The pie charts compare the methods used by international students to book online English courses in Australia, the USA, and Canada in the years of 2009 and 2010. Overall, booking upon arrival was initially the most popular method in Canada, while the reverse was true for USA and Australia, whose students utilize all types of bookings with relatively identical proportions. Of particular note is that there was a considerable shift in students’ preferences. Internet bookings became the preferred choice in Australia, while agent services saw the most growth in Canada.
Examining the data for Australia, all methods occupied almost a fourth of the whole chart, with “other” and internet booking accounting for 23% and 24% respectively in 2009. Notably, arrival and pre-booked with agent methods mirrored more or less comparable figures, each of which was responsible for 26% at the beginning of the period. However, the usage of the internet and arrival methods became the preferred options for booking in 2010, with both outperforming the remaining types, at 39% and 30%. An opposite trend was observed in “other” and agency consultation in 2010, which recorded 20% and 11% respectively.
Focusing on the USA, other alternative methods and online platforms attracted the same amount of students, both of which accounted for 26% in 2009, before seeing a marginal fall to 23% and 25% in 2010. Likewise, booking through an agency and arrival represented relatively the same fraction of total utilization in 2009, comprising 24%. After, the internet remained relatively unchanged and arranging with an agency merely surpassed all other categories in the final year, at 28%.
Canadian students demonstrated a contrasting pattern in their preferences. Booking in person emerged as the most popular method, occupying half of the chart in 2009 at 45%. Internet utilization (27%) was equal to the aggregate proportions of “other” (6%) and booking via agency (22%) in 2009. By 2010, internet and arrival methods of booking witnessed approximately the same shares, registering 25%, while the pre-booked with agent type rose sharply to 35% in 2010, considerably exceeding all other figures and becoming twice as high as the “other” method (18%).
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