engineering
19%
Business & Management
22%
Undeclared 3%
Humanities 2%
Education 2%
Agriculture 1%
Other 10%
Fields of Study
Business and Management: 22%
STEM Fields: 41%.
STEM Fields
Financial Contributions
International students contributed over $22.7 bil
economy in 2011, according to US Department o
64% of international students (82% of undergrad
primarily on personal and family funds to pay fo
Personal &
FamilyFunds
64%
U.S. College or
University
22%
Current
Employment
5%
Foreign Gov't/
Univ. 6%
Other Foreign
Source 2%
Other US Source 1%

19. India and Education Tourism
1. Number of Indian students going abroad for higher education
– 200,000 ( UNESCO Institute of Statistics 2013)
2. Indian students going abroad for their higher studies cost the
country a foreign exchange (forex) outflow of $10 billion
annually
3. Number of Foreign students studying in India – 20,000
4. University of Mysore has 1124 foreign students ( 2nd highest in
India)( Nearly 6 %) ( next to Pune )
5. We need to explore the potential of educational tourism
creating the City USP

20. The Knowledge City Index:
A Framework for Evaluating Knowledge
City Regions in Developing Societies
International School of Information Management
University of Mysore
India

21. “A balance between culture and development”
Our Approach
Identify parameters
essential for
Knowledge City
(From developing
society angle)
Arrive at a
framework
(Knowledge City
Index - KCI)
Iteratively
refine the
KCI framework
Analyze Mysore’s
Standing in terms
of KCI and MAKCi
Is the framework
exhaustive?
No
Yes
Evaluate Mysore’s
position as a
Knowledge City

22. Our Model of a Knowledge City
The
Knowledge
City Index
(KCI)
Education
Innovation
and Research
Network
Infrastructure
Culture, Heritage
and Tradition
Tourism
Economy
Civic Administration
and Infrastructure

23. • Mysore’s KCI mainly boosted by
Tourism, culture and heritage
indicators
• Not much research / innovation
activities
i.e. not much knowledge created
• Mysore lags behind in terms of basic
infrastructure
Conclusions

24. We have a story to tell, but that is not enough
We have a unique story to tell, but …
1.Have we done enough to create a unique
experience ?
2.Mysore Palace is not enough, we need to
create the Mysore Experience
3.It is all about experience and not just
sightseeing
4.Remember the IPod story ( uniqueness is in
the experience )

25. Thank You