China's study tour industry to boom

Wang Yong, founder of Mind Education Group, gives a speech on Apr 20. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Mind Education Group, China's leading study tour education business, held a press conference on the release of its study tour 4.0, attended by over 200 participants including experts in the field of summer camp, on April 20.

Wang Xuehui, co-founder and president of Mind Education, explained the development history of China's study tour industry and the concept of "study tour 4.0", the fourth stage in the progress of study tours in China.

The new concept comes after a systematic analysis of the study tour industry and its development. Study tour refers to the phenomenon that people experiencing learning while visiting or traveling in a new environment.

Wang said the study tour in China has gone through three stages—very few outstanding students studying abroad sponsored by government at the early period of the founding of the People's Republic of China, tourism-purposed study in 1990s, and the professional education-purposed stage in the first ten years of the 21st century.

Around 2011 the industry entered its fourth stage as standardized tours with developed criteria began to emerge.

The new stage of study tour covers extensive and various activities such as academic study, quality-oriented learning after school, outward bound courses, social practice, and camps held in both summer and winter.

The new larger study tour business has potential to reach 100 billion yuan, thanks to China's increasing policy support, dramatic changes in educational ideas in the new generation of parents, and the engagement of more talented people and capital in the industry, Wang said.

With the expansion of the industry, we can expect integration and fiercer competition in products, he said. Giant companies in the study tour industry will emerge as capital pours in, which will co-exist with some small but unique companies. Medium-sized companies in the study tour industry may find little space to grow.

Founded in 2006, Mind Education Group has been specializing in summer/winter schools for a decade, and now has a complete educational product system covering more than 200 study tours and quality-oriented educational activities.