Page 20 - ELG2104 Apr Issue 475

INTERVIEW .

Virtually certain
V irtually certain

e
futur
of the future
of the

EC English’s Andrew Mangion tells Melanie Butler the secret of his optimism

hen the dust settles,” says Andrew Mangion, founder
and CEO of the EC chain of language travel schools,
“I am optimistic about the outlook for the language
W travel industry. When the dust really settles,” he adds,
“so maybe the end of 2022, early 2023, the market will come back.”
He already has some irons in the fire. His latest brainchild is courses
for children delivered not online, but in virtual reality (VR). “It is so
immersive. Of course, you are working through an avatar, but you can
speak as you do in real life, talk to people in different countries, touch
things, explore….”
Perfect, I suggest, for a generation bought up on gaming. EC has
already launched a virtual reality summer school for this year. It’s an
alternative to the face-to-face summer schools, under the Embassy
brand they are also planning to open, travel restrictions permitting. For
children facing those restrictions and for those whose parents are too
nervous to let them go abroad in the pandemic, a VR summer school
may prove the best option.
“It’s not a replacement for the summer school experience,” Andrew
admits, adding, “but it’s a good option and these kinds of courses are He remains optimistic for the future of adult language travel, though,
not just designed for summer.” singling out the UK and the USA as likely to be the next markets to grow.
I agree that they would seem a good “In the USA, it is the Biden effect,” he says – though not
alternative to normal online teaching, He remains just because the new administration is more welcoming.
even, perhaps, an alternative to the “The vaccine roll-out has been very fast and effective.”
local language school around the corner. optimistic for the The same, he points out, can be said of the UK. It’s
After all, you can create the same kind true too, though he doesn’t say so, of his home country,
of multicultural learning experience that Malta, where the first EC school opened in 1991.
language travel offers and the same ability future of adult What makes Andrew so sure that the adult market
to practise outside the classroom for every will recover?
student in every country at the same time language travel “Demography,” he says. “The OECD predicts the
every week. global middle class will grow by another 1.4 billion
As Andrew has realised, this is a tool people in the next decade and few of them will have had
which can help expand the role of the junior language travel provider access to good English language learning.”
beyond the short-stay market. Could it not also see the role of the local Later I check the statistics and notice that 43% of the new middle
language school chain, so strong in markets like China and Italy, expand class will emerge in just two countries, India and China. The former
into the wider world? has a huge local ESL capacity and there is little sign of Chinese adults
In any event, few in language travel expect the junior market to travelling for short courses.
collapse. It’s the year-round adult school market that most observers Then I realise Andrew may have already thought of that.
worry about, especially in destinations such as the UK and USA, where “Before Covid-19, we were looking seriously at the Philippines. It’s
students don’t have work rights. In these mature markets, the local very popular with Japanese and Koreans. It’s a short-haul market.”
language schools have seen falling adult enrolment for at least a decade. Not just an optimist then, but an optimist with a plan.
Further, there is little doubt the pandemic has hit the language travel
chains, with UK-reliant midsize chains buckling under the strain. Andrew Mangion is executive chairman, CEO
Even major players like EC have cut-back. Andrew has withdrawn and a major shareholder of the EC Group. He is a
from the market in Australia and New Zealand entirely, cutting five director of Chiswick House School and St Martin’s
schools, citing government refusal to either ease travel restrictions College, two of the leading K-12 schools in Malta,
or offer financial support. EC schools in Miami and Washington, and served on the board of the Federation of
DC, have also been permanently closed, as has one British school in English Language Teaching Organisations in Malta
Oxford. (FELTOM) and was a member of the board of the
Schools open where demand is high. Like most chains, explains Andrew, Association of Language Travel Organisations (ALTO) between 2010
EC responded to the advent of the KAS, the large Saudi scholarship and 2015. He championed the startup of the first YPO Chapter in
scheme, by opening centres where the Saudis placed students. With Saudi Malta and was chapter chair between 2005 and 2008. He also served
demand falling, you hit a problem of oversupply. “It’s a question of right as a member of the YPO European Board.
sizing,” says Andrew.
20 April 2021