Regions urged to tap student market

A study says international students are an “untapped opportunity” for regions outside Auckland.

The study by economic consultants Infometrics says the regions are capturing only one-third of the $3.6 billion annual economic value of international students, despite having two-thirds of the country’s population.

Dunedin is the only city outside Auckland where international students contribute more than the national average of 1.7 per cent of regional economic output. Foreign students contribute 2.7 per cent of output in Auckland, 2 per cent in Dunedin, 1.15 per cent in Rotorua, and less everywhere else.

“Leveraging the future demand for international students is a large and, in some cases, untapped opportunity for districts and regions around New Zealand,” Infometrics said.

“But to attract students who could have a considerable impact on their local economy, New Zealand’s regions need to be competitive.”

Education NZ chief executive Grant McPherson said the regions could offer quite different experiences.

“What we are trying to communicate to key markets is that New Zealand has a range of opportunities,” he said.

“Yes, you can get a big city experience. Or you can go all the way down to places like Queenstown and others to get a smaller experience that could have a much greater focus on the outdoors rather than in classrooms.”

Unsurprisingly, six of the top seven regions for international students are the university centres of Auckland, Canterbury, Wellington, Waikato, Otago and Manawatu. Canterbury and Manawatu come close behind Auckland, Dunedin and Rotorua in terms of the value of foreign students for the local economies.

Bay of Plenty comes in sixth in international students, despite not having a university apart from a branch of Waikato University in Tauranga.

Its 4993 international students in 2015-16 directly supported 494 jobs and contributed $118 million to the regional economy — $68m in Tauranga and the Western Bay, and $48m in Rotorua.

Virgil Iraia, Rotorua-based president of the student body at the regional polytechnic Toi Ohomai, said the overseas students made campus life more vibrant.

“There’s kind of a buddy system, domestic students pairing up with international students, and also international students learning the way that local students study,” he said.

— Simon Collins Soryun Kim (left), and Juha Song with their daughter Ellia, 9, who they say struggled with her new school environment initially but has settled in since making friends. changes to the migrant category.

This included new salary thresholds, but it was not clear what difference the changes would make.

“The new income threshold is going to make it very difficult for a whole group of people who would not meet the $49,000 income,” Spoonley said. “Those are going to be in tourism, hospitality, health care and possibly some skilled professions like education.”

Angry Auckland Thai business owners met yesterday to discuss a skilled response to the proposed changes. “We are just being made scapegoats of this election year,” said Songvut Manoonpong, owner of Mai Thai restaurant, which has been in operation for 28 years. “Most Thai restaurants are dependent on migrant workers, but we cannot pay $49,000 to every staff and still keep our businesses afloat.” Immigration has also been blamed for pushing up house prices and suppressing local wages. Labour, Greens and New Zealand

HTo use the interactive go to insights.nzherald.co.nz