Exhibitor growth and 20% first-timers drive successful Dubai event

Feb. 7, 2014 - PRLog -- The 2014 ICEF Dubai Workshop welcomed over 350 participants for the fourth year running, with 20% of attendees participating in their first ever ICEF event. In total, 46 countries were represented at the workshop, providing the ideal platform for educators, agents and service providers to build partnerships and network with peers from around the world. First time attendee Elaine Bowman from NEOMA Business School in France commented: “This was the best agent workshop I have ever attended”.

This year saw the number of exhibitors at the event increase by 22%. Organisations exhibiting at the workshop included government departments, associations and consortiums, testing bodies, distributers, student accommodation providers, and banking services. This illustrates the demand from agents to offer additional quality products to their students and to improve their study abroad experience.

During the event, 154 educators from 112 institutions engaged in over 3 700 targeted meetings with 167 agents from Turkey and 29 other countries in the Middle East, South Asia and Africa, including for the first time, agents from Namibia and Mauritius. In 2014, the top five agent countries were: Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Libya.

An impressive 21% of all agents at the workshop were new to ICEF events, giving long-time participants fresh opportunities to expand their agent networks. Agents were also very happy with their workshop experiences. “This was my first ICEF Workshop and I have been very impressed. It was very professional and provided great opportunities for me to meet with other agents, organisations and schools from all over the world”, said Umit Ozcali from Turkish agency, ILES International Language & Education Services.

The ICEF Agent Training Course (IATC) is increasingly recognised as one of the industry’s most important qualifications. After studying the course, agents may take the final exam online anytime or at an ICEF Workshop. During the ICEF Dubai Workshop four agents qualified as ICEF Trained Agent Counsellors (ITACs). There are now 559 ITACs in 89 countries around the world. Full contact details all ITACs can be found at: http://www.icef.com/itacs

A number of seminars and presentations were also held on the first day of the workshop. These seminars gave educators and service providers the opportunity to learn more about the region and understand current trends and important cultural nuances. Agent-focussed seminars included topics such as Study in Canada, training and business best practice.

In 2015, ICEF will once again host the Dubai Workshop at Jumeirah Emirates Towers Hotel, February 02 – 04. More information on this event can be found at: http://www.icef.com/workshops/dubai

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If you require further information, please contact Korinne Algie or Stan Bobrov at communications@icef.com