Ryugaku Journal study fair

Representatives from just under 50 schools from six different English-speaking destinations attended the event and were pleased by the high student numbers. Charles Moore, Asian Marketing Manager for Pacific Language Institute in Canada, commented, ”I have attended the Ryugaku Journal fairs for the past three years and they are always well attended. This year there were clearly more students attending and the students seemed to be interested in longer study terms.”

Justin Quinn, Managing Director of the Centre of English Studies in Ireland, said, “I was very impressed by the quality of the students and also the knowledge of what the students were looking for. The fairs in Tokyo and Osaka were very good but the fair in Nagoya really stood out. It was the busiest fair that I have ever been to in Nagoya.”

Miki Harada from Ryugaku Journal in Japan said that there were approximately 700 more participants compared to last year’s event. “Ryugaku Journal is happy to announce that the turnout at each venue was better than expected. More visitors showed up at each fair site and furthermore the number of students choosing to apply to schools at the venue site increased considerably.”

According to statistics, the largest group of visitors at the event (41 per cent) were looking for English language courses, while 12 per cent were looking for undergraduate studies and a further 13 per cent were looking for working holiday opportunities. Another Ryugaku Journal World Fair, which will focus on academic pathway and preparation programmes, will take place in October and visit Nagoya, Fukuoka, Osaka and Tokyo.

New Zealand hosts agents from Korea and Germany

The Korean agents visited 20 New Zealand institutions over their 10-day trip throughout the country, while the German agents visited 12 institutions over nine days in May. Stephanie von Aswegen from Kompass-Sprachreisen in Germany said that the trip was good for getting an overview of the education system in New Zealand and enabling her to see many different parts of the country.

“All the schools went out of their way to make us feel welcome,” she said. “We were given the opportunity to watch the teachers in action and speak to many students. [The fam trip] will help promote New Zealand and it will make preparing students for their stay much easier. The hospitality and friendly nature of the New Zealanders make this unique country a wonderful travel destination.”

The fam trips were the latest of seven different agent tours organised by Education New Zealand during the first five months of 2007. Stuart Boag, Communications Director at Education New Zealand, said, “Unlike many of our large competitors, New Zealand does not have centralised recruitment offices in major markets. We rely on agents in-country to be at the frontline of student recruitment.” He emphasised, “Organising familiarisation trips to New Zealand is an integral part of this strategy – the agents can see for themselves what New Zealand has to offer educationally, and how students live when they are here.”

Industry issues - agents speak out

Q How do you find new schools to work with and what factors affect your decision to work with them?

Julia Alimochkina, General Manager, Litera Scrpta Manet, Russia

“Most schools that we work with now belong to one or another international association. Associations like Ialc and Quality English have excellent schools and it is easier for us to contact one of our established partners and ask for a reference for one school or another instead of contacting school associations. And if the school belongs to the association, usually it means that you will receive a great reference. But it is not always possible, therefore we try to find different ways of checking the school if we are unable to visit it. For example, we can contact our colleagues from other agencies in Russia and ask them if they have had any working experience with this school. The most important factor is when another student tells us that he/she studied at this school and liked it a lot. Our impression from the visit plays an important role, but students’ opinion is the most important factor for us. ”

Maria Cristina de Araujo, Griffe Viagens, Brazil

“I find workshops a very good way to find new and good partners to work with. It’s an opportunity to meet representatives face to face and discuss the matters that are really important. Ideally, I like to visit schools before starting placing my students. Visiting schools also gives you an idea of the atmosphere of the school, facilities, location and so on. From my point of view, that’s a good sign when we feel that the school staff are sensitive to cultural differences and this way, are more likely to deal better with international students. There are several points that are important when selecting new partners – academic commitment (number one), nice and clean facilities, easy access to public transportation, friendly staff and carefully selected host families.  Another important point is to have someone you can trust and talk to at any time in the school – like an interface. I try to keep myself updated by regularly reading Language Travel Magazine. Checking feedback from students is also important.”

Jill Gordon, Managing Director, Best Programs, Spain

“We use the press, Internet and recommendations for prospective schools, then we contact them by email and/or phone with the objective of setting up a personal interview. We make between five and ten new partners a year. After beginning to work with a school we have to iron out the details. We normally sign an agent’s contract and the details pertain to the degree in which it is followed. After signing contracts, we know that every clause is necessary and there for a reason. If there are students who resign, we appreciate receiving notification and we appreciate hearing how our students are doing. In the case of problems, we like fast and professional solutions. Another important factor is the speed in which emails and/or phone calls are answered.”

Tugce Atakan, Manager, Easy Education Abroad Counselling and Career Planning, Turkey

“We mostly use the Internet as a tool to find new schools, especially Internet platforms for agents/providers, forums, search engines, school associations and accreditation institutions’ web sites (English UK, British Council, Alto, Fiyto, Feltom, Study in Australia). Our preferred tool is Icef online, which runs a very reliable and detailed membership process. A realistic picture can be drawn for a student only by experiencing the school, residences, country, life, culture and even the specific programmes. The most important factor in deciding on the right school is whether the school meets personal requirements in programme type, quality, location, leisure and many other features.”

In a series appearing each month in Language Travel Magazine, we ask a different language teaching institution to nominate one of their preferred agencies or agent partners, and to explain why this person/company is worthy of their nomination.

This month, Omnilingua in Italy nominates Carpe Diem in Germany/Austria. Daniel Pietzner, Director of the school, explains this nomination:

“Carpe Diem is a language travel agency based in Germany and in Austria that brings to my school both individual bookings for adults and group bookings for closed school groups. I have been working with them for six years and I really appreciate the family atmosphere that has developed between the agency staff of Carpe Diem and Omnilingua! The exchange of quality information between the agency and our school has to be good to ensure that a request turns into an enrolment and to be able to fully satisfy the specific needs (course, accommodation, excursions) of group bookings for closed school groups, which require tailor-made language stays.

