Study Cairns celebrated its 20th anniversary during ICEF’s Australian and New Zealand Agent Workshop in Cairns last week.
The organisation, which manages destination marketing for education providers within the regional city of Cairns in far north Queensland, shared the milestone with agents and educators attending the annual event.
Study Cairns president Carol Doyle said the success of the organisation highlighted the level of understanding within the city for the importance of international education to the local economy, as well as the opportunity it provides to students and the community.
“International education really connects students with the community”
“Cairns is recognised as being Queensland’s leading tourism destination. Tourism is great for the economy, but it doesn’t mean much to locals,” she told The PIE News.
“International education, which has similar concepts behind it like tourism … really connects [students] with the community,” she continued, pointing to the global perspective international students provide local students.
Doyle added the industry helps local students “look at global opportunities and gets them to see the big picture.”
The membership organisation, which includes James Cook University, Central Queensland University and the Holmes Institute, recently received official ‘recognised student organisation’ status from Trade and Investment Queensland.
The 10th annual workshop was held April 5-7. This year marked the first time it was hosted outside of a major capital city, which Doyle said was the result of six years of work by Study Cairns to entice ICEF to the region.
It was the most successful ANZA to date, with around 450 delegates from Australia, New Zealand and around the world. Doyle argued the record attendance showed agents had a strong desire to find out more about study experiences in Australia’s regions.
Nearly 30,000 international students from over 76 countries study in Cairns each year. The sector contributes an estimated A$150m annually to far north Queensland and employs 1,050 people in the city.
