globalEDGE International Business Blog

Now-a-days, students have the opportunity to study in numerous countries. Each year, thousands of students travel abroad to enhance their academic and cultural experiences. Open Doors Institute of International Education’s 2009 International Educational Exchange was released on November 16th. It included everything from leading destinations and primary sources of funding to regions and popular fields of study.

Many international students choose to study in the United States because of the wide variety of programs offered by top universities. In 2009, roughly 671,616 international students sat in a United States classroom instead of one of their home country’s. This is a 7.7 percent increase from the previous year. Of those students, over 20 percent are studying business and management, which makes it the most popular field of study.

Program and participation numbers vary when it comes to United States students studying abroad. Approximately 262,416 students chose to study abroad in 2008, with the largest number of programs being offered by New York University and Michigan State University. Overall, the most popular destination was the United Kingdom and the top field of study was social sciences, with business and management as a close second.

In addition to being a wonderful education and cultural experience, studying abroad contributes to the economy in more ways than one. The hefty number of international students in the United States contributed $21.6 billion in 2008 alone! This is a combination of tuition, fees, and other living expenses. Of course, United States students studying abroad contribute to the economies of multiple other countries as well.

On the whole, studying abroad has many benefits. Not only do students gain academic knowledge and cultural awareness, but economies from all over the world are influenced in a positive way.

In recent months, there has been a huge cutback in business travelers staying in luxury hotels. With thousands of workers having been laid off, companies who sent their executives to 5-star hotels were being attacked. Since companies have been under scrutiny for unnecessary spending, business travel has been cut back and downgraded to the bare minimum. Now, the international hospitality industry is trying to bring back luxury business travel.

If you're planning a trip abroad in the near future, make time to check out this fascinating article from International Business Times on the world's 10 strangest delicacies. Fried tarantulas, live octopus, balut, and puffin heart! Oh my!

Here's a neat video from National Geographic about eating live Octopus in South Korea.

In the month of June, Chile saw a 22 percent jump in wine exports. This could be due to a rebounding economy. It could also have to do with the fact that Chile is producing more wine than ever, and at a better quality than it ever has. Given the positive direction that Chile’s wine industry is heading, what implications does this have for the economy and other businesses in Chile?

I thought that hotels were suffering drops below 50% and 60% occupancy in many high touristy areas? What's up with building these highfalutin hotels all over the place?

Well, believe it or not, there are some locations on the globe that aren't suffering such a setback. Places such as Egypt, Dubai, and Panama are really looking at a bright future still. Tourism even increased in Egypt by 15.5 percent from 2007 to 2008. This is where MGM Mirage is teaming with Egypt's New Giza for Real Estate Development to build a brand new MGM Grand New Giza, just outside of Cairo, Egypt. Imagine waking up looking out at those amazing pyramids. Multiple companies around the globe are looking to follow suit.

The rising stock of Twitter and Facebook as valuable business assets is a surprise to nobody, but just how big of a role they play may be overlooked. Australia, which is currently going through a tourism slump due to the global economic downturn and the swine flu epidemic, is getting a bit of help from social networking giants Twitter and Facebook.

The managing director of Tourism Australia, Geoff Buckley, asserts that Twitter and Facebook are helping to pull the Australian tourism industry through the recession. “Tourism Australia’s activities on Twitter and Facebook are connecting people around the world who have visited Australia and getting them to share their experiences with a community of travelers who are equally passionate about our country.”

In light of the current state of the global economy, people will want to cut down on expenses, while still enjoying the leisure and relaxation afforded by tourism. Here are the Top 10 2009 Tourism Trends, which include several options for the cash-strapped consumer:

1. Domestic tourism—This year will see a boost in domestic tourism as tourists will go around their own countries more than flying to another. This is one of the cheapest ways to travel and may help balance out the anticipated lack in foreign tourists.
2. Travel to nearby countries—As many people still want to explore countries other than their own, the next best thing is going to neighboring countries where they’re not expected to spend as much as a jet-setting spree. Europeans may go backpacking across their continent; Americans may go either north or south; and Asians may island-hop around the tropics.

Flying has been the dominant travel option in our lifetimes, mostly due to its speed. However, disgruntled travelers have often been fed up with the long lines, invasive security checks and the occaisonal canceled flight. In light of these issues, another mode of traveling has been attracting customers the past few months – luxury trains.

It’s nothing new for tourists to visit a place in order to do something that would be prohibited where they live. Whether it’s lower drinking ages, legalized drugs, or legalized gambling, some places thrive off of such tourism. Bahrain, for example, serves as a sort of liberalized haven for many of those living in Islamist Saudi Arabia. The country's lenient drinking laws have attracted Saudi escapists, who in turn contribute nearly ten percent to Bahrain’s economy. So why are Bahraini legislators contemplating scrapping the country’s drinking laws and imposing near-total prohibition?

There was a time when trains dominated most of the transit taking place in countries such as the United States. Today, high-speed trains are a cheap and effective means to get across many places in the world, like Europe, Japan, and South Africa, and are important conduits of these economies. Yet it still seems that whenever people want to get away on vacation, they either fly to their desired destination or take a cruise. A growing trend, however, is the rising number of luxury trains and patrons that are using them. This trend could change the dynamic of the hospitality and travel industry, as these trains offer both.