Mexican agents expecting business to diversify and grow in 2025

The first-ever ST Alphe Secondary Focus, Mexico City conference took place at the Hilton Reforma Hotel from November 16-18, welcoming more than 100 agents and 94 representatives of educational institutions for pre-scheduled meetings and networking opportunities.

StudyTravel Magazine spoke to agents at the event to get the latest insights on the Mexican outbound market.

Diversity: Although Canada remains the mainstay of agency business for most Mexican agencies, delegates spoke of increases and anticipated growth for other destinations.

For Estudiantes Por el Mundo by MexiCanadá Canada was traditionally the top destination for the agency, but Enrollment Manager Astrid Sanchez O´Henry said that market share for Europe and the UK has increased in recent years. Looking ahead, she expects growth for Australia and New Zealand, as well as Ireland, Malta and also Dubai as an alternative English language destination.

Meetings at the ST Alphe Secondary Focus, Mexico City 2024 event.

Marta Collazo , Director of Conexión Global en Educación , advised that the USA and Canada are the typical demands of clients based on price and location, and said that she expects the USA and Europe to increase in the year ahead. And Diana Bustamante of GLED – Global Education Corp expects more business to the UK and mainland Europe – destinations that were well represented at the ST Alphe SF Mexico City event – in the year ahead.

Lionel Stumpert , CEO of Enjoy Languages SC , told ST Magazine that his agency has established new markets in the UK and Germany recently, and said that Ireland is coming back particularly for long-term language programs for students who want to work and higher education.

For Estudiantes Embajadores there has been a shift towards Europe in recent months, advised CEO Renan Herrera , particularly to Spain, Ireland and Germany. Moving forward, “Europe will be the biggest winner,” he predicted, particularly in the high school and university sectors.

That latter point was also emphasized by Blanca Delgado Cruz at Estudia en Irlanda , who said “Ireland is the winner” of recent trends, with growth in language, undergraduate and postgraduate programs. She cited a choice of courses, price competitiveness and a simple visa process among Ireland’s benefits.

Maria Teresa Gil Altamirano of SIX International Education & Travel , a Brazil-headquartered agency that opened in Mexico in the last year, agreed that Ireland is a particularly attractive option for master’s programs. More generally, she is looking to expand options across all sectors and sees good opportunities for Europe.

For Universo Educativo , some rejections from Canada led to students changing destination this year, notably for Ireland and the UK, particularly summer camps for the latter, advised Han Steen , Director.

In the adult segment, Diana advises that students are looking more for career-focused programs leading to some form of certification, particularly in areas such as digital skills and marketing.

She also works with local schools for group trips overseas, and enquiries are growing for alternative destinations in Asia, such as Japan and South Korea, as well as European countries such as Norway and Denmark.

Statistics: StudyTravel Ltd gathered data from agent attendees at the event on what products and destinations they are interested in, and these similarly demonstrated agents working across a wide portfolio.

As a specialist high school event, all agencies in attendance were working in the secondary, but 90 per cent were also interested in language programs, and 84 per cent expressed interest in higher education programs.

In terms of secondary destinations, around two-thirds were interested in Canada, the USA and the UK, but more than 40 per cent indicated interest in Italy (42), Germany (42) and France (45), while Switzerland (37) and Ireland (36) were also commonly mentioned.

Sectors of interest for agents at the ST Alphe Secondary Focus, Mexico City 2024 event.

In the language segment, Canada (79) and the UK (82) were again the most noted destinations, followed by the USA (71), France (64), Germany (53), Ireland (50), Italy (45), Australia (39), Japan (39), New Zealand (37) and China (30).

Canada issues: Canada is comfortably the largest destination for Mexican agents, as StudyTravel Magazine’s regular Agency Survey Mexico articles demonstrate.

However, a raft of regulatory changes in the last year by the Canadian government, the return of visitor visa requirements for some Mexican travelers, and higher-then-usual visa denials have led to issues for agents, although there is some optimism for the year ahead.

Lionel advises that enquiries went down when Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (IRCC) doubled the financial requirements for a study permit. “Since Canada is the first destination for us, it is tough,” he said.

In March, IRCC advised that Mexican visitors will need a visitor visa to enter Canada, unless they have a valid visa for the USA or have held a Canadian visa in the last 10 years. Diana noted that short-term students through the ETA route halved as a result of the change.

Astrid said that the issues in Canada inevitably affected the market as many of the alternative programs, especially at secondary level, are more expensive.

Nonetheless, some agents were unaffected by the issues. Liliana Avila Roque , Founder and CEO of AVILA International Education Consultancy , reported that the majority of her secondary business is for Canada, and as K-12 programs are not included in Canada’s study permit application cap, this hasn’t impacted on business.

Visa refusals were an issue for some agents though. Lionel advised that it appears that automation is being used to assess some applications, with some applications being approved at a second attempt.

Visa issues and regulations for Canada have affected Mexican agency business.

As such, denials have become a source of frustration. “It is tough to work this way. We work hard to get students, and it is demotivating to get refusals,” he said.

Han advised that business was down this year with visa rejections for Canada, but thinks that the Canadian business will recover in the next year as students adjust and forget about the issues faced.

Looking ahead: For Blanca, the current year has been slightly down on the last year, mostly due to declines for Canada and the USA, while for Astrid the current year had been on a par with 2023. Lionel notes that business has picked up in the last two months, giving optimism for a stronger 2025.

Liliana is confident with enrolments for the forthcoming academic year at a record level at this stage of the year for Avila.

Estudiantes Embajadores has continued with an expansion program of new offices in the last year, and this has helped to deliver growth across all segments, Renan advised. As such, he anticipates growth of 15 per cent in the year ahead, although any restrictions or threats to the J-1 work and travel program in the USA – as happened under the previous Trump administration – could dent those projections.

Diana expects to see growth in 2025, having just surpassed pre-pandemic levels, although she explained that the market is competitive among agencies and that the school group business is price sensitive. Meanwhile, Marta noted recently months have been slightly slow but the year is shaping up to be equivalent to the previous year, and she is hopeful that the market will pick up in January.

As a new agency office, SIX is expecting growth in high school programs, English language courses and master’s degrees in the year ahead, Maria advised.

Mexican agency association AMTE supported the ST Alphe Secondary Focus, Mexico City event and held a meeting on the eve of the conference. The association, which is due to hold elections for the presidency and board next month, is aiming to increase total membership of agencies, partner schools and associated organizations to 100 over coming months, advised Coordinator Zoe Vargas .