About StudyWorld / London 2007 Review

A resounding success!

StudyWorld London 2007 took place in the Hilton London Metropole Hotel from 3-5 September. A total of 900 delegates from 255 institutions, 330 agencies and 30 service providers from a combined 62 countries took part, making this our biggest and most successful event so far.

Participants

In 2007, 370 educators representing accredited institutions from 19 countries took part in StudyWorld London, including two Chinese language providers from Shanghai. Over 450 quality agents and educational consultants from 58 different countries also took part, as well as over 70 service providers. An increased number of independent schools and HE/FE institutions from across the world attended, and some agents commented that they would like to see even more in attendance next year. The number of providers of languages other than English attending the Fair also increased this year, with Spanish, Italian, French and German the top four languages being promoted. As many as 65% of English UK members were represented at the event, along with 38 other accredited English language providers from the UK and other English speaking countries.

The top 15 markets represented by agents were Russia, Spain, Italy, International, Turkey, Brazil, Switzerland, Japan, China, France, Germany, Ukraine, Latvia, Poland, and Thailand. Agencies from six markets that did not attend in 2006 were represented in 2007: Argentina, Azerbaijan, Denmark, Ghana, Kyrgyz Republic, Nigeria, and Uzbekistan. This year exhibitors from six different countries attended: Australia, Denmark, France, Spain, Turkey and the UK, including the sponsors Cambridge ESOL and UKvisas, who attended for the first time.

Conference sessions

StudyWorld London 2007 began with a series of conference sessions on current issues and developments in the study abroad industry, with presentations from The Consultants-E, UKvisas, Internet Advantage, Business English UK & Cambridge ESOL, and JWT Education. Internet Advantage discussed trends in online marketing and how to make use of them. JWT Education presented a session on branding and its importance - present and future - in the digital age, and The Consultants-E discussed ways of adding value to your organisation through the use of new technologies.

Feedback from those who attended the sessions was positive, with the presentation by Internet Advantage being rated particularly highly.

Business appointments

The industry renowned online appointment scheduling system, eSchedule PRO, facilitated the appointment bookings between participants prior to the event. The system has revolutionised the appointment scheduling process for international education workshops and other B2B events. In 2007, the system facilitated 35,000 requests for appointments, and 99% of participants rated the system as excellent or good.

Venue

StudyWorld London 2007 was held in the Hilton London Metropole hotel, which is located near Paddington – in the heart of London - and has excellent transport links. The hotel was winner of the prestigious UKinbound Hotel of the Year Award in 2005.

Familiarisation trips

All agents participating in StudyWorld have the opportunity to join one of the Fam trips, which are essential for gaining first hand experience of particular destinations and institutions, as well as for increasing product knowledge. Over 100 agents took part in the 11 Fam trips that departed at the end of StudyWorld London 2007.

Agents travelled to various regions of the UK: Bournemouth, Central England, Hampshire, London, Oxford, Scotland, and Yorkshire & Northumberland, as well as a trip to Malta & Gozo. This year, for the first time, there was a Fam trip to Ireland organised by MEI-RELSA and two specialist Business English UK Fam trips: Business, Professional & Executive English Schools in the South and Cheltenham to Chester with BEUK.

Feedback from both participants and hosts has been very good, with many agents commenting on the excellent organisation of the trips and warm hospitality of the hosts.

Feedback from participants

We received many positive comments about the move to London and the quality of delegates at StudyWorld London 2007.

· 90% of participants rated the overall organisation of the event as excellent or good

· 96% of agents rated the educators they met as excellent or good

· 88% of educators rated the agents they met as excellent or good

· 90% of participants said they intend to book for StudyWorld London 2008

Comments from participants

“A very efficient workshop for finding new partners and strengthening present relationships. It also gave me a chance to see old friends from all over the world!”

Nihan Aytekin, INEDCO, Turkey

“Thank you very much for an excellently organised Fair - the venue was very good and I have made many very useful new contacts.”

Chantal Sturzenegger, UBS AG, Switzerland

“An excellent change from Brighton. More space, luxury and comfort. Excellent food and services. I am over-satisfied.”

Alan Arrouas, Centre Anglia, France

“A wonderful opportunity for international networking with quality providers and fellow agents.”

Deborah Williams, BritLink English Studies, Spain

“Overall, I was very impressed with the venue, organisation and quality of agents I met - it has already led to a substantial number of bookings for my college! I look forward to next year's event.”

Robert Kirby, St Giles International, UK

“An excellent workshop as usual, with good quality agents from all over the world.”

Odile Migieu, Cork Language Centre International, Ireland

“Handling the new venue was made easy by the English UK team. Organisation was strong and there were always plenty of people available to ask when clarification was needed.”

James Rogers, Severnvale Academy, UK

“I have been attending for about five years and think this was the best ever.”

Louiseanne Mercieca, English Language Academy, Malta

“I found the overall organisation and attention to detail to be excellent. It was the first time I had attended StudyWorld and I found the staff team and the English UK team very helpful and welcoming. The schools near my stand were also very helpful and answered a lot of my "new to the system" questions.”

Pat Clay, AB Toscana, Italy

“Many thanks for inviting UKvisas to participate in StudyWorld this year. It was an extremely useful opportunity to brief, exchange ideas with and get feedback from a wide range of agents and institutions.”

Max Howells, UKvisas, UK

“The SELTIC Fam Trip was really good. We were lucky to have an exceptionally nice group of agents who all got on well with each other and were very energetic!”

Andrew Fisher, EAC, UK