Prodirekt and Verbalists at ICEF Berlin with the focus on higher education

Berlin, Germany – 3-6 November 2018 – Once again, ICEF was very successful in bringing international educators, service providers, work & travel professionals, and the world’s best agents under the same roof, helping them to create strategic partnerships. In fact, the ICEF Berlin workshop, which was held from 3-6 November at the InterContinental Hotel, proved to be the best so far for Prodirekt and its Verbalists Language Network.

A total of 2,842 participants from 1,789 organizations, representing 111 countries across six continents, took part in ICEF Berlin 2018.

On the first day, Prodirekt representatives attended valuable seminars and expert panels, relating to trends in the education and student recruitment industry. Maja Merdovic, Education Program Manager at Prodirekt, singled out several seminars as most notable, especially considering the specific needs of developing economies, such as the countries in the Balkan region, Ukraine, and Brazil: “The seminar about studying at Germany’s public universities was very useful. There is a very high demand in the Balkan countries for free education in Germany. However, the discussion at the seminar also confirmed our belief that students should be careful about evaluating the offers of English degrees at German universities as there is a limited offer of these courses and they are not all suitable for international students.”

During the following two days of the event, Prodirekt representatives held more than 70 one-to-one business meetings. The fast growth of Canadian student recruitment, both for language learning and higher education, determined the main focus of Prodirekt’s meetings.

The Managing Director of Prodirekt and a founder of the Verbalists Language Network, Dejan Trpkovic, described the event’s activities relating to the education in Canada: “We had extensive talks with our partners International Language Academy of Canada (ILAC), who we represent exclusively in the region, about ways to make the already welcoming student environment in Canada even more friendly and affordable. Special pricing, scholarships and straight forward program enrolment procedure have been agreed. ILAC is the biggest school in Canada, with great teaching centers and facilities in Toronto and Vancouver, but we also need to make other program enrolment elements more appealing for our students. I am confident that we have done it now and that the Canadian education boom will take its roots in our emerging markets as well.”

In Berlin, Prodirekt has concluded a number of new exclusive representation contracts, which will enhance a leadership position of this education group in the region. Exclusive partnerships with International House Heidelberg, LAL, Coined, Rafael Nadal’s prestigious tennis-language camp in Mallorca, are just a few announced by Prodirekt.

The ICEF Berlin Workshop is the leading international education focused networking forum and a must-attend event for all industry professionals. A total of 1,221 agents attended ICEF Berlin 2018 from 922 organizations, including strong representation from Russia, Spain, Turkey, Italy, and Ukraine. In all, the agents present at ICEF Berlin represented 104 countries across six continents.