Language Travel Magazine were delighted when so many agents and schools threw themselves into the spirit of the inaugural LTM Star Awards, making it a highlight of 2006.

The Star Awards ceremony this year promises to be another key date in the industry calendar, with members of the official shortlist reacting effusively to their nomination. Mark Lucas from iAE Korea, says, “Being nominated for such a prestigious industry award makes all the hard work, dedication and professionalism of the IAE Global team worthwhile.”

Sue Blundell from schools’ association, English Australia, adds, “It’s great to see an award for associations as we believe they play an important role in the language travel industry. The LTM Star Awards are supposed to reflect excellence in performance. Everyone associated with English Australia cares deeply about what we do and we are grateful for the recognition of that passion and commitment to the industry,” she says.

As those working closely together in the language travel industry are often geographically separated by vast distances, some of those shortlisted expressed their appreciation of the public acknowledgement their hard work receives through the LTM Star Awards. Andrew Fisher from EAC in Edinburgh, UK, says, “It is good to know that the work we do is appreciated. We work hard all year round to provide an excellent service to all of our agency partners and it is rewarding that some of those have taken the time to vote for us.”

Expanding scope

Last year, the LTM Star Awards consisted of 14 categories of agent and school stars. This year the format has been changed slightly. The hotly contested LTM Star English Language School category has been divided into the separate world regions of North America, the southern hemisphere and Europe, while a new chain school category – for organisations with five permanent centres or more – has been added. For agencies, last year’s category of LTM Star Agency the Americas has been divided up into two new categories this year: LTM Star Agency North America and LTM Star Agency Latin America.

The revised category list has opened up the competition to a new range of schools and agents from a greater number of countries around the world. This year, for example, language schools from South Africa, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand and an agency from Colombia were all shortlisted for the first time.

Aoife Mulvihill from Atlantic Language Galway in Ireland, said that the school was “thrilled” to reach the top four in the Star English language school – Europe category. “Being shortlisted for this nomination is a wonderful achievement for our school,” she added. “It shows us that our partners recognise and appreciate the services we provide to their clients. It also shows that all our staff are doing a great job.”

Justin Quinn, Managing Director at the Centre of English Studies in Ireland and the UK, speculated that agents voted for them because “we deliver what we promise”. He went on, “We always go the extra mile to help students that are with us. Even though the school has grown and expanded over the years, we feel that we still give the quality family service that the agents and students like so much.”

The introduction of a number of new English language school categories this year is also recognition of the growing popularity of English language destinations, such as Ireland and South Africa. Wolfgang Graser from Good Hope Studies in Cape Town, South Africa, says that their location was a factor for them in picking up votes from agents this year. “I think [reaching the shortlist] is a great achievement for all of us at Good Hope Studies, which makes us really proud!” he says. “We offer a good product and excellent service in one of the most beautiful cities in the world for a reasonable price.”

Returning nominees

As well as seeing a number of newcomers on the awards shortlist, some schools and agencies were shortlisted for the second time this year, reflecting a continuation of the high standards that attracted voters the first time round.

Patrick Semidei, Managing Director at DID Deutsch Institut in Germany, says that winning the LTM Star German language school award last year was definitely a boost for morale among the staff. “[It] was a great incentive for everyone at DID – our sales staff, the school directors [and] our teachers,” he said.

Winner of the LTM Star French language school last year, Jean-Francois Vouilloux from Ecole France Langue in Paris, France, agrees. “[Being shortlisted for the second year] is very motivating for all the staff who are very involved in our partnership with agents,” he said, while Tiziana Di Dedda from Dilit International House in Rome, Italy, one of the joint winners of last year’s LTM Star Italian language school, commented that, “The award is an excellent sign of our daily work and the enthusiasm and passion we put into this work.”

LTM Star Spanish Language School:

- Babylon Idiomas, Barcelona, Spain
- Jakera Tours, Merida, Venezuela
- Malaca Instituto, Malaga, Spain
- IH Sevilla – CLIC, Seville, Spain

LTM Star French Language School:

- French in Normandy, Rouen
- Accord, Paris
- Institut Linguistique Adenet, Montpellier
- France Langue, Paris

LTM Star German Language School:

- DID Deutsch Institut, nationwide
- GLS Sprachenzentrum, Berlin
- Humboldt Institut, nationwide
- IH Berlin – Prolog, Berlin

LTM Star Italian Language School:

- Linguaviva, Florence
- Dilit International House, Rome
- Scuola Leonardo da Vinci, Florence
- Societa Dante Alighieri, Sienna

LTM Star English Language School – Europe:

- EAC, Edinburgh, UK
- Intuition Languages, London, UK
- Centre of English Studies, Ireland & UK
- Atlantic Language Galway, Ireland

LTM Star Chain School:

- Embassy CES
- Aspect
- St Giles
- Enforex
- EC

LTM Star English Language School – southern hemisphere:

- Good Hope Studies, Cape Town, South Africa
- Cape Studies, Cape Town, South Africa
- Languages International, Auckland, New Zealand
- English Language Company, Sydney, Australia

LTM Star English Language School – North America:

- Study English in Canada, Toronto, ONT
- Ilac – International Language Academy of Canada, Toronto, ONT
- Pacific Language Institute, Vancouver, BC
- Language Studies Canada, Toronto, ONT

LTM Star High School:

- Millfield School, Somerset, UK
- Wellington High School, New Zealand
- Saskatoon Catholic Schools, SK, Canada
- Northcote College, Auckland, New Zealand

LTM Star School Association:

- Ialc, International
- English Australia
- English UK
- MEI-Relsa, Ireland

LTM Star Agency Asia:

- iAE Eduhouse, Korea
- Gio Club, Japan
- Ryugaku Journal, Japan
- Esther Education Center, Korea

LTM Star Agency Europe:

- Boa Lingua, Switzerland
- Cactus, UK
- ESL - Séjours Linguistiques, Switzerland
- Language Courses Abroad, UK

- Teducamos, Colombia
- STB, Brazil
- Central de Intercambio – CI, Brazil
- Discover Canada, Mexico

- Languages Abroad, Canada
- NRCSA, USA
- Lingua Service Worldwide, USA
- Séjours Linguistiques VTE, Canada

LTM Star Agency Association:

- Aseproce, Spain
- Salta, Switzerland
- FDSV, Germany
- Belta, Brazil

LTM Star New Agency:

- World's Best Language Schools, NZ
- TK Tours, Mexico
- Discover Canada, Mexico
- Language School Worldwide, Spain

LTM Star Innovation:

- EF - Efekta teaching system
- Aspect - Opus programme
- Twin - PEP programme
- EC - Explore China programme

LTM Star Insurance Provider:

- AVI International
- Student Guard
- Assist card
- CareMed
- SITE