Italian agents optimistic for growth in 2025

The poll of the 29 member agencies of IALCA was presented to educators and service providers attending the fifth annual Salone delle Lingue, a combination of B2B workshop B+B2C student fair held in Rome at the end of October.

Growth: IALCA found that 65 per cent of member agencies expect an overall increase in student bookings in 2025 compared with the current year, while the rest believe business will remain constant with none expecting a decrease.

The association said that there already more mini-stay bookings for next year than there were in 2023, and that Erasmus+ programmes have also performed well for next year. However, there was also some caution that the growth of mini-stays could impact on the regular summer business as some families will not be able to send children twice.

Growth by course type: Agents were asked which types of programmes they expected to increase in 2025, and 52 per cent said the high school programmes and junior courses were anticipated to grow.

There was also anticipated growth for mini-stays (38 per cent of of agents), senior courses (29), internships (23), courses for 25–30-year-olds (19) and language plus sports (19).

In contrast, 31 per cent think that there will be a decrease in language and sport programmes, while 25 per cent expect a drop in business/executive programmes and a similar ratio anticipate a decline in teacher training.

Pina Foti , President of IALCA, advised that the association is confident of growth in the senior and young adult business, as well as work and study programmes, and said IALCA is was working towards developing more products for adults and seniors and planning more marketing activity for this demographic.

Forty-five per cent of IALCA members surveyed think that individual agent bookings will increase in 2025, while 40 per cent expect bookings to remain steady and 15 per cent are expecting a decrease in adults.

A similar ratio expect an increase in individual junior bookings next year, although the association advised that this is a relatively small part of the typical business.

Destinations: When agents were asked to identify what they thought would be the three most popular destinations in 2025, the UK was top, cited by 85.7 per cent, followed by Ireland (80.9), the USA and Canada (both 38.1), Spain (28.6), and Malta (23.8).

Accommodation: There has been a shift in accommodation preferences in recent years, perhaps reflecting shortages in the post-Covid era, with 61.9 saying that homestay has become less popular as demand for residential grows.

What would improve agency business: Agents were asked to name two elements that could be improved to facilitate their work, and the most cited was quality of homestay accommodation (55 per cent), while half of respondents said communication with school staff. Other issues mentioned included quality of activities (40) and quality of residential accommodation (25), while relatively few agents (10 per cent) said quality of courses.

IALCA advised delegates that the human factor makes the difference, and that this is an area where schools can make efforts to improve the experience without increasing the price dramatically.

The association said that things member agents look for in a course include: innovative course content that engages students, especially teenagers; qualified native speaking teachers; flexibility from staff on homestay issues; and better organisation of activities on junior summer programmes.

The Salone delle Lingue was attended by 30 IALCA agents, 40 schools/sponsors, and around 1,000 student visitors, Paolo Barilari , Vice-President of IALCA advised.

The association also presented the 2024 Salone delle Lingue Awards during a networking gala dinner at the event.

Read more at: https://studytravel.network/magazine/news/0/31018