English Language Learning
The EFL (English as a Foreign Language) sector is worth approximately €274m to the Irish economy with 110 Department of Education approved language schools operating throughout the country. In 2008 over 116,000 students came to Ireland to take part in various English language courses.
Read the results of the 2009 ELT School Survey (PPT, 541 kb), which was carried out by Fáilte Ireland in January 2010.
Eighty six percent of all students who come to Ireland to learn English originate from within Europe - with the majority coming from Italy, Spain and France in that order. The remaining 14% of students travelling to Ireland from outside the EEA stay and study for considerably longer, and therefore contribute substantially more to the Irish economy than their European counterparts.
2009 was a difficult year for the sector with few schools reporting growth. The global downturn in international travel, the strength of Sterling compared to Euro, Ireland’s cost of living and some issues regarding visa processing all contribute to the current situation.
Fáilte Ireland invests heavily in marketing the EFL sector overseas and provides support on the ground to operators including training and certain funding towards Marketing English in Ireland’s (MEI) annual promotional campaigns around the world.
In December 2006, Fáilte Ireland commissioned Indecon International to carry out International competitor analysis and benchmarking for the EFL sector. They have examined what our competitor markets are doing to attract English language students and where/how they are investing their marketing budgets. This includes examining competitor’s activities in the areas of e-marketing, promotions, workshops, trade/consumer fairs, etc.
We are comparing these activities to how Fáilte Ireland are investing the EFL budget at present and seeing where it is necessary to adapt the current approach.
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