WYSTC wins in Toronto

At the week-long event, ISTC and Fiyto also announced their intention to merge, following the efforts of a steering committee convened after the proposal was announced in 2004. "For more than 50 years our two organisations have been side-by-side in establishing, promoting and protecting the unique identity of youth, student and international educational travel," said Susan Goldstein, Acting Director General of Fiyto. "Now, we have joined forces to provide a single voice." At the time of going to press, no further details were available regarding the new name or operations.

Matt Wyatt from Global Village Backpackers in Canada backed the move. "It seems like a logical step and a better way to target the student/travel demograph and a better use of resources," he said. Fiyto, based in Denmark, has over 450 members while ISTC, based in the Netherlands, represents 5,000 offices, and its members have sole rights to sell the ISIC student discount card.

Overall, delegates seemed pleased with the range of companies present at WYSTC and the social opportunities. Robin Adams at Global Village English Centres said, "It';s been a great opportunity to speak more closely with agents in a pretty social setting." Mike Walkey of ELS Language Centres in Canada, who said he would like to have met more Asian agents, agreed that the social opportunities were good. "We have a school in Toronto so [the event] has been effective for getting people through the door," he added.

OISE decides to delay flotation

One of the industry';s largest private language school operators, OISE, has delayed plans to raise up to UK£3 million (US$5.3 million) by listing on the UK';s Alternative Investment Market (AIM). The company was planning on continued expansion with the funds generated by a partial flotation in late 2005.

Till Gins, Chief Executive of the OISE Group, which operates seven brands, told Language Travel Magazine that a satisfactory valuation of the company, to reflect its performance since the purchase of Regent in late 2004, could not be reached given that a valuation was based on 2004 financial year figures. "We plan to consolidate our profits and go back and get a substantially improved price [in 2006]," he said.

OISE is now estimated to be the UK';s biggest private English language training provider since it acquired Regent, for which it paid UK£5 million (US$8.8 million). The group has 22 permanent and 22 summer schools around the world, operating as OISE, Regent, Pilgrims, Basil Paterson, Central School of English, Harven School of English and Trebinshun House (formerly part of the Regent group).

Broker, Charles Stanley & Co., which advised OISE on the listing, reported that 2005 year-end pre-tax profits for the company could reach UK£2.4 million (US$4.2 million), with an annual turnover of UK£27.5 million (US$48.6 million).

The company operates OISE sales offices in Bordeaux, Geneva, Heidelberg, Lille, Lyon, Madrid, Milan, Oxford, Paris and Versailles and for OISE brand schools, other agencies recruit only a minority of clients to date. Fifty-nine per cent of the company';s overall business is in the young adult sector, teaching clients aged from 17 to 25, and a further 24 per cent of business is with young learners. Business language courses and teacher training represent the remainder of teaching activity.

New consortium in Canada

A contingent of language schools in Canada has grouped together and branded itself as the Archer Education Group (AEG). The group represents schools in Toronto, Vancouver and Hamilton and has support offices in Brazil, China, South Korea and the Czech Republic. AEG describes itself as a "combined technology and international education" company that aims to become a one-stop shop for agencies sending clients to Canada.

The schools involved are Languages International, Diamond Institute, the Canadian College of Business and English, and Toronto Academic School in Toronto; Winfield College in Vancouver; and The Language Circle in Hamilton. They represent language schools, high schools and colleges.

Douglas McKibbin, Director of Languages International, explained that the idea was the brainchild of Jason Hiebert, Chief Executive of AEG, who has two successful education technology companies offering online English language tuition. McKibbin said that Hiebert had "brought together a group of schools that were already well-established and, in fact, these schools are really shaping the future of Archer through their close collaboration and enthusiasm for this new venture." All the owners of each institution are now part-owners in a larger operation, and McKibbin said, "Our plan is to grow with more locations, even in other countries, not just in Canada."

As well as a central website, the group has support offices that have either been created internally or through acquisition. "In China, we have staff who help create our technology services [and] provide support to prospective students," said McKibbin. The office is headed by Tang Zhonghua, ex-employee of the Ministry of Education in Beijing. McKibbin added that in the Czech Republic, the support office is primarily a local English language school.

Belta in Brazil now promoting inbound travel

The Brazilian agency association, Belta, has joined forces with national tourism body Embratur to form the Brazilian Exchange Bureau (BEB). The BEB is aiming to promote inbound tourism into Brazil and aims to put the country on the map as a prime 21st-century study destination.

Tatiana Mendes, Chairperson of Belta and BEB, said that almost half of Belta';s members were involved in the inbound travel market. "Apart from academic exchange, the principal programmes sought by foreigners interested in studying in Brazil are sports, Portuguese language and social-oriented work," she explained.

The group has published a guide, Study in Brazil, which will help generate interest in Brazil as a study destination. It features an introduction to the five regions and a profile of the types of programmes that are available. BEB also attended the Nafsa conference in the USA and WYSTC in Toronto, Canada. And in early 2006, Language Travel Magazine will be visiting Brazil to see the programmes and training institutions first-hand.

"We know that the country has a great potential for educational tourism, but we need to create a distribution network for [these] products," said Jurema Monteiro at Embratur.

Obituary: Alberto Sampere

Ireland wooing Chinese

Ireland';s Minister for Education and Science, Mary Hanafin, addressed the Ireland China Association in October and commended the group on its success promoting business and cultural links between the two countries.

She outlined key elements of Ireland';s Asia Strategy, which includes attracting 5,000 more Chinese students into Ireland';s higher education system by 2009, as well as building links with other Asian countries. "As China continues to grow in importance in the world';s economy it will be through our education links that Ireland – a small and distant country with its own traditions and culture – will develop its relationships with the People';s Republic," commented Hanafin.