Course, education provider and destination are the three pillars of the student decision making process. What role does a destination play and how can this be promoted when students are not travelling?

BONARD‘s COO Igor Skibickij spoke at the recent IEAA Marketing and Recruitment Forum 2021, alongside with Harpreet Gill (Study Tasmania) and Helen Kronberger (Austrade).

Igor presented the latest global benchmarking data and trends for promoting destinations to online students, with a perspective from Australian study clusters. Forum participants also benefited from a series of practical tips & tricks in order to leverage their marketing and recruitment.

Key findings:

• According to a BONARD survey of education agencies, the most significant factors driving the choice on study destination are best entry conditions (24% of agencies), job prospects (21%), safety measures (16%) and affordability (13%).

• Only 11% of agencies said their customers primarily decide based on which destination opens up the first.

• Market sentiment surveys show gradual increases in the popularity of Canada, the UK and the USA.

• Australia and New Zealand topped the ranking in the early stages of the pandemic thanks to their swift reactions, however, are experiencing declines in demand due to continuing border closures.

• Providers and agents anticipate an increase in the number of student applications later in the year, however, visa processing remains a concern.

• Online engagement key to mitigate impact on Australia’s market share.

Event speaker

Igor Skibickij

COO

BONARD