Destination Analysis: Australia's gains
Australia is becoming a major player in the international education travel market and student visa statistics for 2001/2002 show that the country is attracting increasingly diverse student nationalities. Intensive promotion on behalf of individual institutions, combined with generic efforts by the Australian government, are helping to raise this country's profile in new student markets.

Feature: Working together
The high school market can be a challenging one for consultants, and many working in this sector offer additional services - such as translating term reports and personally overseeing transport arrangements - while a student remains at a school. The extra work involved pays off, however, as many high schools in the UK hold their international consultant partners in high regard.

Destination: Canada's class
The high quality, innovative education courses on offer in Canada are a key attraction for international students, while the numerous oppurtunities to take part in exciting outdoor activities only add to the country's appeal. Gillian Evans looks at what educational institutions in Canada offer students in the way of education opportunities and extra-curricular activities.

International travel for education purposes is subject to a wide variety of influences that can cause rapid fluctuations in markets around the world. Economic difficulties, such as those experienced in Argentina recently, can have a catastrophic effect on one specific student market, while

wholescale changes to visa regulations, such as those imposed in Australia in 2001, have more far reaching consequences and affect an altogether wider range of student markets.

Certain world events affect us all, however, and the current global unrest and threat of terrorist attacks will almost certainly play an increasingly influential part in students' choices of where or whether to study overseas.

Past experience has shown us that sometimes factors that are expected to have a negative impact on study abroad programmes, such as economic recession, have less dire consequences than were originally forecast. Consultants often report that in times of recession, enrolments on certain programmes such as international MBA courses actually increase, as students perceive the importance of an international education in giving them a competitive edge in the job market.

One of the most surprising news stories in this issue reports that student numbers in the USA actually increased during the 2001/2002 academic year, despite predictions of a decrease due to the events of September 11 2001 (page 2). While student numbers from some markets did decrease in the last academic year, large increases in others - including some from the Middle East - managed to offset this trend, resulting in an overall increase in international student numbers for the USA.

But it is not all good news for the USA. In another news story, the implementation of a new visitor registration system in the USA has resulted in the arrests of several men from countries in the Middle East. This was

greeted with condemnation by educators who were quick to point out the disadvantages of alienating people who could become the 'best friends and ambassadors' of the USA (page 2).

Evidence of US students' increasingly international outlook can be seen in our Destination Analysis feature on Australia, which shows that the number of US students there is growing rapidly (page 5). Some institutions report that the USA is now one of their biggest student provider markets, while US consultants point to a growing interest among their clients for long-term study abroad courses.

Some courses will always be popular with the international student market, while others catering for niche markets could benefit from a marketing boost. Institutions in the USA offering horticulture courses report that international demand for degree courses in this field is very low (page 12), while catering colleges in the UK and Ireland may not be making the most of the international appeal of their courses (page 10).

In contrast, however, high schools in the UK are very proactive when it comes to international marketing and many have built up strong relationships with their consultant partners, as they acknowledge the invaluable role they can play (page 8).

It is to be hoped that, with the current global uncertainty making overseas education choices even more critical for students, a deeper understanding of the mutually dependent relationship between educators and consultants in all markets will result.