Page 25 - StudyTravel Magazine April 2022 Issue

SpECIAl REpORT

ing for online first terms. We Alia reports low levels of govern-
predict next year that formula ment support and notes that Brexit
will cease and students from has been a concern for the EU market,
Southeast Asia will be freer to travel. with the company fearing that EU
“We have seen a variation on students will instead opt for Holland or
student occupancy trends, where Eastern Europe.
students opted for January arrivals At London Nest http://london-
due to hybrid teaching at universities. nest.com/, General Manager Chris
We predict our university partners will Milne notes, “With a strong reliance
revert to more face-to-face teaching on international student mobility the
from the next academic year.” biggest challenge has been, and still
In the homestay sector, Peter continues to be, general uncertainty.
Brown, Director at Hosts International For 2022, we are preparing for
https://www.hosts-international. full normality.”
com/, notes, “Speaking for ourselves
and our business, our current student Beds back in
numbers in homestay accommodation demand residences is at
are at around 25 per cent of pre-pan- Alia also notes that unprecedented lev-
demic levels and given this, we have travel restrictions for els,” relates Dinara.
adapted and made changes and come international stu- “Accommodation
out stronger for it. Although the levels dents were the single bookings have exceed-
may not feel that high right now, we biggest contributing ed pre-pandemic levels
see this as a positive, in comparison factor to business declin- for international students
to the last two years which wiped out ing for the company during travelling from countries
95 per cent of our business.” the pandemic, with the easing of such where travel restrictions have eased
limitations facilitating a “migration – most notably China, India, European
Enduring challenges back to residences”. and US markets.”
Restrictions on international travel Benedicte Houben, Marketing and Dinara adds that the past year has
and social distancing measures have PR Assistant at Xior Student Housing seen a rise in demand for accom-
caused concerns for accommodation https://www.xior.be/en/, which pro- modation offering studio rooms and
providers throughout the pandemic, vides accommodation in Belgium, Por- short-term stays, and students are
with many implementing revamped tugal, Spain and the Netherlands, says increasingly expecting ancillary facili-
business models or digital techniques the pandemic did not have a negative ties and services such as communal
to overcome these challenges. impact on accommodation bookings areas, a gym and organised activities.
Londonist https://www.london- from international students. She Sandra Cohen, Director of 92Y’s
ist.co.uk/ developed a virtual reality adds, “We don’t expect big challenges Residence www.92y.org/residence in
tour allowing students to discover to attracting students, international the USA, comments, “Our occupancy
and experience its accommodation or domestic. The existing scarcity for pre-pandemic averaged 86 per cent,
facilities remotely, having a “real and qualitative student accommodation calendar year 2021 averaged 40 per
measurable positive impact on the and increasing demand for student cent and September 2021 to Febru-
booking experience”, offers Dinara housing in all four countries we are ary 4, 2022, we averaged 64 per cent.
Suleimanova, Senior Sales Manager at active in will further support our We’re trending towards recovery. The
the UK-based provider. business. 16.5 per cent of our annual number of individuals booking directly
income comes from nomination with us (not through a programme) is
agreements and partnerships with up, comparing pre-Covid to now.”
universities and educational institu- Jessica Furlong, Sales Manager at
tions that kept to their contracts and Almero Student https://almerostu-
agreements even during the pandemic dent.com/, concludes that hope is on
as demand for student rooms was the horizon for the sector, with all of
even higher and continues to increase Almero’s student properties filled at
even this current academic year.” the end of December 2021 and renewal
“Our latest student booking data bookings continuing for this year.
indicates that demand for student joshua@studytravel.network

22 STUDYTRAVEl MAGAzINE Photos: Almero Student and Londonist