Message from the CEO
The agent invasion has begun! Education New Zealand and Air New Zealand’s joint effort to bring 50 education agents and education media to New Zealand this year is now underway, with the first group just heading home, and the second already in Auckland to begin their tour.
This undertaking is significant in many ways, in terms of its size and scope. We are hosting groups from seven countries, and taking them across the country from Northland to Invercargill and all points in between.
It is also significant that most of the visiting agents are New Zealand Specialist Agents, trained by Education New Zealand, approved by NZ institutions, and well qualified to sell the benefits of a New Zealand education. This first hand experience of our country will serve to build their enthusiasm for this task, and hopefully we will see the results after their return.
It is great to see participation from so many different institutions, regional groups and our own team combining their efforts to make the trips informative, enjoyable and memorable.
Those of you who have submitted proposals for the contestable fund will hear back from us by the end of March.
Marketing and Recruitment Workshops
Education New Zealand ran a series of sector specific Marketing and Recruitment workshops in Auckland during the week of February 22-26. Tim Rogers, a well respected education consultant from the UK, presented the workshops with assistance from ENZ webmaster Vince Warnock.
Over 100 members of the industry representing 80 institutions attended the workshops. Here are some of their comments:
“I found the workshop on Wednesday really great! It was really useful and informative, and Tim is a great speaker. I hope ENZ runs more of these professional development opportunities in the future!”
“…we have already put into action 2 or 3 of his ideas – so well worth the time.”
"I attended the ENZ workshop with Tim Rogers in Auckland yesterday, which was excellent – my only complaint is that it wasn’t long enough! It’s so great that ENZ offers those kinds of professional development opportunities!"
ENZ Offshore Report - Thailand
I’m Gewalin “Nan” Lertrasameewong, the Country Manager for Education New Zealand in Thailand.
In many countries, including Thailand, getting an English-language education or simply learning the language itself is seen as the key to future career success. When it comes to international education decisions, New Zealand is recently competing head to head with the UK, Canada, the US and Australia for Thai students looking for an English speaking country where they can live and study for a time.
Over the past three years the number of Thai students coming to New Zealand has increased. Our reputation for high quality of education, affordable education packages, world-class campus facilities, welcoming Kiwi hospitality, and a safe, beautiful environment in which to live has given this country the edge to stay ahead of the pack.
Maintaining lines of communication is essential to gaining the confidence of agents and parents, and is an important tool to help Thai students decide where they want to study. Strategic partnerships with government agencies and Thai educational institutions have been the key to communication success for Education New Zealand.
To raise students’ awareness of New Zealand and the educational opportunities it offers, Education New Zealand is working on the “Future Leader 2010” project, which will be launched on March 16th this year. More information and application form will be available via the New Zealand Educated website as of the launch date.
Thanks for taking your time to read ENZ offshore report on Thailand. We would like to help you stay updated with what’s going on in Thailand.
New Research Online
We now have the Student Loan, Financial Aid and Scholarship Schemes research by Tim Rogers, International Education Consultant available on our Research and Resources website http://www.educationnz.org.nz/resources/. This research provides a review of international provision and New Zealand’s opportunities in significant student loan, financial aid and scholarship schemes worldwide.
Offshore Promotional Activities
When it comes to making New Zealand’s educational offerings more visible in our depth markets, we take a variety of approaches to get our national “brand” in front of the right people. While New Zealand Educated may not be a familiar sight here at home, those who travel to our key markets will often find a familiar logo in unexpected places. Here are some of the offshore promotions we have running now or coming up shortly:
- billboards in Chongqing China, including the one pictured above in the International Terminal of their airport;
- Education New Zealand/Immigration New Zealand seminars for agents in Chandigarh, Delhi, Cochin and Mumbai;
- Around 40,000 visitors to the Korean Student Fair in Seoul on 27 & 28 March will see the large paua coloured New Zealand Pavilion;
- StudyWorld 2010 is to be held in Berlin on 23 & 24 April, a large New Zealand Education booth has been booked for generic promotion, almost 10,000 visitors are expected;
- New Zealand Education will be represented at the FPP Edu-Media EXPO Brazil Roadshow in Rio de Janeio, São Paulo, Brasilia, Belo Horizonte from March 10-18;
- There will be a New Zealand Education booth at ExpoBelta in São Paulo, Brazil 20 & 21 March
There’s much more coming, and we’ll let you know where to look for us offshore in upcoming editions of E-News.
PACE 2010 Update
New Zealand Education Fairs, Vietnam, 4 - 7 June
This year the New Zealand Education Fairs in Vietnam will precede Thailand, to ensure we avoid the Vietnamese school holidays later in June.
