Language trip
A language trip is a stay abroad with the aim of acquiring or improving foreign language skills. The foreign language teaching takes place at a specialized language school in a natural language environment. Intensive courses can be recognized as educational leave in Germany .
The term language travel has replaced or competed with the previously common terms such as language holidays , language holidays or the language stay that is common in Switzerland . The language travel organizer organizes the language travel. He arranges the journey and provides information about accommodation and a leisure and cultural program that is organized by the respective language school. The language travelers are offered a completely organized program.
definition
A language trip serves the purpose of learning or developing a foreign language abroad. It consists of a bundle of travel services that include at least the main travel services: transport, accommodation and language lessons.
As a rule, lessons are given for 15 to 30 hours per week with the aim of developing language skills in a short period of time. Language courses abroad ideally take place at a course location where the language to be developed is spoken in a natural environment. Due to the campus-like atmosphere in many language schools, people of different nationalities get to know each other because they have a common goal. During a language stay, the language student deals with the language for a large part of the day, with the result that language skills improve relatively quickly and with less study effort. Many language students also live with a host family during their stay.
Language travel agent or language travel organizer
A language trip can be put together individually or booked with a language travel agent (agency) or a language travel organizer. Some language schools also offer ancillary services such as cooking, surfing and dance courses as well as touristic excursions, the lessons or touristic guidance take place - if desired - in the language to be developed.
Language travel as a package tour
The language tour operator is a specialized tour operator ; he bundles the individual travel services into a complete package and offers them on his own account and in his own name. The language tour operator is liable for the contractual provision of the travel services. In the event of travel deficiencies , the language travel organizer is the contact person and must ensure that they are rectified.
The language trip is organized by the language tour operator. The individual travel services are obtained from different service providers (legal persons who carry out individual travel services such as language schools, accommodation companies, etc.) and combined into a package with a total price. This complete package is passed on to the end user or to a reseller (travel agency, specialized agency or language travel agent). As part of a package tour , the tour operator is obliged to take out bankruptcy insurance in accordance with Section 651 k BGB. The service to be provided or its reimbursement is insured in the event of the tour operator's bankruptcy or insolvency.
Language travel through mediation
The language travel agent arranges the services of a third party for its own account, but in the name of another , or forwards the invoice from the language schools. The agent of the service is liable for the correct mediation, but not for the contractual provision of the travel service. In the event of defects, the respective service provider (e.g. language schools, accommodation companies, airlines, etc.) is the contact person and must provide a remedy.
The language travel agent passes on the information from the individual language schools. The desired services are put together by him (language school, accommodation, leisure time, flight) or obtained from a language tour operator. The book is in turn passed on to the service provider or tour operator voice, the voice agent receives for his mediation usually a Commission or commission from the partner companies.
Language trip as an individual trip
The language trip is organized by the consumer independently . He buys the desired services from service providers (airline, language school, hotel) of his choice and puts together a package of individual services. Many language schools organize accommodation and a leisure and cultural program to provide language travelers with an organized environment.
Numbers and Statistics
Germany
The Association of German Language Travel Organizers states the number of language travel organizers in Germany as around 150, of which 27 are members of the FDSV. The association estimates the number of providers who have bankruptcy insurance and are registered in the tour operator register at 50. On the basis of a survey by the University of Koblenz-Landau , the association speaks of 160,000 language travelers per year, around 70 percent of whom are adults. The most common foreign language chosen is English with 85 percent, followed by Spanish , French and Italian .
Distribution by foreign language in 2016
With 79.95% (2015 it was 82.45%) of all language trips booked, English is still at the top of the languages learned. While English language trips make up 58.10% of adults (it was 67.56% in 2015), the proportion among young people is 93.23% (2015 it was 92.95%).
| Adults | student | total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| in % | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 |
| English | 58.10 | 67.56 | 70.48 | 93.23 | 92.95 | 90.64 | 79.95 | 82.45 | 83.64 |
| Spanish | 18.20 | 14.53 | 13.50 | 1.79 | 1.33 | 1.87 | 9.86 | 6.79 | 5.81 |
| French | 8.95 | 7.39 | 7.55 | 3.74 | 3.17 | 3.77 | 6.30 | 4.92 | 5.26 |
| Italian | 6.16 | 3.92 | 4.38 | 0.22 | 0.08 | 0.19 | 3.14 | 1.67 | 1.60 |
| Chinese | 0.85 | 0.53 | 0.58 | 0.00 | 0.01 | 0.00 | 0.42 | 0.23 | 0.20 |
| Russian | 1.03 | 0.61 | 0.87 | 0.01 | 0.08 | 0.04 | 0.51 | 0.30 | 0.32 |
| other | 6.72 | 5.45 | 2.67 | 1.01 | 2.38 | 3.49 | 3.82 | 3.65 | 3.19 |
Languages such as Japanese, Arabic or Turkish are grouped under “other”. At 6.72% in the adult sector, which means an increase of 1.27% over the previous year, they still only occupy a niche position.