As we are both relatively small institutions, we can be flexible enough so that the customer-oriented issues can be adequately considered. I am happy to welcome Carpe Diem managers to my school every year for an informal meeting to constantly improve the quality of our collaboration. I really feel that Carpe Diem believes in my services and does its best to distribute it.”

Mick Eck (left) has announced that he is leaving STA Travel in Switzerland after 12 years with the company, to take care of IT at Globostudy. Nizar Saade (right), who has been Deputy Head of the language centre at STA Travel since August 2001, will take over the position of Head of the language centre.

Gina Mikel Petrie has taken up the role of Interim Director of the English Language Institute at Eastern Washington University in Cheney, WA, USA. Dr Petrie has a background of teaching language learners in face-to-face and online contexts and has a doctorate in computer-assisted language learning from Washington State University.

English New Zealand, which merged with the Association of Private Providers of the English Language (Appel) earlier this year, has elected Rob McKay as its Chairperson. Mr McKay is a founding Director and Owner of Christchurch College of English based on the campus of the University of Canterbury.

Pascal Blox has been elected as the new Administration Officer for French industry association L’Office. Mr Blox was previously Secretary Treasurer of the organisation and is a co-founder of the French study abroad agency Calvin Thomas, as well as the Programmes Internationaux d’Echanges (PIE) association.

Lucia Sanchez has become Sales Manager at TK Tours in Mexico, a new agency set up by Erika Baitenmann. Ms Baitenmann’s previous agency, Tecamaviajes, was sold to Latin Sol earlier this year and she set up the new agency for loyal staff who had previously worked with her. She hopes that “TK Tours will become one of the leading student travel agencies in Mexico City and Guadalajara”.

Bell has announced Sue Harris’ appointment (left) as Vice Principal of Bell Bedgebury International School. The former British Council International Study Centre Inspector and Taunton International Study Centre Principal will oversee the daily running of the school. Nicola Rendall-Jones (middle) has been appointed Director of Studies at Bell Bedgebury Language Centre, while Jim Scrivener (right) will take up the newly created role of Head of Teacher Development.

South African school association, Eltasa, has been busy over the last 12 months. Meryl van der Merwe, Secretary of the association, tells us about their latest activities.

Full name: English Language Travel Association of South Africa
Year established: 2003
Number of members: 7
Type of members: English language schools in South Africa. Associate membership is now also an option that we are developing.
Association’s main role: to encourage quality and professionalism in the industry and undertake marketing activities overseas.
Government recognition: no
Code of practice: yes
Complaints procedure: yes
Agent workshops/fam trips: no
Contact details: Meryl van der Merwe, Secretary, PO Box 189Green Point, 8051, South Africa
Tel: +27 214190494
Fax: +27 214190725
Email: info@eltasa.com
Website: www.eltasa.com

What has your association been up to in the last 12 months?
Eltasa has attended various fairs around the world in the last year and is also now an integral part of the Southern Africa Tourism Services Association (Satsa) as the edutourism sector. We have also played a role in the formation of the South African Youth Student Travel and Education Confederation (SAYSTEC) with Backpacking South Africa. We have worked closely with our South African universities and recruited new members – helped by introducing different categories to our membership. We have been in negotiations with the British Council to make the delivery of the Cambridge FCE, CAE and CPE exams in South Africa more effective and the distribution of results more efficient.

What marketing activities are you planning for the near future?
We are planning to attend trade fairs around the world – eg, in Korea and Brazil – and make ourselves more active with other associations around the world. We also want to improve our website and actively recruit new members by encouraging people to join as associated partners.

What main challenges are your members currently facing when it comes to recruiting new students?
South Africa as a whole is still not known as a destination and while crime is a problem in South Africa, it is perceived to be worse than it is by agents and potential clients because of all the adverse publicity. Also currency fluctuations continue to affect business, as well as long-haul flight costs for many nationalities.

What’s new in South Africa’s language teaching industry?
The industry is growing very nicely and South Africa is developing a niche for English plus courses. An important issue for the language teaching sector in South Africa at the moment is maintaining quality control. Marketing for the 2010 football World Cup, which is being held in South Africa, is also benefiting all sectors.

Grapevine

Language Studies Canada (LSC) in Vancouver, BC, was celebrating earlier this year when its football team, consisting of students from around the world, won the Canadian International Sports Academy Spring Soccer League 2007. Above, LSC President, Dennis Innes, celebrates winning the trophy with the team, who beat Tamwood International College in the final with six goals to three.

Camden College of English in the UK has moved premises to a site in central London near to the British Museum. Here (right), staff and students celebrate the move on their first morning at the new school. Stuart Rubenstein, Principal of Camden College of English, told Grapevine, “Our new home is somewhere very special. It is elegant on the outside and dates back to 1776 and then inside it is modern and funky.”

Sporting activities abound in the language travel industry it seems with several industry players turning up for a language travel golf day at the Chobham golf club in the UK. The event was organised by David Brown from Isis Language Centres in London and was won by our very own Stephen Roberts, Director of Hothouse Media. Here, the winner (far left) poses with David Brown, Robert Darell, Alan Brown and Robin Fry from Isis Language Centres; Scott Wade from Hothouse Media; Terry Falck and Paul Yerby from Harrow House International College; Andrew Hutchinson; Barry and Mark Henwood from MLS International College in Bournemouth; and Patrick Amos from Language Study Centres in Manchester. Another tournament is planned for October and anyone interested in taking part should email David Brown on david@isisgroup.co.uk.