March 2, 2017
Educational Travel 101
The Role of Educational Travel
Educational travel is an eye-opening journey to understand how big (yet how small) our world is. It’s recognizing how much different other cultures are – and just how very similar as well. Educational travel intertwines and connects us through shared understanding and experiences.
If young people growing up in the U.S. do not have an acute awareness, knowledge and appreciation of the broader world around them, they will be at a serious disadvantage when attempting to find their way in this growing global marketplace. What better way to begin the process of learning about and appreciating other countries and their people than by traveling overseas at a comparatively young age?
There are of course other benefits accruing to young travelers. There are so many other and different ways people live their lives and acquiring openness to seeing things a bit differently, a cultural empathy as it were, is one of the countless ancillary benefits of early travel abroad.
This process of education through travel is not spontaneous; it does not happen by itself. It happens only with the pro-active, dedicated support of educators that acknowledge the importance of travel.
Passports plays the role of catalyst in the process of educational travel, giving passports group organizers not just abstract, moralizing, make-the-world-better reasons to lead a group – but real, down-to-earth benefits and “perks” in return for their help in organizing travel groups.
What the Group Leader Does
Once you decide that an educational travel experience would be in the interest of your students, you select the travel program that best meets your and your students’ educational needs. You have the option of working with your passports Tour Advisor to select an itinerary and optional excursions that best meet your travel goals and budget. You organize a group of your students to join you in this educational adventure; you may select a co-leader or -leaders to travel with you; and you prepare your group for their tour by providing the background, cultural information and history that will enhance their appreciation about the places they will visit.
What passports Does
In practical terms, passports arranges your international flights, books your hotels, meals, traveling motor coach, guides and tour conductors, and provides you with round-the-clock logistical support while you are overseas.
Your passports Tour Advisor is experienced in helping group leaders plan their trips, and will furnish you with everything you will need to facilitate the organization and pre-departure preparation of your group. You’ll work with one passports Tour Advisor throughout your pre- and post-tour experience — no reassignments for “servicing” after your group enrolls. In fact, passports prides itself on the solid, long-standing relationships that routinely evolve between our Tour Advisors and Group Organizers!
While you are on tour, passports provides you with a full-time Tour Director who is familiar with the countries and cities you visit and who is fluent in the languages spoken. Your Tour Director manages all tour details, and provides en route commentary about the places you'll see. They're experienced travel professionals, specially-trained to lead groups of American students overseas. They care about getting to know you and your group, and they fix any bumps in the road to make sure your trip really is the experience of a lifetime!
Category: For Teachers
