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Postcards from South AmericaAs you may all be aware, I recently came back from a well-deserved six-week break in Argentina, my home country. It was a great feeling to land initially in Santiago de Chile. I was impressed with the dimension that the tourism industry is taking in the region. Planes with all seats sold, and plenty of tourists from Australia and New Zealand connecting to all parts of South America. Booming backpacker market
In Argentina, I experienced a booming backpacker tourism market, sophisticated travellers from Europe, North America and other South American travellers expending dollars or euros in Buenos Aires' streets, and the consolidation of a vibrant and energetic wine industry. I have also seen the booming Spanish language courses for foreign students. There are increasing numbers of North Americans and European looking to study Spanish as part of their education, as well as a complementary aspect of their holidays. New allianceIt was also an amazing joy, needless to say, to catch up with mum and dad, all my relatives, friends and colleagues there. From the business perspective, I have the pleasure to announce and launch my alliance with Fine Research, a regional agency, based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, specialised in providing high quality professional services in market research. This alliance aims to capitalise in the increasing interest in South America to all Asian Pacific things, and vice versa. That increasing interest is demonstrated, for example by the numerous Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the Chinese government and different Latin American countries for commercial and scientific cooperation in areas such as construction, agribusiness, education, tourism, and so on. Spanish and Chinese language studiesAnother example is the proposed free-trade agreement between Brazil and India and MERCOSUR (Common Market of the South countries). This is part of the push for a 'South-South Alliance' or G20, with a potential trade between these countries of US$300 billion. That bloc will include countries like China, Brazil, India, Argentina, South Africa and others. In relation to international education, have I ever expected that the study of Chinese languages in Buenos Aires were going to boom? The answer is no, but it is a fact. The University of Buenos Aires is offering now Chinese language courses. Have I ever expected that Spanish language teachers will offer personalised courses to backpacker tourists in hostels and hotels? Again, my answer is no, but it is happening as you read this article. Buenos Aires is also booming with international students, mainly but not exclusively, from South America. This is not new, but there is an emerging international education industry catered by highly-recognised private institutions.
Nowadays, all private universities there have a person in charge of student exchange and international relations, and they are getting busier and busier. From Australia and the rest of the Asia Pacific region, there will be an increasing need to understand how to do business in South America, and to analyse different market segments. The only way to succeed will be through in-depth market research and consultancy. Many foreign investors have failed there, mainly because they didn't investigate the core drivers, similarities and differences in each market. Others failed because they believed that they could apply concepts and launch brands with similar campaigns across all South America. Remember: saying that South American countries are similar is like saying that all Asian countries are the same. Latin American Institutions to know aboutIn Australia, the Australia-Latin America Business Council is doing tremendous efforts to improve commercial relations and to increase the knowledge of the South American region. From a government perspective, the Council on Latin America Relations (COALAR) based at DFAT, provides a very good base for expansion of the trade and foreign policy relations. At an institutional level, there are quite a few Centres within universities focusing on Latin American and Spanish language studies. All are welcome! To sum up, do you want to do business in South America and don't know how? Do you need to do research there? Do you want to target South American students? Please send me your inquiries, and we can discuss potential research and consultancy projects. Muchas Gracias, 6 March 2005 Marcelo Follari |
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Marcelo's ArchivesMarket research and international
education 2005: The Challenges Ahead
The 'happy years' of growth are over and they will seriously impact
on the university business. What now? Blame it on the dollar? "...If you want to stay in the international education field,
this website is becoming a mandatory reference for the industry."
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