The World Youth Student and Educational (WYSE) Travel Confederation and The Erasmus Student Network (ESN), Europe’s largest student organisation, have announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to deepen the cooperation between the two organisations. ESN has also become a member of WYSE Travel Confederation.
Both ESN and WYSE Travel Confederation work with the aim of serving the youth, student and educational population, facilitating access to international education, travel and work opportunities as well as experiences.
The ESN network annually serves over 190,000 international students in Europe, while members of WYSE Travel Confederation serve 30 million young travelers worldwide; together the organizations aim to cooperate in order to improve the youth tourism sector and assist the industry in understanding the needs and preferences of young people.
Together ESN and WYSE Travel Confederation are planning to collaborate on enriching the content of events such as the World Youth and Student Travel Conference (WYSTC), the leading trade event for the global youth, student and educational travel industry, and the ESN Annual General Meeting (AGM), an event gathering over 700 student representatives from all of ESN’s 37 member countries.
David Chapman, Director General at WYSE Travel Confederation, said: “As part of our joint activities, ESN will be coordinating a panel of international students for our ‘The student traveler offline’ seminar at WYSTC 2015 in Cape Town this September. During the session, the students will have the opportunity to articulate their travel preferences and desires, plus discuss how the economy and social media inform their lifestyle and consumer decisions and vice versa, to an audience of travel industry professionals from across the globe.”
Stefan Jahnke, President of the Erasmus Student Network, said: “As more and more young people get the opportunity to study, travel, work and volunteer abroad, it is in our mutual interest to ensure that their experiences are not only unforgettable and life-changing, but also safe and of high quality. ESN is therefore delighted to be able to represent young people and students within such an influential organization as WYSE Travel Confederation.”
The organizations are also planning to cooperate on research and projects aiming at facilitating international experiences and solving challenges faced by young people today. Lastly, the cooperation also aims to offer young people career development and employment opportunities through the promotion of opportunities available within the tourism sector.
