USIT-ing On Your Arse At Home This Summer?
It emerged just prior to the OxStu going to press that USIT Campus, one of the two dedicated student travel agents in Oxford, is very likely to be bought out by rivals, STA Travel, in a move that could both reduce choice for students and see the cost of student holidays rocket.
The impending take-over could potentially drive prices up by forcing students to organise Easter and summer vacation travel through market leaders, STA Travel, who have 45 branches throughout the UK and over 300 world-wide. The company will now become the only high-street travel agent offering a specifically student-orientated service.
The 30-year-old Irish based company USIT World, with an estimated annual turnover of £250 million, and the owners of the 'Campus' brand, has run into deep financial problems. Although not for the first time, USIT has been hit particularly badly, with sales plummeting following the September 11th attacks in the US. There are rumours that all branches of USIT would have closed this Saturday had STA Travel not stepped in.
The acquisition is still being kept under wraps, whilst details are finalised, though according to the Oxford branch of USIT, customers who have paid for and been issued tickets will not be affected. As budget travel could become less accessible, Oxford University students, who enjoy a longer holiday than students from other universities, will be particularly affected.
In recent years it has become increasingly popular for students to take Gap Years and spend a substantial amount of time travelling abroad during vacations. As well as this, students could be adversely affected in other ways. USIT Campus has been a major provider of sponsorship for a wide array of travel related activities including student-based travel publications, such as the Oxbridge Traveller. Consequently, comparable amounts of student-support look unlikely in the near future.
As yet, it is not known which of USIT's branches - if any - will close. Staff at the Oxford branch of USIT Campus anticipate that there is enough business in the city for STA to keep a second branch open, however it is unclear whether the take-over could lead to redundancies.
Both STA Travel and USIT Campus refused to comment on the acquisition, the other referring enquiries to their rivals. Both press offices did not seem to know what their respective head offices were doing, claiming press releases would be forthcoming "within the hour" on several occasions.
A straw-poll amongst students from a number of colleges and in the OxStu offices produced disappointed results as one reliable source spoke of the "friendly and helpful" staff in the Oxford branch, now reduced to sitting idly in the office on Monday with telephones and computers disconnected by their new STA bosses.
"It's irritating because it will mean we have to pay more for our holidays in the future." moaned another disgruntled former Gap Year traveller.
The change in Oxford's provision of student travel agents might encourage more students to look towards travel grants on offer around the university. Colleges, departments and numerous University funds have thousands of pounds to give away for students looking to go travelling, with varying degrees of specificity over aims and relation to study.
Professor Judith Brown, a member of the Modern History Faculty Combined Board of Management for, among other things, the Arnold Travel Grant commented, "I know that with insurance students tend to shop around rather than try one outlet only. For myself I always use Trailfinders in London and they tend to be very competitive indeed."
Combined with the general economic downturn following last year's terrorist attacks, students may well be more reluctant to spend scarce cash on expensive travel arrangements anyway. Buying direct from airlines and providers of accommodation might be another option, and might have been responsible for the recent lack of trade at USIT in the first place.
By Andrew Limond, former editor of the Oxbridge Traveller, with additional reporting by Deputy News Editors Charles Hotham and Roberto Montanari.
For further information regarding Oxford University grants, travel or subject related, see the <a href="http://www.admin.ox.ac.uk/prizes/">University's site</a>.
31st Jan 2002