Educational travel can light a spark in your students’ hearts and minds. Travel transforms textbook lessons into living experiences and creates lasting memories.
However, planning a group trip can be overwhelming. It requires extensive coordination, research, and time. The logistical needs quickly add up and may have you rethinking the wisdom of traveling with students.
Fear not! It’s possible to plan an educational trip without all the stress. We have some tips that make group trip planning a little easier so you and your students can enjoy exploring the world.
5 Tips for Making Group Trip Planning Easier
Want to plan a trip for your students? Here are five tips to make the trip-planning process easier.
1. Start the Planning Process Early
The earlier you start the planning process, the better. This will give you more options — and potential savings — for flights, hotels, and attractions. You should start planning at least a year in advance. Two years will give you more time to get all the logistics in place, especially if this is your first trip.
2. Set a Realistic Budget
Research what it will realistically cost per student to go on the trip. You’ll want to include transportation, accommodation, meals, entrance fees, and activity costs in the price. Some schools try to offset or cover the cost of teachers and chaperones, so you can also build that into the price.
3. Create a Planning Committee
Planning a group trip is much easier if you have a team because you can delegate tasks and distribute the workload. Recruit teachers, parents, and student representatives to help with group trip planning. They can give you ideas about restaurants, attractions, and what students are most interested in seeing on the trip.
4. Use Online Tools to Stay Organized
Organization is the key to group trip planning. The more organized you are with your information, the easier it will be to plan the trip and coordinate the logistics. Use shareable online calendars to plan itineraries and Google Maps to calculate travel times. These are great tools for sharing information with parents and students later on, too.
5. Expect the Unexpected
Even the best planners will encounter unexpected problems. That’s the nature of travel, especially when coordinating everything for a larger group. If you can stay calm and flexible, you can keep the trip on track and make it a wonderful experience for everyone.
Why You Should Work With a Tour Planning Company
Planning a group trip yourself can be rewarding, but partnering with a professional tour company can make it significantly easier — and can also save you money. Professional tour planning companies make group trip planning easier by:
- Planning a trip that aligns with your educational goals. Whether you want to soak in the sights of New York City or explore history in Boston, a tour company can handle everything and ensure you see the sites that matter most to you and your students.
- Handling complex logistics like transportation and accommodation booking. Tour companies will understand how to get your group from Point A to Point B safely and comfortably. They can help manage all of the logistics before and during the trip so you have stress-free travel experiences.
- Securing better deals for your group. Education tour planning companies have established partnerships to help your group get better deals on hotels, attractions, and activities. That can lower the cost of your trip and get more out of every dollar.
When you work with a trusted tour planning company, you enjoy an unforgettable trip alongside your students.
Let’s Plan an Educational Trip That Aligns With Your Faith
When you work with a company like Forge Christian Tour Co., you also benefit from working with a faith-based partner. Our tour company has decades of experience working with Christian and home schools, creating incredible trips with Christian-focused narratives.
Our trips inspire a love of learning in students while helping them strengthen the foundations of their faith. With our experience, students see the world through a faith-based lens, and you enjoy the trip as much as they do.
If you are ready to start planning a memorable, faith-focused educational trip for your students, we’d love to talk. Contact the Forge team today to discuss your next group trip.