Poland expectant

Key points

The total number of students placed by the 12 agencies in our survey was 2,935 Average business growth was 0.8 per cent The average length of stay for Polish students was 9.2 weeks 68 per cent of clients requested host family accommodation One quarter of the agencies surveyed charged students a handling fee Ireland is growing in popularity as a study destination On average, our agent respondents represented 24 schools in nine countries Agencies actively worked with 13 school partners each last year

Top destinations		Most popular courses
1. UK 55% 2. Ireland 18% 3. Germany 8% 4. Australia 7% 5. Other 6% 6. Italy 2% 6. France 2% 6. Spain 2%		1. Summer vacation 38% 2. Intensive(+25 hrs) 19% 3. Lang + work exp. 14% 4. General 13% 5. Junior progs. 11% 6. Business 2% 6. Others 2% 8. Foundation 1%

Reasons for language travel		Top languages
1. Future work 32% 2. Current work 22% 3. Studies at home 21% 4. Other 14% 4. Studies overseas 8% 5. Pleasure 3%		1. English 83% 2. German 9% 3. Italian 3% 4. Spanish 2% 4. French 2% 6. Other 1%

How do agencies recruit students?		How do agencies find new schools to represent?
Word of mouth 37% Website 28% Advertising in press 11% Other 11% Seminars to students 8% Mail shots 4% TV/radio 1%		Workshops 30% Fairs/expos 29% Internet 17% Other press 15% LTM/ETM 9%

Percentage of agents who recognised each of the following organisations
Australia Acpet 20% English Australia 20% Canada Capls 10% CLC 10% France Souffle 10% L'Office 0% Unosel 0% FLE 0% Ireland MEI~Relsa 40% IEAI 20% Italy Asils 0% Italian in Italy 20% Malta Feltom 50% New Zealand Appel 0%		Crels NZ 0% Education NZ 70% English NZ 30% Portugal Aeple 0% Spain Fedele 30% UK ABLS 20% English UK 70% British Council 100% Europe Eaquals 30% USA AAIEP 0% Accet 0% CEA 20% UCIEP 0% International Ialc 60%

Language and destination trends
Although there has been no real growth in the market, there have been changes in where students are studying. While English remains the most popular language to learn (83 per cent) and the UK remains the most popular destination (55 per cent, down from 59 per cent), Ireland and Australia are both far more important now to the Polish market, with Ireland accounting for 18 per cent of overall bookings in 2005. German has also replaced Spanish as the second most popular language to learn, with nine per cent of Poles studying German, back to pre-2004 trends. In fact, Italian received slightly more requests than Spanish in 2005.

Student and course trends
Summer vacation courses remained the most popular programme with Poles, followed by intensive courses of more than 25 hours a week and then work programmes, combining language tuition with either internships or paid placements. The average length of stay varied depending on the agency, with some pointing to an average stay of three weeks and others indicating that 39 weeks was the norm. Overall, students enrolled for an average of 9.2 weeks, an increase on 2004';s figure of 3.5 weeks.

Agency business
Agents estimated that they recruited more than one-third (37 per cent) of clients from word-of-mouth recommendation. The second-best way to recruit clients was reported to be via a website – which marks a change since our last survey, when just 18 per cent of clients were recruited from a website, instead of the 28 per cent indicated now. The range of schools represented by individual agencies depended on the size of the agency, but at 24, the overall figure was relatively low, compared with other outbound markets.

Looking ahead
Agencies are generally optimistic about the coming year, although one agent indicated that more clients are booking directly online, which means agency growth will be limited. Other agencies seem confident that bookings will increase, by as much as 30 per cent in one forecast, because language and work programmes, executive tuition and even year-long foundation programmes are appealing to a greater number of students.

Poland';s unemployment rate stood at 17.8% in August, the highest rate in the European Union. The economic growth rate, forecast to be 3.5% for the 2005 year, is higher than in Western European countries but not high enough to have made an impact on the unemployment rate to date.

Following the elections in October, analysts believe the new coalition government, led by "pro-market Marcinkiewcz", could see the country continue to gain economic strength, with one bank executive highlighting the competitive spirit in the country. Inflation is currently low at 1.9%.

Sources: Bloomberg, Business Week.

Thank you to the following agencies for taking part in our survey: AB Centrum; Almatramp Travel Agency; Almatur Opole; Edu. Travel Migration Bureau; Guliwer Exchanges; International Study Consultants; JDJ Bachalski; Kotla Travel; LEC Centre; Rajbm-Ikaria Tours; Tourism Office Jaworski; Travel Exchange & Education.