CVC, Latin America’s largest travel agency, is launching a new division dedicated to selling study travel exclusively. CVC Intercâmbio will open student-facing offices to bring its language programmes, youth travel, academic year abroad, junior packages and other related products to the high street.
So far, Brazil-based CVC has opened five offices to serve “students and anyone who would like to travel for study purposes, independently from age or profession”, Santuza Bicalho, director of study travel at CVC, told The PIE News.
“The offices are modern and have the objective to serve a clientele that travels to study”
“The offices are modern and have the objective to serve a clientele that travels to study,” she said.
“Most clients in this sector travel by themselves instead of travelling with their families.”
The offices will offer expert advice on cultural exchange, and students will be able to purchase products such as airline tickets, travel insurance and accommodation along with their courses.
The Intercâmbio arm is a consolidation of the brand’s existing study travel business and part of CVC’s four-year plan.
In the last year, CVC has been consolidating small study travel brands, and will use its existing assets to serve the business, including Submarino Viagens, Brazil’s second largest travel agent, which it bought in 2015.
CVC also bought majority control of Rextur Advance, a B2B travel gateway that supplies travel agents with airline tickets and hotel offers, in 2014, adding to its portfolio of language schools, junior programmes, accommodation, tours and insurance that will make CVC Intercâmbio a formidable competitor in the market, Bicalho said.
It will also benefit from existing infrastructure including an IT platform to confirm school places and homestay beds; marketing investment; and a 24/7 customer service helpline.
CVC Intercâmbio will operate under the same franchise business model that is currently used across its 1,060 travel agent sales offices.
It has opened four offices in the state of São Paulo and one in São José dos Campos this month, with three more due to open in October – one in Belo Horizonte and one in Curitiba, along with a fifth centre in São Paulo.