Distribution by destination country in 2016
| Distribution according to target areas in% | total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| student | Adults | |||||
| 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | |
| Great Britain | 65.49 | 62.69 | 67.78 | 21.50 | 47.99 | 53.50 |
| Ireland | 1.05 | 1.70 | 1.19 | 4.60 | 2.95 | 2.23 |
| United States | 1.72 | 1.48 | 2.31 | 5.85 | 4.87 | 5.40 |
| Canada | 0.65 | 0.28 | 0.53 | 3.96 | 1.58 | 1.59 |
| Australia | 0.05 | 0.03 | 0.08 | 3.59 | 1.51 | 1.25 |
| New Zealand | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.01 | 1.88 | 0.69 | 0.60 |
| South Africa | 0.04 | 0.00 | 0.05 | 1.68 | 0.62 | 0.78 |
| Malta | 14.02 | 9.69 | 13.34 | 16.91 | 12.76 | 14.65 |
| France | 5.15 | 2.75 | 3.58 | 10.03 | 5.51 | 5.06 |
| Spain | 3.44 | 1.11 | 1.83 | 12.50 | 4.75 | 4.18 |
| Latin America | 0.06 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 5.40 | 1.56 | 1.70 |
| Italy | 0.22 | 0.07 | 0.19 | 6.17 | 1.58 | 1.47 |
| China | 0.00 | 0.01 | 0.00 | 0.87 | 0.22 | 0.20 |
| Russia | 0.01 | 0.08 | 0.04 | 0.98 | 0.25 | 0.54 |
| German-speaking countries * | 4.76 | 8.55 | 8.90 | 2.41 | 5.27 | 5.88 |
| other countries | 3.33 | 11.53 | 0.14 | 1.91 | 8.89 | 0.98 |
* Foreign language language and learning camps for German students within Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Distribution of length of stay by destination country in 2016
| Length of stay
in the target areas |
average value
in weeks |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | |
| total | 2.06 | 1.93 | 2.10 |
| Great Britain | 1.83 | 1.76 | 1.89 |
| Ireland | 2.34 | 1.69 | 2.59 |
| United States | 3.32 | 3.54 | 3.70 |
| Canada | 3.98 | 3.95 | 3.94 |
| Australia | 4.08 | 3.44 | 4.34 |
| New Zealand | 4.03 | 3.74 | 5.19 |
| South Africa | 3.67 | 2.76 | 3.00 |
| Malta | 1.86 | 1.95 | 1.91 |
| France | 2.00 | 1.95 | 2.38 |
| Spain | 2.14 | 2.42 | 2.45 |
| Latin America | 2.44 | 2.65 | 2.42 |
| Italy | 1.74 | 2.01 | 2.09 |
| China | 4.14 | 3.90 | 2.78 |
| Russia | 2.20 | 2.31 | 1.61 |
| German speaking countries | 1.22 | 0.52 | 1.08 |
| Other target areas | 2.07 | 2.14 | 2.67 |
Distribution according to age groups
At 58.25%, the proportion of school language trips to the total number of participants is greater than the proportion of adults with only 41.75%. The proportion of male and female participants in school and adult language trips is now fairly balanced.
| Overview of age groups in% | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 2015 | |
| 6 to 13 years | 11.54 | 13.44 |
| 14 to 17 years | 46.71 | 44.63 |
| 18 to 30 years | 21.05 | 24.62 |
| 31 to 49 years | 14.44 | 11.62 |
| 50 plus years | 6.26 | 5.69 |
Switzerland
According to statistics published by the Swiss Association of Language Travel Agents , Australia is the most popular destination for Swiss language travelers with 18%, followed by Great Britain (17%), France (12%), Canada (11%), the USA (10%), Spain (7%), New Zealand (6%), Italy (5%) and Malta (4%).
The most popular foreign languages are English with a share of 67%, followed by French (12%), Spanish (10%) and Italian (5%).
Web links
- Association of Language Travel Organizations (ALTO) / International Association for Language Schools and Language Travel Organizers
- Association of German Language Travel Organizers (FDSV)
- Association of Swiss Language Travel Organizers (SALTA)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Key Facts - Association of German Language Travel Organizers eV (FDSV). Retrieved May 3, 2017 .
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated June 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
