This is the sentence I have just read:
外国へ行くとしたら、ただの旅行ではなく、勉強を 目的として 行きたい。 If I ever have a chance to go abroad then I would like to go to study rather than just travel.
The は feels intuitively correct but what purpose does it serve? There are a number of expressions without the は:
～だけでなく…によっても広められている be popularized not only by ~ but also by
～が必要でなくとも although not in need of
[愛]{あい}でなくてなんだろう if it is not love, what is it? (possibly 愛ではなく、なんだろう？）
I can't explain why は is/is not necessary in these expressions (apart from "these are 決まり文句" but I wanted to get a better understanding than that if possible).
I should be very grateful for any insights.
Answer
As you may already know は is considered the topic marker. Adding は puts emphasis on the denial aspect and what becomes before ではなく is generally the topic of the sentence, omitting は makes what comes after でなく the focus of the sentence.
A more literal translation of your sentence would be:
If I ever go abroad, I don't want to travel for just pleasure, I would like to go to study.
The emphasis is on the denial aspect.
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