A Dunedin City Council decision not to fund an organisation which advertised the city as a destination for international students was shortsighted, a former employee of the organisation says.
Education Dunedin went into hibernation in July after the council, which had helped fund the organisation since it was set up in 2005, turned down an application for $70,000 for the 2012-13 year as part of the annual plan process.
Former Education Dunedin marketing manager Sue Radcliffe-Mason, who was made redundant after the organisation went into hibernation, said she was "very disappointed" by the decision.
The council had underestimated the flow-on effects of international students coming to Dunedin and the importance of bringing overseas agents here, which was a key role of the organisation, Mrs Radcliffe-Mason said.
"You can't sell Dunedin from a brochure ... we need to bring them here," she said.
Other regions with similar organisations, such as Southland, would benefit from the decision and take students who would have otherwise come to Dunedin.
"Dunedin institutions are up against other countries and even other New Zealand regions who receive a lot more government and regional assistance in terms of personnel and resources," she said.
Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull said Education Dunedin's application for funding through the annual plan was declined "because it didn't stack up against other priorities that the council had".
It was "not clear" that just because similar organisations were funded by other councils the DCC should fund Education Dunedin, Mr Cull said.
The council understood the importance of international students to the city and was helping find an "effective" co-ordinated model for attracting students.
"We all recognise that a co-operative effort in this space would be of advantage to the city," he said.
Education Dunedin chairman Stephen Higgs said the organisation would stay in hibernation while a review, involving Otago Polytechnic, University of Otago, secondary schools and the council, was under way.
The review, which would determine what the organisation could look like, was in its early stages and it would be three to six months before any conclusions were made.
"We've said that rather continue as we were operating before, let's look at a wider-city perspective," Mr Higgs said.
However, having an organisation like Education Dunedin was important if the city wanted to encourage collaboration in its efforts to attract international students.
Without some sort of co-ordinated effort there would be fewer international students in the city, he said.