In June 2009 over 1,400 Vietnamese visitors attended the two fairs in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The schedule this year is as follows:
Hanoi Agent Seminar, Briefing and Welcome Function – 4 June
New Zealand Education Fair, Hanoi – 5 June (* NOTE : only 4 spaces remaining*)
New Zealand Education Fair, Ho Chi Minh City – 6 June
Ho Chi Minh City Agent Seminar and Networking Function - 7 June
The Evening Functions on Friday 4 June and Monday 7th June will both include a presentation ceremony for Vietnamese agents receiving their New Zealand Specialist Agent certificates.
To register for the fairs or for further information click HERE. Other online information includes the 2009 Final Report and the Market Profile for Vietnam, available HERE or contact Rahael.
New Zealand Education Fairs, Thailand, 10 – 15 June
The largest set of events on the PACE calendar in terms of industry participation, these Fairs and the Networking Function provide plenty of opportunities for marketers to raise their profile, recruit students, and develop relationships with active agents and relevant education officials in this important market. Last year’s events recorded over 3,000 visitors keen to check out options for studying in New Zealand. The dates for 2010 are:
Welcome Function & Briefing (Bangkok) – 10 June
Chiang Mai – 12 June (* NOTE: only 5 spaces remaining*)
Bangkok – 13 June
To register and for further information click HERE. Other online information includes the 2009 Final Report and the Market Profile or contact Rahael
Shanghai World Expo – Final Reminder
Education New Zealand has confirmed a New Zealand Education promotion within the New Zealand Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo on Tuesday 15th June 2010. During the six months the expo will be open it is expected to draw in excess of 70 million visitors.
We welcome industry members to join us at this exciting event to celebrate and expand upon our relations with Chinese officials and 30 of the top performing New Zealand Specialist Agents.
More information about the networking event and an opportunity to register your interest in attending is available HERE. The deadline to submit your interest in attending is Friday 12th March.
Air NZ Special Offer
Air New Zealand has introduced a new discount for US and Canadian students coming to New Zealand.
They are offering 10% off the lowest available fare to encourage more students from North America to use the national airline when they travel here for study.
The discount promotion will run until the end of April 2010 for travel commencing on or before September 2010. If the trial is successful, there is a chance the promotion will be extended which would be great for students.
Students require a special code to receive the discounted price. To get the code for this promotion, e-mail nigelmorris@earthlink.net. Please put Promotion Code in the subject line.
B.C. uses Olympics to woo international students
A government-funded council that promotes British Columbia as an education destination used the 2010 Winter Olympics to boast about the province's elementary, secondary and post-secondary schools.
During the two weeks of the Olympics, it conducted daily seminars at a downtown Vancouver party site in the hope of convincing visitors that B.C. is "the best place on Earth to study" - a catchphrase modified slightly from the Liberal slogan that insists the province is the best place on Earth, period.
But competition for international students is stiff, and the council's executive director, Randall Martin, says Canada was late getting into the game. Although B.C. is doing better than every other province - drawing almost one-third of all international students who come to Canada - its success is nowhere near that of the leaders: Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
In addition to marketing B.C. schools to Olympic visitors, the council, a non-profit society that relies on government funding, has been arranging overseas trips for education officials from the school and postsecondary sectors. Recently, it took two delegations -- each with about two dozen people -- to Vietnam and Brazil, which are considered markets with enormous potential.
Later this year, it plans to lead public school superintendents on a trip to China, with a promise of new relationships that will boost the number of Chinese students studying in B.C. high schools.
There are now about 14,000 international students in B.C.'s schools, but Martin believes more could be accommodated, given declining enrolments in the public school system.
B.C.'s post-secondary schools enrol about 32,000 international students and private language schools have about 90,000 students, although Martin said no one is certain about the latter number because students coming to Canada for short-term programs don't require visas.
Although international education is worth more than $2 billion a year to the B.C. economy, money isn't the only interest. International-student programs promote tolerance and global citizenship at home, Martin added.
The education and advanced education ministries said they haven't given funding to the council this year, but the advanced education ministry gave $4 million to the Research Universities' Council of B.C. for international marketing purposes and $1.5 million of that was passed to the council.
Martin is hoping for more, given a promise in last month's throne speech that the Liberals will "act to make British Columbia a destination of choice for international students that capitalizes on the strengths in our schools, colleges, universities and institutions."
He also expects the federal government to provide money for national promotions in its budget.
(via Vancouver Sun)
E-news is a newsletter for the Export Education industry, compiled by Education New Zealand. You can access previous E-news newsletters on our website at www.educationnz.org.nz .
With Regards.
Education New Zealand
www.educationnz.org.nz