The Thebing brothers are well known in the language travel industry, having built up their empire to include Spanish language schools in three countries; a network of agency offices, a software company and more recently, an English language teaching operation in Malta. Christopher Thebing talks to The PIE.
The PIE: Tell us about your ascendancy in the language travel industry, how did you start?
CT: Well, I took a language course myself in Ecuador 12 years ago and I liked it and I came back the following year because I really had a great experience. That same year, the school where I studied was about to be closed, so I came up with the idea to set up an office for a new school.. but at the end of the day, I set up a school (Academia Columbus) myself together with my brother [Patrick Thebing].
The PIE: How difficult was it to set up a school – was it a good test of your Spanish?
CT: It was of course somewhat of a challenge – I had been a Spanish student for a couple of weeks, so my Spanish skills were ok to good, maybe slightly better.. but it was relatively easy. Why? Because I had studied in the school and the school was closing so I could take over some of the teachers. I knew the concept. Already I had a good collection of host families which I could take over from the old school, so it was not starting a school from complete scratch.
The PIE: So from one school in Ecuador, what came next?
CT: Next we started with direct bookings and then we learned about agents. So we [thought], well setting up an agency wouldn’t be a bad idea. So in 2004 we started our first agency, Kolumbus Sprachreisen in Germany.
The PIE: Tell me about the other Academia Columbus schools.
CT: Then we set up the next school, because our clients in Ecuador said, ‘Hey we had a great experience but we would like to see a different place. We would love to come back to your school but not to the same place.’ So in 2005, my brother went to Costa Rica to we set up our second school there, and then in 2006 I went to Mexico to set up our third school there in Playa del Carmen, right on the beach.
The PIE: And the story doesn’t end there..
Hard work, a lot of work and working with the right people
CT: And then we set up together with a good friend, Paloma Aviles; we combined our forces and set up an office in Spain and at the same time, we got the brand Speak & Fun in Germany, that was end of 2006/7. In the same year, the Becas [grants for Spaniards from the Spanish government to study abroad] came, this really truly helped us getting off the ground.
The next year, we added offices in Switzerland and Hungary by adding a third brand, Hermosa Sprachreisen in Switzerland and in Hungary, under the brand of Kolumbus, based in Budapest.
The PIE: Is that where you saw the most demand coming from after Germany?
CT: Not really, to be honest, it was also by chance because we met the right people to run the offices and to join forces with them.
The PIE: In each case, were you collaborating with someone who already had an agency?
CT: No, we met someone and then we set up the office from scratch.
And then later in 2009 we started a Dutch and Finnish office. Then in 2010 we acquired parts of Experience Sprachreisen in Germany and we started preparing our Polish office, which opened in 2011.
The PIE: And then you have the software development..
CT: In 2008, we started development with the extension of our own software to offer language schools Administration Software and now more than 50 schools around the world are using our software. And now we are actually working on our agency software because there is very little in the market.
An important step in our development was going to workshops, meeting many people, and also we entered IALC in 2009
The PIE: So where next?
CT: Oh, and in 2009 we also started setting up our school in Malta together with Donald and Rebecca Brincat under the brand of BELS. With their academic expertise and our marketing ideas, we thought it would good idea to join forces, and since last year we have had an adult school and also a junior programme [on the main island of Malta] that is running very successfully.
The PIE: What has been the secret to your success?
CT: Hard work, a lot of work and working with the right people. An important step in our development was going to workshops, meeting many people, and also we entered IALC in 2009 which clearly helped us to develop our agent network. [more>>]
The PIE: Do you have plans for more schools – your schools are very popular with the German market but now that you’ve got your net cast wider..
CT: We dont have any concrete plans but I’m pretty sure over the next few years we will add some more schools to our company – hopefully, if the development continues to be so positive as it was in the last few years.
The PIE: How do you work with your brother?
CT: It’s very easy – in 95% of decisions, we are of the same opinion, so it’s very easy. We can trust each other and he knows what I expect from him, I know what he expects from me.
The PIE: What do you think is going to happen to our industry in terms of the way customers find out about products, what trends do you see in the next few years?
CT: The Internet and social media are becoming more and more important. Old agencies going through traditional channels like travel agencies will be losing more and more market share. For us, the internet was key to our success. For many younger agencies, schools… that has truly helped them to develop positively. Social media will be playing a more and more important role.
The PIE: Will people ever turn away from language travel?
It’s a product which I really love and that I can sell and offer with my whole heart to clients
CT: I hope not! An online experience can never be the same as a real local experience. I don’t think we are only selling language courses, we are selling experiences. By giving people the opportunity to get to know another culture, we help them to become better people, maybe, or more open-minded people. I truly enjoyed it as a student; it’s a product which I really love and that I can sell and offer with my whole heart to our clients.
