How to Plan a Group Tour in Today's Travel, Social and Economic Climate
By: Debbie Gibb
Whether you are planning your first student group tour, or you have been organizing such tours for decades, you face the same challenges in today’s world: shrinking budgets, donor belt-tightening, increased travel restrictions, and responsibility for a group of kids who live with the heightened sense of freedom that comes with texting obsessively and posting up-to-the-minute photos and videos to their Facebook and MySpace pages.
It is hard enough to keep these kids focused and out of mischief within school grounds; shepherding them around on a motorcoach, plane, boat, or within a city or at a hotel just seems like asking for trouble.
And yet, the student and youth travel segment continues to be one of the fastest growing in the travel industry, representing tens of billions of dollars in expenditures each year.
So, why on earth would any sane educator willingly take on all these challenges?
Because now more than ever, in today’s global economy, travel is an essential part of any child’s complete education.
Travel broadens a child’s perspective through exposure to new cultures, learning by immersion, and enjoying the sense of adventure that comes with planning, experiencing, and reminiscing about an exciting journey. Travel experiences make kids more aware of the world around them, and help them embrace new concepts. Indeed, it helps foster a foundation of self-sufficiency and empathy. Not only does a meaningful travel portfolio “look good” on a college application, it actually is good for developing the well-rounded, global outlook that is coveted by so many of today’s top employers.
And for educators, on the more practical side of things, it gives you the opportunity to pluck these often hard-to-inspire, hard-to-reach kids out of their daily routine. Once you break through the clutter of complacency and the many distractions kids today face, you can have a profound and lasting impact on their educations.
This means that it is more important than ever for you to consider planning a group tour for your students, and the key word here is “planning.” The more you plan and anticipate upfront, the smoother the trip will be, despite all the challenges mentioned above. Your goal is to create a well-designed trip that allows the bulk of your time and energy to go toward student enrichment and interaction.
Here are some things to consider that will help guide you through a successful planning process.
Purpose of Your Trip
Though students may view these group trips like a vacation, they are actually anything but. You, your students, their parents, and the school administrators all need to be united in a common purpose for a trip so that approvals can be met and learning opportunities can be fostered. When designing the purpose of your trip, you should:
* Plan a tour that coincides with the current curriculum.
* Create measurable educational objectives and outcomes for the tour.
* Develop interesting ways for students to document what they learn.
* Factor in time required and seasonality.
Selecting a Travel Planner
You are not a travel agent…you are an educator. Your focus should be on educating your students, and the responsibility of arranging all the travel logistics and experiences should be placed in the hands of an expert student travel planner, who will know what questions to ask, what pitfalls to avoid, and what to do immediately in the event of an emergency. When selecting a tour planner, you should assess their:
* Experience with student travel, and with your desired destination
* Professional liability insurance coverage
* Years in business/at the same address/under the same name
* Affiliations with associations that require them to meet business/ethics standards
Budget
Who pays for the trip varies from school to school. Fundraising can take some additional effort upfront, but it is often necessary to subsidize costs and provides another excellent learning experience for the students. Clearly, you want to keep the costs as low as possible, but bear in mind that the cheapest price doesn’t always mean the best value. When assessing the budget required, you should:
* Always consider the cost of the tour in relation to the potential for available funds. Traveling on too tight of a budget only creates the opportunity for more stress and challenges.
* Start fundraising (if necessary) the minute you get approval for the trip.
* Book your trip as early as possible to get the lowest possible rates.
* Know very specifically what your payments are covering (what’s included in the package price and what could potentially be billed as “options”).
* Be clear on the payment schedule and cancellation policies so there are no surprises (get it in writing).
School Administration
Nearly every student group tour has to be approved by the school’s administrators. But, between budgeting concerns, safety concerns, and the reluctance to have students miss any classroom time, this is not simply a rubber-stamp process. When making your case for organizing such a trip, first cite the benefits of travel for today’s youth, and then address the following eight areas, according to Donald Drayer, Ed.D, National Superintendent of the Year in 1990:
* Timing
* Safety
* Supervision
* Code of conduct
* Finances
* Relevance
* Parent Involvement
* Support
Developing an Effective Timeline
“When should I do what?” is the most common question asked by educators planning a student tour. To create the most successful timeline, you should:
* Work with your tour operator to create key timing “anchors.”
* Factor in enough time for fundraising.
* Plan your action items looking “backward” from day of departure to ensure that key things aren’t left to the last minute.
* Ensure that communication between parents, administrators, students, and other teachers are spread throughout the planning process.
Parental Involvement
Parents are more than just signatures on permission slips when it comes to student travel; they need to be kept informed and engaged in order to ensure a successful experience for their child. When it comes to parents, you should:
* Meet with them in person when beginning the planning process.
* Develop regular channels of communication.
* Ensure that costs are clear.
* Discuss safety openly and inspire confidence in your safety planning.
* Encourage them to chaperone.
* Plan ways to communicate with them while on the tour.
The bottom line is that proactive planning will lead to fewer unexpected surprises, thereby protecting the very essence of the travel experience you most hope to impart to your students: education, enrichment, and enjoyment.
Debbie Gibb is the associate executive director of SYTA, the Student & Youth Travel Association, www.syta.org, as well as the editorial advisor for the association’s Teach & Travel magazine.
