Hope to create international student hot spot

Grant McPherson.
Grant McPherson.
Queenstown might be New Zealand’s next hot spot for international students.

Education New Zealand chief executive Grant McPherson, who visited Queenstown this week, believes the resort has all the offerings to be an incomparable destination for international students.

He saw the increase of international education as a way to diversify the economy.

Queenstown "ticks so many boxes" for international students, he said.

"I sort of  think of them as like long-term tourists ... people don’t usually think of them as an industry."

Education New Zealand is a government agency dedicated to international education.

Study Queenstown chief executive Aaron Halstead said over the past year 1195 international students studied in Queenstown.

The 650 full-time equivalent students pumped an average $44,500 each into the local economy which equated to nearly $29million a year.

By 2025 Destination Queenstown and Study Queenstown aim to have 5000 international students  living in the resort.

Study Queenstown, an education marketing body, has just taken on two new members including The College of Future Learning (FutureCOL) and Queenstown Primary School.

FutureCOL is planning to build a large  cooking school and accommodation for 80 students. 

- Mandy Cooper

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