Youth travel accounts for 20% of the global travel industry, and so when ICEF Monitor wanted to know more about the sector, one of the first places we turned to was a global youth travel specialist with 30 years of experience: STA Travel.
STA Travel offer flights, accommodation, tours and expeditions in over 60 countries, and sends over 2 million passengers away each year. We recently caught up with their director of business development and ISIC, Mr Adam Cooper, to discuss the synergies between leisure travel and educational travel, as well as current market trends and what factors influence future travel trends.
We also reveal the latest hiring trends at institutions to meet new student demands, and what educators can do to work with travel agencies. Listen to our interview and continue reading below for more information on the latest travel statistics.
Australia is taking a dip, mainly due to currency fluctuations.
Mr Cooper also comments on the latest hiring trends in universities and colleges now, in order to fill the demand for the volunteer abroad sector.
More and more, students are requesting to volunteer abroad either before or after their trip overseas – adding what Mr Cooper calls “bookends” to a study abroad experience.
Youth travel is known to be a resilient sector of the global travel industry, and 2012 proved to be no exception. Last year, 207 million trips were taken by youth travellers, making up 20% of all global tourism.
The youth travel industry is predicted to double from US $185 billion to US $320 billion by 2020.
And despite lingering economic instability due to the global financial crisis, international tourism as a whole increased robustly over the last year with continuing growth expected throughout 2013, the United Nations recently announced.
According to the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), international tourist arrivals surpassed 1 billion for the first time in history in 2012 – reaching 1.035 billion – up from 996 million in 2011, with demand holding well throughout the year and concluding with a stronger-than-expected fourth quarter.
Emerging economies (+4.1%) regained the lead over advanced economies (+3.6%), with Asia and the Pacific showing the strongest results. Growth is expected to continue in 2013 only slightly below the 2012 level (+3% to +4%) and in line with UNWTO long term forecast.
Mirroring STA Travel’s results, by region, Asia and the Pacific (+7%) was the best performer, while South-East Asia, North Africa (both at +9%) and Central and Eastern Europe (+8%) topped the ranking.
This entry was posted in Africa, Asia, Australia/Oceania, Europe, Higher Education, Middle East, North America, Regions, South & Central America, United States, Video Interviews, Work Abroad, Youth Trends and tagged service learning, Trend Alert, youth trends, volunteer abroad, universities with international students.