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China soars
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Increasing demand for education overseas whipped up momentum in the Chinese language travel market in 2006, and with China's economy on the up it looks likely that this sector will continue to grow in the future.
| Key points |
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The total number of students placed by the 10 agencies in our survey was 1,323
Individual agencies placed between 15 and 250 students on language courses each year
Average business growth was 58.1 per cent
The average length of stay for Chinese students was 23.8 weeks
Overall, 51 per cent of Chinese students stayed with host families when studying overseas
84 per cent of Chinese students took a language course for their further studies overseas
An average of 55 per cent of agency clients were seeking higher education opportunities overseas
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| Top destinations |
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Most popular courses |
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1. USA 25%
2. Australia 23%
3. UK 14%
4. Canada 12%
5. France 6%
6. New Zealand 4%
7. Singapore 3%
8. Japan 2%
9. Spain 1%
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1. Academic prep. 35%
2. Summer vacation 13%
3. Uni. foundation 10%
4. General 9%
4. Intensive (+25 hus) 9%
5. Lang. + work 4%
6. Business lang 1%
6. Junior 1%
Other 18%
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Top languages
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Type of courses
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1. English 75%
2. French 8%
3. Japanes 3%
4. Korean 1%
5. Spanish 1%
6. Italian 1%
Other 11%
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1. High ed. overseas 55%
2. Work & Travel 11%
3. High sch. overseas 10%
4. Lang. learning 53%
5. Internships 4%
6. Volunteer 3%
Other 8% |
How do agencies recruit students?
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How do agencies find new schools to represent? |
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1. Word of mouth 41%
2. Seminars to students 22%
3. Adverts in press 19%
4. Website 43%
5. TV/Radio 2%
6. Mailshots 1%
Other 5%
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1. Workshops 30%
2. Internet 22%
3. LTM/ETM 10%
4. Other press 7%
5. Fairs or expos 3%
Other 28% |
| Percentage of agents who recognised each of the following organisations |
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Australia
Acpet 20%
English Australia 40%
Neas 10%
Canada
Capls 40%
CLC 50%
France
Souffle 0%
L'Office 0%
Unosel 0%
FLE 10%
Ireland
MEI~Relsa 10%
IEAI 0%
Italy
Asils 0%
Italian in Italy 0%
Malta
Feltom 0%
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New Zealand
Ed. NZ 10%
English NZ 10%
Appel 0%
Portugal
Aeple 10%
Spain
Fedele 10%
UK
ABLS 10%
English UK 70%
British Council 100%
Europe
Eaquals 0%
USA
AAIEP 40%
Accet 10%
CEA 10%
UCIEP 30%
International
Ialc 10%
Quality English 10%
Tandem 0%
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Market growth
An exponential increase in student weeks was experienced in 2006 by some Chinese language travel agencies, with overall growth across all the 10 businesses that took part in this issue’s survey skyrocketing to just over 58 per cent. Looking at individual performances, only one agency reported a decline in student weeks, of 10 per cent – this respondent gave no reason for the drop – while all the other agencies recorded a growth in student weeks of between five and 300 per cent. The main driving force behind market growth, according to our respondents, was China’s healthy economy enabling more students to study overseas.
Language and destination trends
While English remained the most popular language to learn among the Chinese, accounting for 75 per cent of bookings, it is interesting that French was the second-most popular language, making up eight per cent of enrolments. Japanese was in fourth place, followed by Korean. There was a slight change in position among the top destinations this year, with the USA taking the lead in the destinations line-up with 25 per cent, followed by Australia with 23 per cent and the UK with 14 per cent. Last year, the USA trailed in third place, with the UK taking the number-one spot with 39 per cent (see Language Travel Magazine, July 2006, pages 14-15).
Student and course trends
The main bulk of agency business is in the academic placement sector, with higher education placements accounting for 55 per cent of client requests overall and a further 10 per cent for high school placements. Pure language courses accounted for only nine per cent of business across all the agencies that took part in this survey. This strong trend towards academic education overseas is also reflected in the fact that, according to the agencies, an estimated 82 per cent of clients were learning a language for their further studies overseas. In addition, academic preparation is the most popular type of language training among Chinese students, accounting for 35 per cent of requests, and the average length of stay, at 23.8 weeks, was long.
Agency business
Personal endorsement from previous students was the most important form of recruitment among Chinese agencies, accounting for an overall 41 per cent of clients. The second-most important recruitment tool was seminars to students, followed by press advertising. For agencies finding new schools to represent, workshops have taken on a greater role, accounting for an overall average of 30 per cent of new partners, compared with 19 per cent last year. Language fairs and expos have become less important when finding new school-partners, resulting in just under three per cent of contacts compared with 20 per cent in 2006.
Looking ahead
Forecasts for the future of the Chinese market remain upbeat for 2007. One agency said the market would increase “greatly” because of the growing demand for overseas education or for language training for their future career prospects.
Economic outlook
China’s economy has seen double-digit growth for four years and exceeded its eight per cent forecasts in 2006 to reach a record 10.7 per cent.
The danger of exceeding a growth rate of 11 per cent would be a sudden rise in inflation and overheating of the economy. But economists are optimistic for China’s economy in the near future.
The consumer price index increased by 1.5 per cent in 2006.
The World Bank revised its forecast for China’s GDP growth in 2007 to 10.4 per cent and its projection for the current account surplus to almost 11 per cent of GDP.
Source: Xinhua News Agency; China Development Gateway
Chinese agents named a range of language programmes they work with, including, in Australia: Balwyn High School, Melbourne, VIC; Brighton Secondary School, Melbourne, VIC; Camberwell High School, Melbourne, VIC; Kew High School, Melbourne, VIC; University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW. In Canada: ESLI International, Langley, BC; Great Lakes College, Toronto, ONT. In New Zealand: ACG, Auckland; King Education, Christchurch. In the UK: EF, various; Inlingua, Cheltenham; Leeds English School, Leeds; St Andrews, Cambridge; St Giles, various; Twin, London. In the USA: California State University Fullerton ALP, Fullerton, CA; ELS, Princeton, NJ. International: Aspect, various
Thank you to the following agencies for taking part in our survey: Beijing Shiji Huihua Education & Culture Exchange, Fujian Centre for Overseas Studies, Haiyi Co, Henan International Cultural Exchange Cente, Hubei Provincial Foreign Affairs Service Center, Intrinsic Ltd, Sichuan Provincial Huaxing Going-Abroad Service Company Ltd, Tianjin Jinfu Exit & Entry Consultation Service Center, Zhuk (China) Ltd.
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Contact any advertiser in the this issue now
The following language schools, associations and accommodation providers advertised in the latest edition of Language Travel Magazine. If you would like more information on any of these advertisers, tick the relevant boxes, fill out your details and send.
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