People sometimes took for granted the value that it brought to the city, yet it provided ``massive'' added value.
``It's a great story of education, business and council working together to provide the city with economic vibrancy,'' he said.
International students added to the cultural and social dimension of Dunedin, as well as bringing in a considerable amount of money.
``It's just a guess-timate but if those students spent $26,000 ... on fees, accommodation and food, that's a lot of zeros that are being spent across the city which relates into a lot of jobs and a lot of economic activity that's very valuable,'' he said.
Under the banner of Study Dunedin, the advisory group which Mr McGowan chaired, a very collaborative approach was starting to be seen around how to attract students and also ``hold on to them longer''.
It was about ``choose Dunedin''. From there, it did not matter which school or tertiary institute they chose to study at. They had to first choose New Zealand and then choose the city, he said.
Margo Reid, who began work at Study Dunedin in April, brought great knowledge and experience to the role, he said.
Dunedin-born and raised, Mrs Reid has worked in a ``range of spaces'', from conferences and banqueting to project management companies.
She has spent 6½ years with the Dunedin City Council in a variety of roles, including managing the Dunedin Chinese Garden, and then moving into the council's economic development unit.
She loved her latest role, in which her purpose was to market Dunedin as a student destination and ``bring everybody together as cohorts'', with a co-ordinated approach to international education.
While it was difficult to get precise statistics on the number of students in the city, there had been a 1% increase in 2015, the first increase for ``quite some time'' and equivalent to 74 more students, she said.
Dunedin needed to stop being so competitive in-market, as the city was too small. Instead, there was the ability to go in-market together as Study Dunedin to expand student numbers.
It was not just about attracting students to Dunedin but retaining them. Quality students needed to be targeted, rather than quantity, with the goal of filling skill shortages in the city.
The Work Ready programme, an initiative supported by the University of Otago, Otago Polytechnic and Dunedin City Council, was designed to assist international students pursue work opportunities after graduation.
They got to learn about the New Zealand workplace culture get the opportunity to meet employers, and gain work insight.
Participants received access to a variety of resources, including application process support, CV and cover letter assistance, workplace experience and culture, interviewing sessions, and access to employers.
About 35 students recently came to the first Work Ready networking event, which employers attended.
While the students were initially nervous, they were also ``ready to give it a go'' and it was a positive night, with the employers commenting how much they enjoyed it.
Dunedin-educated tertiary graduates were socially adept and could fit into workplaces and that was what Work Ready was doing for international students, she said.
A Dunedin directory has been produced, encouraging students to study in the city. Another project being considered was a pre-arrival guide about the city for students, parents and agents.
The biggest student market at the moment was the United States, followed by China. Other Southeast Asian countries such as the Philippines and Malaysia were important, and the South American market was growing.
One of the biggest things that was starting to happen in China was the shift from parents being totally academically focused to wanting children to be well-rounded people, while still getting a ``top-class education''. Dunedin was a good place to help make a ``global citizen'', she said.
