Now in its 35th year, the IALC 2018 Workshop will see 150 IALC language centres from 23 countries and 140 international study travel agencies from 45 countries come together to discuss key issues and trends in the sector.

“We’re delighted to have reached our aim of 150 high-quality IALC schools”

In the lead up to the event, the IALC Executive Board held a meeting to discuss what has been an important 12 months of growth for the association, with the establishment of partnerships with JAOS and Edvisor and the launch of a new website.

“It’s been a very good year and we’re delighted to have reached our aim of 150 high-quality IALC schools,” said vice-president of membership Florian Meierhofer.

IALC president and director of Linguaviva in Italy Giorgia Biccelli said the choice of destinations for the conference is one of the reasons that agencies and schools flock to it annually.

“The IALC Workshop is…both inclusive and exclusive where leading schools join together with top quality agents and exhibitors for two days of quality business meetings,” she said.

Secretary and treasurer Stefan Adenet-Kaven added: “This year’s workshop will be no different in the beautiful city of Bologna.”

Vice-president of marketing Robin Adams said the workshop is a unique opportunity for schools and agents to engage with new developments in the industry.

“In the past few years we have endeavoured to provide meaningful opportunities for professional development and we are incredibly excited for what is to come,” he said.

Adams added that IALC is looking to explore more opportunities in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East over the coming year.

The Board said that during the workshop, IALC will be presenting its Study Travel Research Report 2018: ‘Perfecting the student experience’.

Vice-president of quality assurance Kevin McNally said that is important for IALC to contribute to research on language study abroad as it will help it to be established as the brand leader in language travel organisations.

“We recognise that the market is changing continuously and…the only way we can maintain our market lead is by gaining the intelligence and data to see what the industry demands,”McNally added.