New Zealand education tours Latin America

From 3-20 March, ENZ joined more than 25 New Zealand education providers and 150 agents for the 5^th annual South American Roadshow.

The roadshow kicked off in Bogota, Colombia, with the first New Zealand Ambassador resident in Colombia, HE Lucy Duncan officially opening the New Zealand pavilion at EduExpo.

Over two days, the pavilion had more than 12,000 visitors and was profiled on national television, proving Colombians’ growing interest in studying in New Zealand. The Bogota agent seminar attracted 120 agents.

For the first time, the roadshow included an agent seminar in Mexico, in response to industry demand to include the Central American country. Some 19 institutions and 24 agents attended, which Javiera Visedo, ENZ’s Senior Market Development Manager Colombia, said was a great start for the new market.

“It was a perfect opportunity to start business connections, and all agents were very pleased to know more about what New Zealand can offer their clients,” she said.

Brazil was the next stop with a two-day agent seminar attended by 25 institutions and 78 agents from across Brazil followed by involvement in EduExpo Sao Paulo.

Ana Azevedo, ENZ’s Senior Market Development Manager Brazil, said the agent seminar went very well and there were several highlights.

Also of note was a preview presentation of the 2018 BELTA Market Survey which is co-sponsored by Education New Zealand. Among the results was this figure – 82% of agents interviewed confirmed growth in interest among Brazilian students for study in New Zealand.New Zealand Ambassador to Brazil, Caroline Bilkey, participated in all activities on the first day, and agents and institutions held an impressive 412 meetings over the two days. “The agent seminar had a New Zealand alumni panel with alumni sharing their views on New Zealand education, which was very well received,” said Ana.

“This was extremely pleasing,” Ana said.

The New Zealand Pavilion at EduExpo Sao Paulo attracted 9,717 visitors over the weekend, and institutions were very pleased with the quality of the visitors and are already expecting to grow their current student numbers over the next 18 months.

The roadshow ended in Santiago, Chile with 18 agents (including two from Argentina) and 14 institutions participating in an agent seminar.

At the networking function, Chilean-Kiwi alumni attended as did Peter Chrisp, Chief Executive of New Zealand Trade & Enterprise (NZTE), who was very impressed to hear their stories and to see how proud they are of their time in New Zealand.

Ana and Javiera said the success of the roadshow was due to participation of many NZ Inc colleagues.

“For the first time, an NZ Inc presentation was part of the Agent Seminar, providing key insights to agents and providers of the different approaches and priorities of each New Zealand government entity present in the region.

“In particular, we would like to thank Immigration New Zealand for allowing two immigration officers to participate in the events, providing training sessions to agents and to give advice to students during the fairs.”