Kate Erskine of Diversity Travel looks at the emerging trends in academic study trips
Between lockdown restrictions and Brexit, the travel industry has experienced its fair share of disruption in recent years, and academic travel has been no exception.
Study trips see students at different levels of education institutes, including schools and universities, travel all around the world in the pursuit of learning and academic enrichment.
Popular destinations include Paris for fashion students, Silicon Valley for tech students and Germany for history students.
There are a number of emerging trends, including some newly popular destinations, but it is also proving a challenging year for schools, universities and travel management companies in the UK academic travel sector which is grappling with a series of obstacles.
These have made it difficult to travel to some classic destinations and new hotspots have taken hold in the study trips market.
For example, China remained under harsh restrictions until recently due to its ‘zero Covid’ policy and refused entry to foreign travellers until January 2023. This led to a rise in popularity for Japan as an academic study destination among those wishing to immerse themselves in Asian culture.
Although not a like-for-like replacement, Japan offers a huge amount of culture and history, helping to propel it up the ranks for academic institutions which require an in-depth understanding of the region.
Diversity StudyTrips has seen a sharp rise in enquiries and bookings for Japan with the country ranking highly among some of the most-popular academic trip locations.
Brexit has resulted in tougher entry routes to the UK for those inside and outside the EU, with new barriers including EU travellers no longer being able to use an ID card to enter the UK and requiring a valid passport instead.
Non-EU student travellers have been harder hit. Foreign students from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) are no longer able to benefit from the List of Travellers Scheme which allowed them to use a simple form to enter the UK for study trips.
The scheme closed in May 2022 and students now require a visa to enter the UK. The new process can be lengthy and expensive, impacting the attractiveness of the UK as an academic destination for non-EEA students.
The effects of the changes have been felt far and wide, with EU schools opting for travel to destinations within the EU to avoid the additional costs and need for visas. This, in turn, has impacted the number of places available for UK students to travel to due to increased demand from outside the EU.
With lockdown taking a severe toll on hotels and hostels, there has also been a hike in the cost of accommodation.
Popular destinations including London and the US have seen increases in accommodation costs of up to 33%, with some destinations experiencing even higher increases.
Students wishing to travel and study in the UK face an average increase of 13% in accommodation costs. Combined with the other barriers and additional costs, it risks making the UK an undesirable destination for study trips.
Kate Erskine is head of study trips at Diversity Travel