Abstract

A study abroad program offers numerous benefits and holds significant importance in a student’s educational and personal development. It offers a transformative and enriching experience that can positively impact a student’s personal, academic, and professional life. We propose a short-term study abroad and cultural exchange program where one of the main focuses is to create an opportunity for study abroad students to interact and collaborate with people from a different culture (host country students). American students spent 2 weeks with Thai students attending lectures, group discussions, and activities to learn about international marketing and sustainable tourism in Thailand. This study examines the effects of this program on student’s cultural intelligence, global competency, openness to diversity, and learning. It also compares the differences between these two groups to offer more insights. The results show that American study abroad students showed higher cultural intelligence, global competency, and openness to diversity after the program completion, whereas Thai host country students did not show any significant changes.