The pie charts compare how international students booked online English courses in Australia, the USA and Canada in 2009 and 2010, using four methods: on arrival, pre-booked with an agent, via the Internet, and other means.
Overall, the Internet became more popular in all three countries over the period, while booking on arrival generally declined. Australia showed the most dramatic change, whereas patterns in the USA were relatively stable.
In Australia, Internet bookings rose sharply from 24% in 2009 to 39% in 2010, becoming the dominant method. By contrast, pre-booking with an agent fell markedly from 27% to just 11%. Arrival bookings increased slightly (26% to 30%), while other methods declined marginally.
In the USA, the distribution of methods was fairly even in both years. In 2009, arrival, agent, and Internet bookings each accounted for about a quarter. In 2010, pre-booking with an agent became the most common method at 28%, while Internet and arrival bookings slipped slightly to 25% and 24% respectively.
In Canada, booking on arrival was the main method in 2009 (45%) but dropped substantially to 26% in 2010. Meanwhile, agent bookings increased significantly from 22% to 35%, becoming the leading option, and Internet use remained relatively stable.