Townsville's Edutourism market to be showcased in China
Date published: 15 September 2017
Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill will be leading a group of senior education officials as part of an education delegation to China as part of an edutourism campaign to attract students to the city.
The Townsville International Education delegation will be visiting a number of organisations in Townsville’s Chinese Sister Cities, Changshu and Foshan, and highlighting some secondary and tertiary institutions available in the region.
Mayor Hill said the city was perfectly poised to offer the education packages that meet the needs of Chinese students that are in high school and university.
“The delegation has senior officials from Townsville’s two universities and some of the larger high schools all working together to boost the city’s edutourism market,” Cr Hill said.
“There are 10 million people in Foshan and Changshu and their provinces have more than 100 million people, so that is a big market we have available to attract to Townsville.”
Associate Vice Chancellor of Central Queensland University Kari Arbouin said it was an ideal opportunity to bring key educational partners together.
“This is a chance to promote not just that Townsville has great secondary and tertiary education but that there are pathways students can pursue,” Ms Arbouin said.
“We are going over to build on the very strong relationship the Mayor has developed.
“We would like to see Townsville students visit Changshu and Foshan as part of their educational experience and are looking forward to encouraging students, parents and teachers that Townsville would be a great place to come to study.”
In addition to getting more students to take part in the exchange programs, Mayor Hill is seeking interested parties to build a 300-room accommodation in the new stadium precinct.
“This precinct is in an ideal location to promote the best parts of our city with easy access to the JCU and CQU campuses located in the CBD,” Cr Hill said.
Townsville International Education Delegation:
- Cr Jenny Hill - Mayor of Townsville
- Kari Arbouin - Associate Vice Chancellor CQU
- Nola Alloway - Dean of College of Arts, Society and Education JCU
- Joel Buchholz - Executive Principal Pimlico State High School
- Allan Evans - Principal William Ross State High School
- Stephen Baskerville - Deputy Principal Kirwan State High School
- Leigh Kennedy - Business Manager The Cathedral School
- Stephen Hawker - Director Freeman Migration Services Australia
