Oftentimes, educators get inspired to travel with their students and allow them some traveling and exploring experiences. The first thing they do at this point is usually to contact student travel providers.
These student travel providers primarily specialize in student travel. They ensure they make the travel planning process a positive experience, whether it is a short trip or an international adventure.
Naturally, student travel providers help lift the burdens of planning student travels off the teachers’ shoulders. They take the responsibility of planning every detail of the trip – from flights and buses to hotel arrangements.
In this article, we will be listing our 10 top student travel providers in 2023.
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What are Student travel providers?
Student travel providers are specialized organizations that focus on arranging and facilitating educational trips and experiences for students. These providers offer a range of services and resources tailored to meet the unique needs of students and educational institutions. They handle all aspects of travel planning, from designing itineraries and organizing transportation to arranging accommodations and coordinating expert tour guides.
Student travel providers collaborate closely with educational institutions to create customized travel programs that align with academic goals and offer valuable learning opportunities. They bring their expertise and experience to the table, ensuring that trips are safe, well-organized, and educational. These providers often have established relationships with local partners, enabling them to offer unique cultural experiences and access to educational resources.
In a nutshell, student travel providers take the stress out of organizing student trips, allowing educators to focus on curriculum development and student engagement while ensuring students have a memorable and enriching travel experience.
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Why Educational Institutions Should Collaborate with Student Travel Providers?
Collaborating with student travel providers offers a multitude of benefits for educational institutions. Firstly, these providers have the expertise and experience in organizing student trips, which can save schools valuable time and effort. Instead of grappling with logistics and travel arrangements, educators can focus on curriculum development and engaging with students.
Student travel providers also prioritize safety, implementing strict protocols and risk assessments to ensure the well-being of students. Their knowledge of destination-specific safety measures and 24/7 emergency support provides reassurance to both educators and parents.
Furthermore, student travel providers have established relationships with local partners and communities, offering access to unique cultural experiences and educational resources that might not be readily available to schools. They can enhance the educational value of trips by designing customized programs that align with curriculum goals and promote experiential learning.
Collaborating with student travel providers enables educational institutions to provide students with safe, enriching, and transformative travel experiences that broaden their horizons and complement their academic journey.
How Student Travel Providers Design Educational Programs
Student travel providers work closely with educational institutions to design educational programs that are both enriching and aligned with academic goals. Through collaboration with educators, these providers gather insights into learning outcomes, subject areas, and desired experiences.
Drawing on their expertise, student travel providers create itineraries that combine cultural immersion, interactive workshops, guided tours, and hands-on activities. They strive to enhance students’ understanding of the subject matter while fostering personal growth, global awareness, and cross-cultural appreciation.
These programs are carefully designed to be age-appropriate and engaging, catering to different age groups and academic disciplines. Student travel providers leverage their network of local partners and resources to incorporate authentic experiences and access to educational sites that deepen students’ understanding of the subject matter.
By tailoring educational programs to specific academic disciplines and age groups, student travel providers ensure that students receive a well-rounded and memorable learning experience that complements and enhances their classroom education.
Top Student Travel Providers
1. Brightspark
Brightspark is a student travel provider based in Chicago, Illinois, aiming at creating a bigger world for every student. It is primarily focused on educational and performance travels for students.
This travel provider facilitates student travel by planning the group’s trip requisites, such as flights, hotels, and attraction tickets.
This company promotes experiences beyond the classroom and is committed to assisting teachers in every step of the student travel planning process. Also, it provides resources for recruiting for your and fundraising tips.
The Brightspark company provides travel all over Canada, Europe, South America, and the United States.
2. Globus Student Discoveries
This student travel provider tours in Europe and North America and has been offering tours for over 80 years. It has since provided over 400 tours to over 70 countries on six contingent of the world.
They offer trips tailored to the classroom curriculum. Meanwhile, they have Washington D.C., Boston, and Philadelphia as some of their most outstanding domestic destinations. However, their most popular destinations in Europe are London, Italy, and Paris.
Globus student discoveries are one of the best student travel providers that offer teachers benefits. For every ten students on a trip, the teacher gets to travel for free. Also, they receive a single room at no extra expense. Another outstanding benefit is that students with qualified students group may be able to earn about $1,000 in donations for their schools.
Also, read: 5 Best Universities in New Zealand for International Students in 2023
3. The Student Adventures (SA) Safe Travel Team
The SA team is one of the student travel providers mainly focused on building educational tours. This is for the purpose of extending the learning students receive in classrooms.
They are able to improve these learning experiences by allowing students the opportunities to see the historical landmarks they learn about in classrooms.
One of the aims of this company is to allow students the opportunities to be exposed to remarkable destinations and create tours that, while educational, are also fun and entertaining for the students.
This provider has been offering travel to students for decades, and as a result, it has a lot of experience in planning student travels. Also, due to the pandemic, the company brings together its decades of experience to develop new safety procedures and strategies associated with Covid-19.
The SA team takes responsibility to analyze the safety of the various destinations as well as monitoring all safety controls with each vendor. Also, they formulate training and safety plans to abide by the CDC and WHO, and local health department guidelines.
4. Education First
Education First is another one of the top student travel providers that help students attain their education goals. They do this by providing education travels, cultural exchanges, language training, and academic degrees.
This provider is a world leader in international education established in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It has over 45 years of experience and offices in over 50 countries of the world.
This EF, as it is popularly called, provides tours for students and educators from middle school through college.
The provider has a 9-12 day tour of Athens and Crete, which allows students the opportunity to learn about ancient Greek history. Also, a chance to visit sites like the Palace of Knossos, Agios Nikolaos, and Acropolis.
