Mike Clark is managing director of Educational Cultural Exchanges (International) Ltd (ECE), a London-based company which offers educational travel programmes to children and youth worldwide. A business management graduate of Manchester University, Clark promoted Hospitality Line Ltd in 1990 after a 20-year corporate career in marketing and sales. In 2003, he acquired ECE and merged it with Hospitality Line. Over the past decade, ECE (annual revenue: £25 million or Rs.200 crore) has organised customised “immersion educational tours” in the UK, Scotland and Ireland for over 20,000 students annually from USA, Canada, China, Korea and Brazil.

Newspeg. Clark was in India in February to promote ECE’s London International Youth Science Forum (LIYSF), an annual event held at Imperial College, London for senior secondary school and college students aged 17-22. ECE has partnered with NEWS Travels, an Indore-based travel firm promoted by Anupam Vaid, to sign up Indian students for LIYSF 2012, scheduled to be held in mid-August. Last year LIYSF attracted over 350 students from 60 countries worldwide including 18 from India.

Unique selling proposition. Founded in 1959, LIYSF is a unique two-week residential multi-disciplinary science forum combining lectures and demonstrations from leading scientists, seminars and debates, visits to industrial sites and academic and research laboratories in London, Oxford and Cambridge, with historical and cultural sightseeing tours. “LIYSF is a unique educational experience for students who attend seminars, debates, visit world-class research establishments, and enjoy Britain’s rich culture and history through a carefully planned agenda,” says Clark who expects 35 students from India to participate in LIYSF 2012.

While LIYSF is ECE’s flagship international event, the company also organises the Harrogate International Youth Festival over Easter (April) every year. This one-week residential event held in Harrogate, Yorkshire features music performances and concerts in 15 local schools and attracts over 1,500 local and foreign participants.

Direct talk. “The motto of ECE is ‘travel with purpose’. Our objective is to offer education-cum-travel programmes to youth, integrating cultural, sports and outdoor adventure activities, as well as learning opportunities. We tailor our programmes to our clients’ national and specific needs and are also happy to customise community service projects offering interaction with local communities. Travel is a great way for children and youth to understand and acquire insights into foreign cultures, visit places and institutions and build transnational friendships,” says Clark.

Fees. Rs.2.3 lakh (all-inclusive) for the 14-day residential LIYSF.

Future plans. Clark is bullish about deepening ECE’s engagement with India. “With help from our India partner NEWS Travels, the annual LIYSF tour apart, we intend to offer other education and travel programmes and events which focus on theatre, business and performing arts, to Indian education institutions. Indian students will benefit enormously from broad-based travel experiences which will prepare them for work and life in a globalised world. India is an emerging economy of great interest to people in the UK. We also want to facilitate two-way exchanges under which British students can spend a part of their gap-year in India and vice versa,” says Clark.

Fair winds!

Summiya Yasmeen (Bangalore)