Speaking with The PIE News, Jeroen Bastiaansen, managing director of the agency, Study-Globe, said being part of a larger group gives the company leverage in a sector which is seeing increased consolidation.

“It gives us an extra edge in the market. Having the support on location is definitely beneficial”

“We see it on the educator side, and agencies like ourselves believe that becoming part of the IP group is helping us to grow and to become stronger,” he commented.

“It gives us definitely an extra edge in the market,” he said. “Having the support on location is definitely beneficial for the agency in the Netherlands.”

The network has introduced a two-way support system for inbound and outbound students which means that IP’s three agency offices in Spain, a key destination market for Study-Globe’s clients, will now provide services its students.

“If more of our offices start sending students to Holland, this office becomes a service office for students there,” noted IP director, Josef Kysilka.

Through Study-Globe, IP will also reach a new subset of students and education institutions thanks to the Dutch agency’s focus on higher education.

At the moment the agency places students in higher education institutions worldwide, including destinations such as Spain, Korea, Malaysia and India that are “quite untouched by other partners in the network”, Bastiaansen said.

It also accounts for more than 900 language course weeks a year.

Reflecting a consolidation trend in the study travel industry, Kysilka anticipates that IP will add 20-30 new offices in the next year.

Kateřina Mertenová, international operations manager at IP, said operating as a network gives the group a leg up when speaking to schools.

“It’s sometimes hard to get a contract with a school if you’re representing just one nationality because they might be getting enough students of that nationality, so they would say no,” she explained.

“But since we always approach them as a network, we always have something to offer them.”

Study-Globe will remain an independent company but will adopt the IP name and branding over the coming months.

Information Planet grew out of a partnership between two agencies in the Czech Republic and Australia owned by Kysilka and co-founder Mauricio Pucci. It now has offices in Europe, Latin America, and Australia.