Wellington education delegation to Japan and China

Wellington education providers will be making their presence felt in Japan and China next week to attract international students to the region.

Grow Wellington’s International Education Manager and 13 education providers from all over the Wellington region, including tertiary institutes and secondary schools, will visit Japan and China from May 22 to June 2.

The education delegation is part of a wider business delegation led by Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown and furthers the Destination Wellington programme, which involves Wellington City Council, Positively Wellington Tourism and Grow Wellington.

Matthew Steele, Grow Wellington’s International Education Manager, says the Mayoral delegation to Japan is particularly timely with renewed education focus on this market at a national level.

“Japan is essentially a new market for Wellington and there has already been strong interest from partners in Japan in the build-up to our visit.

“The Japanese government has developed a refreshed international education strategy which promotes offshore study with an extensive scholarship programme. We expect there will be significant opportunities for New Zealand education providers as a result of this strategy.”

Mr Steele says that while China is Wellington’s largest international student market with around 1,300 international students, Japan is already the region’s fourth largest market with 463 Japanese students enrolled with Wellington education providers in 2012.

“It presents a real opportunity. The number of Japanese students in Wellington has increased 25 per cent since 2007 so we know the Wellington region provides an excellent experience for students from Japan.”

Last year international students contributed $177 million to the Wellington economy.

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