Adelaidenow surveyed 150 international students, just over half of whom came from China, followed by India (11.92 per cent) and Singapore (6 per cent).

90 per cent of respondents said they had not experienced racism

Ninety four per cent said they either felt very safe or mostly safe in Adelaide, while 90 per cent of respondents said they had not experienced racism during their time in South Australia – a sign the state has avoided the bad PR that followed a spate of attacks on Indian students across Australia in 2009.

Furthermore, 65% of respondents said they would like to live in Adelaide permanently and 66% that they would encourage others to study in the state.

Respondents were not entirely happy, though. One in five said they found it difficult to find appropriate accommodation when they arrived in the city, with some spending months searching.

The biggest barrier was in providing landlords with references – a hard ask of youngsters who often know no one in Australia when they arrive.

Greg Troughton, chief executive officer of the Real Estate Institute of South Australia, acknowledged the problem.

“It is not something that has been raised as an issue with the institute, but making those pathways easier for international students is perhaps something we could look at,” he told the Herald Sun.

“We’ve worked hard with our partners overseas to raise the profile of Adelaide and it seems to be working”

Adelaide is not as popular among overseas students as Sydney or Melbourne, but welcomes a sizeable number – some 20,968 according to the latest government figures. Commencements climbed for the first time this year since 2009 – albeit marginally (by 158) – after three years of decline perpetuated by a high dollar.

Education Adelaide chief executive, Denise von Wald, put it down to a 40% rise in pathway enrolments and heralded the “first green shoots of recovery”.

“We’ve worked hard with our partners overseas to raise the profile of Adelaide and it seems to be working,” she said. “Other factors that have contributed to the rise are changes that have streamlined the visa application process in the past six months and the drop in the Australian dollar.”