28 October 2015 at 9:00 am
Inaugural Japan Fair a resounding success
The first-ever Education New Zealand Fair in Japan, held in Tokyo on 11 October, exceeded expectations with 33 New Zealand education providers representing all sectors exhibiting, and close to 400 visitors attending.
It wasn’t just about the numbers though – the level of interest and engagement between visitors and exhibitors was palpable. Many visitors spent a few hours at the fair, taking their time to explore study options in New Zealand. Participating New Zealand providers enjoyed both the quantity and quality of their consultations with potential students, parents and schools.
Much to the keen interest of their New Zealand counterparts, representatives from some of Japan’s universities also attended, with a view to seeking partnerships.
Frances Little, Director, International Centre at AUT University, remarked, “Congratulations on an extremely successful agent workshop and student fair in Tokyo. These were the best supported events organised by ENZ I have attended in my years working in the industry. Team Japan you are a credit to the organisation and deserve every accolade you get. Thank you for everything, AUT will definitely be at the Japan events next year.”
In conjunction with the fair, ENZ hosted two education seminars and alumni networking events in Osaka on 8 October and Tokyo on 9 October. More than 65 education agents and institutions in total attended the seminars, and more than 150 guests were welcomed at the networking events.
ENZ is grateful for the support of Tourism New Zealand and Air New Zealand at the fair, as well as that of entrepreneurial New Zealand companies, Cookie Time and Allpress Espresso, that provided cookie and coffee samples to the guests.
As part of ENZ’s Business Plan for 2015/16 Japan was prioritised as a ‘promote’ market and will see a corresponding increase in the number of promotional activities. With the Japanese government’s goal to double the number of Japanese students studying overseas to 18,000 by 2020, and with the upcoming Rugby World Cup in 2019 and the Olympics in 2020, we are seeing Japanese schools and universities have be increasingly proactive in exploring international partnership opportunities.
ENZ looks forward to hosting an education fair, agent/industry seminars and alumni networking events again in October 2016.