Also, there is a 10-day AP English Literature in England. This involves visiting the Bronte Museum, the Roman Baths, and Clifford’s Towel.
This provider also offers an 11-day tour for lovers of wildlife. This tour allows students to learn about the politics and history of South Africa. And at the same time, they are allowed to view natural attractions like Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens and Kruger National Park.
Education first offers gifts and rewards for teachers who choose them. They may earn points just by enrolling students in either one of the tours. They can also earn by referring other teachers to the travel provider. The good thing is that these points earned never expire unless the teachers stop being active Education First Group Leaders.
5. American Council for International Studies (ACIS)
The American Council for International Studies (ACIS) is one of the top student travel providers that has since 1978 been a leader in quality educational travel for middle and high school students.
This provider focuses on cultural connections. This involves students interested in local tour guides and artisans regardless of their destinations across the world.
However, this provider provides meals that depict the local cuisine and hotels close to historic sceneries in place of long bus trips or catered meals.
ACIS has once its establishment provided tours across six continents in the world. Also, it has provided personalized services from a committed international program team. As a result, it has established and solidified an outstanding reputation after almost 40 years in the industry.
The ACIS unique tours would include Kia Ora New Zealand, where students are allowed the opportunity to explore the Maori villages and begin on a dolphin sightseeing and touring cruise. Also, there’s a Gateway to Japan which includes a bullet train ride and a stop at Matsumoto Castle.
6. Student Universe
Student Universe is another one of the best student travel providers in the world. It partners with over 70 airlines to provide international trips for students.
The provider is one of the world’s leading travel providers for both students and youths.
They are focused on promoting adventures for students in their itineraries, and whatever ambition a student travel group has, Student Universe is sure to match them.
The provider has an outstanding pricing arrangement that grants discount rates to large student groups. Also, a partnership with Flight Central in 2015 further guarantees that students can take reasonably priced tours to countries. These countries include Australia, India, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates.
Students traveling with Student Universe get to experience the Botswana and Falls adventure, which involves a weeklong excursion through the lush landscapes of Zambia and South Africa. And then, the Best of Spain and Portugal guides the students through the cuisine and culture of the Iberian Peninsula.
7. WorldStrides
The story of Worldstrides is one of the best student travel providers that provides educational travel programs for both elementary, middle, high school and university students.
They are primarily focused on enriching students’ lives through experiential travels, and they are independently accredited in regions across the country and a rose the globe.
The WorldStrides travel provider has a popular destination in Washington, D.C., where students are opportune to learn about American governments and history in the nation’s capital. This 4-day visit includes visitations to sites like the Washington Mo, Holocaust Museum and the White House.
With WorldStrides, educators also gain helpful experience by travelling with them. For instance, a qualified educator can receive free professional development or low-cost graduate credit.
Also, educators can earn free travels with the students and may also receive an allowance in the form of cash or scholarship for every student who they bring on to WorldStrides.
8. Go Student Tours
Go Student Tours is another one of the top student travel providers focused on creating engaging educational tours. This for the purpose of enhancing the students’ curriculum and as well, offer completely memorable experiences.
This provider is famed as the leading educational student travel company for Washington, D.C., and the Mid-Atlantic region.
9. Straight A Tours
Straight A Tours is yet one of the best student travel providers primarily focused on providing travel arrangements for students to destinations all over the United States of America.
Travelling with Straight A Tours, California student groups can visit and experience theme parks and other attractions. The itineraries in Northern and Southern California might include the Golden Gate Bridge, Sea World San Diego and Disneyland.
This provider has a ‘Festivals at Sea’ program, and it includes workshop classes and presentations which can be arranged with the ships’ staff and crew members on the boat. For instance, the celebration cruise line offers a 2-night cruise, which takes student groups from West Palm Beach, Florida, to Grand Bahamas Island.
This provider also offers packages with the Carnival cruise line, the Royal Caribbean cruise line, and the Norwegian cruise line.
Additionally, groups can add leading destinations like the universal studio, Disney World, or New Orleans either before or after the cruise.
Straight A Tours is famed as the largest of all the student travel providers of cruise excursions for student groups.
Read Also: 15 Best Summer Volunteering Programs for High School Students in 2023
10. American Student Tours
American Student Tours is another top student travel providers m that specializes in competitively priced and custom-developed student tours to my USA destination.
However, its main focus is on school tours to Washington, D.C., Williamsburg, Alaska, New York City, Hawaii, Florida, Philadelphia, and Washington state. This provider has about 20 years of experience in packaging student tours.
This provider offers extensive, full-serviced package tours in the market for students, teachers, or educators. Also, the provider offers to adults, and these tours always provide the trip of a lifetime experience.
American Student Tours also provides safety and liability coverage. This means that all travel arrangements including meeting preparation, payment collection, transportation, lodging, site reservations, security, guides, and food.
FAQs – Student travel providers
Student travel providers help lift the burdens of planning student travels off the teachers’ shoulders. They take the responsibility of planning every detail of the trip – from flights and buses to hotel arrangements.
Student travel providers offer a range of services, including itinerary planning, transportation arrangements, accommodation booking, expert tour guides, educational activities, logistical support, and 24/7 emergency assistance.
Student travel providers prioritize student safety. They implement comprehensive safety protocols, conduct risk assessments for destinations, provide trained and qualified staff and guides, and offer 24/7 emergency support. They may also collaborate with travel insurance companies to ensure adequate coverage.
Conclusion
Student travel providers play a vital role in creating memorable and educational experiences for students. Through their expertise, extensive resources, and focus on safety, these providers offer a valuable service to educational institutions. By collaborating with reputable student travel providers, schools can unlock the transformative power of travel, enriching students’ learning journeys and broadening their horizons beyond the confines of the classroom.
