Marketing plan to increase international students in Cairns
Published Friday, 21 November, 2008 at 05:00 AM
Minister for Tourism, Regional Development and Industry
The Honourable Desley Boyle
International students have an ‘authentic’ Australian experience in Cairns according to recent research enabled by Queensland Government funding.
Tourism, Regional Development and Industry Minister and Member for Cairns Desley Boyle said research showed students specifically chose Cairns as a study destination because they felt it would be a friendly city with a beautiful climate supporting a host of outdoor extra-curricular activities.
“James Cook University was flagged as a drawcard for a number of students too, due to its strong reputation and number of courses on offer,” Ms Boyle said.
“JWT Education has extensive experience in providing marketing services to the international education sector in Australia and markets identified for potential development include China, Germany, the Middle East and Latin America.”
Ms Boyle said that strengthening Queensland’s regional economies was a major priority for the Bligh Government and international education and training was a key growth area for Cairns and the Far North.
“JWT Education has been employed by the Study Cairns group thanks to a $50,000 grant, to determine the best way of increasing Cairns’ international student market share,” Ms Boyle said.
“During the past 10 years, Study Cairns has put the city on the map as a quality provider of international education.
“The sector has been a key contributor to the regional economy, bringing in more than $50 million in 2006 and 12,000 international students from more than 30 countries.
“Attracting more international students to Cairns and Tropical North Queensland by identifying state, national and international trends in education is the focus of the new marketing strategy being created by JWT Education.
“Primary research has included focus groups with international students from a range of countries including India, USA, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico Japan, South Korea and the Czech Republic, confirming the many attractions of the region.”
Study Cairns President Janine Bowmaker said an economic profile commissioned in 2003/04 by Cummings Research projected student numbers for the Cairns region would grow to 19,000 by 2010.
“We currently have a good market in Japan, but we believe we can build on this further. For example, given that about quarter of a million Japanese tourists visit Tropical North Queensland every year, this has huge potential for our industry if we can go about it the right way,” Ms Bowmaker said.
“With Korea, the market is definitely growing and we are starting to tap into it.
“With China, we’re finding that more and more Chinese students are coming here, but this is a massive market and we’re really only scratching the surface.
“Our members have good networks in China, especially James Cook, so we’ll use these as platforms to proactively capture a greater slice of the market there,” Ms Bowmaker said.
Queensland Treasury statistics showed Queensland had 41,805 international student enrolments at October 2007, about 14.4 per cent of the Australian total.
Queensland’s main international markets are (at October 2007):
o China - 6614 students;
o South Korea - 4820 students and;
o India - 3252 students.
International students in Queensland studied (at October 2007):
o Higher education 44.3 per cent;
o English Language Courses (ELICOS) 19.4 per cent;
o Vocational Education and Training (VET) 18.9 per cent;
o Schools 9.7 per cent and;
o other 7.7 per cent.
Ms Boyle said the new strategic marketing plan currently being developed by Study Cairns and JWT Education and will be delivered in November.
Study Cairns is an education cluster representing the region’s international education and support services. For more information, go to: www.studycairns.com.au.
Ends
Media contact: 3225 1005 or 0419 025 326
21 November 2008
Tourism, Regional Development and Industry Minister and Member for Cairns Desley Boyle said research showed students specifically chose Cairns as a study destination because they felt it would be a friendly city with a beautiful climate supporting a host of outdoor extra-curricular activities.
“James Cook University was flagged as a drawcard for a number of students too, due to its strong reputation and number of courses on offer,” Ms Boyle said.
“JWT Education has extensive experience in providing marketing services to the international education sector in Australia and markets identified for potential development include China, Germany, the Middle East and Latin America.”
Ms Boyle said that strengthening Queensland’s regional economies was a major priority for the Bligh Government and international education and training was a key growth area for Cairns and the Far North.
“JWT Education has been employed by the Study Cairns group thanks to a $50,000 grant, to determine the best way of increasing Cairns’ international student market share,” Ms Boyle said.
“During the past 10 years, Study Cairns has put the city on the map as a quality provider of international education.
“The sector has been a key contributor to the regional economy, bringing in more than $50 million in 2006 and 12,000 international students from more than 30 countries.
“Attracting more international students to Cairns and Tropical North Queensland by identifying state, national and international trends in education is the focus of the new marketing strategy being created by JWT Education.
“Primary research has included focus groups with international students from a range of countries including India, USA, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico Japan, South Korea and the Czech Republic, confirming the many attractions of the region.”
Study Cairns President Janine Bowmaker said an economic profile commissioned in 2003/04 by Cummings Research projected student numbers for the Cairns region would grow to 19,000 by 2010.
“We currently have a good market in Japan, but we believe we can build on this further. For example, given that about quarter of a million Japanese tourists visit Tropical North Queensland every year, this has huge potential for our industry if we can go about it the right way,” Ms Bowmaker said.
“With Korea, the market is definitely growing and we are starting to tap into it.
“With China, we’re finding that more and more Chinese students are coming here, but this is a massive market and we’re really only scratching the surface.
“Our members have good networks in China, especially James Cook, so we’ll use these as platforms to proactively capture a greater slice of the market there,” Ms Bowmaker said.
Queensland Treasury statistics showed Queensland had 41,805 international student enrolments at October 2007, about 14.4 per cent of the Australian total.
Queensland’s main international markets are (at October 2007):
o China - 6614 students;
o South Korea - 4820 students and;
o India - 3252 students.
International students in Queensland studied (at October 2007):
o Higher education 44.3 per cent;
o English Language Courses (ELICOS) 19.4 per cent;
o Vocational Education and Training (VET) 18.9 per cent;
o Schools 9.7 per cent and;
o other 7.7 per cent.
Ms Boyle said the new strategic marketing plan currently being developed by Study Cairns and JWT Education and will be delivered in November.
Study Cairns is an education cluster representing the region’s international education and support services. For more information, go to: www.studycairns.com.au.
Ends
Media contact: 3225 1005 or 0419 025 326
21 November 2008