The internationalists
by Jon Brooks
Two innovative UniSA students are reaching out into the wider world and helping to make Adelaide a more attractive destination for international students and visitors.
In 2007, marketing student James Martin discovered a gap in the information about life in Adelaide being offered to international students. A year later, his free student guide The Insider was born.
"I used to work in hospitality and through meeting people at work I discovered there was a massive gap between what locals and international students knew about enjoying Adelaide," Martin said.
"I think that’s really sad because international students come here to study, but then they miss out on the social side of being a student in Adelaide, which is how The Insider came about.
"It’s basically all about giving international students the inside information on Adelaide, the knowledge that locals take for granted that just hasn’t been available to international students before."
Available all over Adelaide and covering everything from finding the right doctor to joining a sporting team, which night is the best for a particular pub and even how to approach camping and adventure holidays, The Insider, while an impressive product, is proof that you don’t need a huge budget if you’re determined to succeed.
"Things are going very well. We have received incredible feedback and press coverage Australia-wide. We’re actually now in the process of expan-ding to Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney, which is exciting but scary at the same time because the whole thing is put together by me, my brother and my friend Sam Trezise who also studies at UniSA." Martin said.
"It’s still early days though. I still take care of most of the distribution in my little, old car."
"But we’ve been lucky, advertisers have recognised how big the market is (over 27,000 in SA) and that we have the most direct way to reach them. This year we’ve gained support from some very big businesses including UniSA, Hoyts, Medibank Private and The Advertiser, to name just a few."
In a separate venture, Shaun Vanderkaap, a final year Bachelor of
Finance student at UniSA’s City West campus, is the brains behind
aussietravellersforum.com.au, a free online forum offering a place for
first time and seasoned travellers alike to share tips on holidaying.
"The idea actually came when I was doing my own travelling overseas," Vanderkaap said.
"I found there was a real lack of Australian-specific travellers’ forums, and other travel forums are often linked to travel companies or tour providers.
"I think it’s important that travellers be able to get unbiased advice based on other people’s experiences."
Already familiar with share trading forums, Vanderkaap established Aussie Traveller in late November 2008, with the hope of building it to a successful independent resource within five years.
"It’s a labour of love really, I enjoy travelling and my partner is a travel agent and while I did need to invest some money to advertise, in the end for me it’s about building a service," Vanderkaap said.
The forum now has more than 200 members and Vanderkaap hopes it will soon become the resource of choice for students and travellers alike who are looking for independent travel advice.