The ICEF China Workshop was held in Beijing last week. Read the report in this issue for up-to-the-minute market news from China.

In this issue: A new ICEF workshop for Australia and New Zealand • The first-ever Higher Education Workshop • China market report from the ICEF workshop in Beijing • Berlin and Miami fully booked • A look ahead to 2008

ICEF China Workshop Grows by 85%: A Market Report from Beijing

Few education markets in the world are growing or changing as quickly as China. The past ten years have been marked by explosive economic growth, a dramatic rise in the numbers of Chinese students studying abroad, and an unprecedented expansion of China's domestic education system. In the process, China has become a key engine for the global demand for education, as well as a bona fide competitor to more traditional destination countries in the international education marketplace. Read more...

Australia New Zealand Workshop Confirmed for Sydney

In partnership with Australia-based EdMedia, ICEF's global calendar of agent workshops is expanding in May 2008 to introduce the first-ever Australia New Zealand Agent Workshop The region continues to be a leading destination for international students, and education agents play a major role—accounting for 70% of student referrals to New Zealand and 64% of all international student registrations in Australia.

Hosted at the Hilton Sydney from May 5-7, the workshop will connect carefully screened agents from around the world with Australian and New Zealand education providers through an intensive schedule of one-to-one business meetings and professional development seminars. The workshop location will alternate between Australia and New Zealand each year.

Breaking New Ground in Higher Education

ICEF held its first Higher Education Workshop in September in conjunction with the annual European Association for International Education Conference (EAIE) in Trondheim, Norway. The specialised workshop hosted 92 participants from 35 countries, and matched well-established, accredited universities with carefully screened recruitment agents. Agents were selected for their expertise in the higher education sector, and this appears to have been a key factor in the success of the workshop.

"[The Higher Education Workshop] was an excellent forum in which to meet new agents and partners," said Coventry University's Fiona Johnston (United Kingdom). "I was really impressed by the organisation of the event, but even more so by the quality of the agents I met."

"The meetings in Trondheim were successful because the universities were committed to international student recruitment and because the agents have expertise in matching qualified students with institutions of higher learning abroad," says Maite Viudes, director of ICEF Higher Education. "The universities were very happy with the high standard of the agents and are keen to attend further specialised Higher Education Workshops in the future."

The Trondheim workshop marks an intersection of two important trends. Universities around the world are expanding their international student recruitment efforts. At the same time, agents in many world markets are adapting to new opportunities and increased demand with respect to higher education programmes. The next Higher Education Workshop will be held in Antwerp, Belgium in September 2008, in conjunction with next year's annual EAIE conference.

Record Attendance in Berlin

The annual must-attend event in international student recruitment, The ICEF Berlin Workshop, has been fully booked since August. This year's workshop will again host a record number of participants at Berlin's Hotel Intercontinental from November 4-6. The ICEF Work & Travel Forum—a leading industry forum for specialist buyers and sellers in the burgeoning work and travel sector—will be in Berlin this year as well, from November 2-3, and is still accepting registrations.

Highlights for this year's ICEF Berlin Workshop include:

• A record number of 636 education provider participants from 39 countries.
• An expanded schedule of market intelligence seminars for both agents and educators.
• Intensive training sessions given by industry marketing experts and organised by ICEF Training. These sessions are longer and more in-depth than the ongoing market intelligence seminars, and feature case studies and interactive sessions with participants.
• A next installment of the School Owner's Forum.

Watch for a complete report from Berlin in our next issue.

NETWORK NEWS

Looking Ahead to 2008

December's ICEF Americas Workshop in Miami is now fully booked with record numbers of agents and educators attending. Watch for a Miami report in our next issue and please see the ICEF website for details of upcoming events for 2008 in Dubai, Tokyo, Moscow, Singapore, and Sydney.

The ICEF Bulletin is published periodically throughout the year. This email was sent to you by bulletin@icef.com.