TravelMate is a leading study and travel abroad operator with several offices across Brazil, Ireland, Australia and Portugal. Our company offers endless study, travel, and learning opportunities to motivated clients who are eager to explore the world! With a high qualified and experienced staff, our team will be proud to have you as our client and happy to deliver the best services. 

1. To add to this above, can you elaborate a little more on who you are and how TravelMate Intercambio started?

TravelMate is the outcome of a two college friendship! These friends were students abroad some time before meeting each other during their university studies in the mid 90´s in Brazil. Alexandre Argenta and Eduardo Heidemann came from small cities in the south of Brazil and both had life changing study and/or work experiences abroad before or during their college time. They met each other for the first time in 1994 when they started college together at the Universidade Federal do Parana, located in Curitiba. They immediately became friends, and both had (and still have) a passion for languages, cultures, travelling, and studying! From this friendship and the same passions/visions, the idea of promoting study abroad programmes to other Brazilian students came up, so, in 2002 they started TravelMate! After 22 years, TravelMate has about 40 offices across Brazil, Portugal, Ireland, and Australia and has placed more than 40.000 students and young travellers abroad!

2. With the rise of AI, how do you see the role of AI and technology evolving in the Work and Travel sector in the coming years? 

It´s hard to predict the impacts of AI not only in our market, but in all our lives. Anyway, I believe AI will cause deep changes in the way we live, study, work, and travel. AI can be a partner for companies and travellers as it can improve many areas, like:

• Customer Service and Experience (AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants enhance customer service by providing instant responses to inquiries, booking assistance, and personalised travel recommendations);
• Predictive Analytics (AI algorithms analyse historical data to predict travel trends, optimise pricing strategies, and anticipate demand fluctuations, helping businesses make informed decisions);
• Enhanced Safety and Security (AI is used to enhance security measures at airports and other travel hubs through facial recognition, behaviour analysis, and predictive threat detection systems);
• Operational Efficiency (airlines and hotels use AI to optimise operations, such as crew scheduling, route planning, and hotel room pricing, to improve efficiency and reduce costs), and many more.

3. Can you share with us the specific measures you’ve put in place to ensure student safety and wellbeing?

Students demand attention and support to be and feel safe, so, we make a big effort to keep in close contact with them before and during their experiences. We provide a lot of pre departure content and orientation through personal counselling and access to our intranet. Another great tool for keeping in close contact with students nowadays is “Whatsapp” as we can have quick and fast communication with them anytime, since they have internet access. Communication and information are the keys to that! 

4. Do you offer any pre-departure training or resources to prepare students for cultural differences and social etiquette in their host countries?

Yes, we organise online and in person pre-departure training and orientation for our clients. We also offer them thousands of pieces of material about the destination, visa rules, cultural differences, language training, and more. TravelMate has its own online English course to prepare our clients’ programmes and experiences abroad; it´s called Mytm English, and it´s an online preparatory English course for future students and clients. We also have a full time psychologist who is specialised in preparing students for experiences abroad, and that´s a vital support to students and their parents.