Market intelligence for international student recruitment from ICEF

Macro Trends Page 1 of 6

The link between vaccine rollouts and the attractiveness of study destinations

Over the past few years, various study abroad destinations have seen their international student numbers wax or wane in tandem with their governments’ approaches to post-study work rights...

How the pandemic is shaping the expectations and decisions of international students

The pandemic is fundamentally shaping the lives of young people belonging to Gen Z (born between 1995 and 2015). Across the world, these young adults are confronted with...

Year in review: What we learned in 2020

Year in review? Do we have to? We might all feel a certain reluctance to revisit the year just past, what with its turbulent politics, more apparent climate...

New UNTWO data measures pandemic’s toll on global tourism

The latest UNTWO data confirms that 2020 is “the worst year on record in the history of tourism.” The loss of US$935 billion in export revenues between January...

Vaccine breakthroughs lead to updated forecasts for COVID recovery

COVID-19 continues to ravage people and economies around the globe, but we now know that (at least) three promising vaccines will be available in 2021 to help prevent...

International students increasingly willing to switch destinations for in-person learning

As COVID-19 wears on, tens of thousands of international students’ study abroad plans remain on hold, and those who are enrolled are having a very different experience than...

International education begins to look ahead to a greener future

“Build back better” is a phrase that we have all become more familiar with in recent months. It imagines not only an economic recovery after the pandemic but...

Updated world travel outlook anticipates recovery will start in 2021

The latest impact figures from the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) show that international tourist arrivals declined 70% in the first eight months of 2020 compared to...

Tracking student intent for study abroad through October

Two recent surveys of prospective students have arrived at very similar observations as to the impact of the pandemic on planning for study abroad. The first comes from...

World travel outlook: International arrivals down 65% but a strong recovery could happen in 2021

We knew it would be bad. But somehow seeing the hard numbers makes the extent of what COVID-19 has done to international tourism even clearer: the UNTWO’s (United...

New study benchmarks global student group travel market

Millions of students go abroad for short-term group programmes to other countries every year, but there has historically been little quantitative study of this major category of study...

New study anticipates shifts in enrolment and market share into 2021

A new study finds that the number of students saying they will cancel their study abroad plans in light of the pandemic has declined in recent months. The...

ICEF Exchange podcast: How are educators and agents preparing for the next student intake?

“Major challenges my students will be facing include economic uncertainty. Also, not knowing what to do and how to plan for the next semester, and uncertainty about how...

Updated survey data tracks student intent through June

In uplifting news for educators who have been hard hit by the COVID-19 crisis this year, new QS survey data shows that many prospective international students are still...

ICEF Exchange podcast: How is COVID-19 impacting student search and school selection?

Our new podcast series continues today with a special panel discussion exploring how the pandemic is affecting student search and school selection. Our host for the episode is...