The UK immigration minister slammed proposals by advocates for the UK ELT sector at a debate in Westminster, despite being warned that Malta and Ireland continue to attract students from EU market.

J-1 visa sponsor and international exchange program provider Intrax has announced its acquisition of Invasion Camp Group, including the AmeriCamp Division.

Youth travellers are choosing competitor destinations over the UK due to their friendly visa policies and work opportunities, according to BETA.

Young travellers are increasingly combining leisure and study in their holidays, the WYSE survey of the youth travel market revealed.

The UK secretary of state for arts, heritage and tourism, Michael Ellis, has said that the importance of the British youth travel sector should be more widely recognised.

Youth and student travellers coming to the UK contribute £22.3bn to the country’s economy, however, with average growth of 4.7% over the last five years, the sector is not keeping pace with the country’s overall tourism market.

The youth travel industry is set to double by 2020 according to youth travel consulting and development company StudentMarketing. The trend will be driven mostly by educational and experiential travel and offers a "huge opportunity" to providers, it claims. Last year 207 million trips were taken by youth travellers, roughly 40% involving education.