SETO ARTICLES

With thanks to Camps International CEO and Co-Founder Stuart Rees Jones for this article.  

Empowering Students to Transform the Environment: Ethical Journeys with Impact

In today's world, it is crucial to equip younger generations with the skills, knowledge, and empathy needed to address our environmental challenges. Ethical Journeys with Impact, an innovative approach spearheaded by an organisation committed to environmental stewardship, reshapes perceptions and empowers students, schools, and parents. Camps International is nurturing a new generation of environmentally conscious individuals by providing expeditions that focus on ecological stresses and biodiversity.

Redefining Educational Expeditions

These expeditions revolutionise educational expeditions, traditionally detached from the natural world, by offering a fresh perspective and striving to immerse students in meaningful experiences within natural environments, fostering a deep appreciation for the beauty and interconnectedness of the ecosystem. Through hands-on activities, such as reforestation, wildlife conservation, and sustainable development projects, students profoundly understand the environmental challenges we face.

Research consistently highlights the myriad benefits of out-of-school learning experiences, such as expeditions, for students. Numerous studies have demonstrated that these immersive activities profoundly impact students' cognitive, social, and emotional development. Participating in expeditions fosters critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and a deeper understanding of complex ecological systems. Moreover, research indicates that out-of-school learning promotes increased self-confidence, resilience, and a sense of personal responsibility towards the environment. By stepping outside the confines of traditional classrooms and engaging in real-world experiences, students gain a unique perspective that broadens their horizons and nurtures a lifelong passion for environmental conservation.

Transforming Perceptions about the Environment

Many students embark on these expeditions with limited exposure to the fragility of ecosystems and their connection to human actions. However, through immersive experiences, they witness the consequences of deforestation, habitat loss, and pollution. This transformative encounter compels students to re-evaluate their behaviours and become catalysts for change within their communities and can reshape environmental perceptions.

Skills and Knowledge for Environmental Resilience

Student expeditions and volunteering is not just about inspiring awareness; it equips participants with practical skills and knowledge to address environmental challenges. Through expert guidance and hands-on training, students understand sustainable practices, ecosystem management, and the importance of biodiversity. These skills extend beyond the expeditions, empowering students to implement real change in their local communities.

As a social enterprise close to the environmental cause, Camps International is able to play a crucial role in raising awareness about environmental challenges and the importance of resilience. Their educational programs under the umbrella of Real World Studies, acting as an additional resource for children to prepare for their on-ground experience at expeditions and prepares them to collaborate with local communities to promote environmental literacy. By empowering individuals with knowledge and skills, such enterprises foster a culture of environmental stewardship amongst the youth and adults alike.

Addressing Ecological and Biodiversity Stresses

Recognising the urgency of environmental stewardship, expeditions help students engage in reforestation projects, research, and collaboration with local communities. Through these initiatives, students contribute to preserving and restoring fragile ecosystems. Beyond conservation efforts, these experiences help improve cross-cultural understanding, and global citizenship. By immersing students in diverse cultures and communities, these journeys enable participants to appreciate the interconnectedness of environmental, social, and economic factors. This holistic approach solidifies their commitment to sustainable practices and responsible decision-making.

Empowering Gen Z: Nurturing Empathy and Self-Confidence

The younger Gen Z-ers have garnered significant attention for their unyielding commitment to addressing social issues head-on. Their refusal to accept passive ignorance has demonstrated the power of speaking up for peers and advocating for those who cannot. Young adults gain empathy by engaging in real-life experiences and immersing themselves in local communities. Encouraging children to support those in need fosters resilience and self-awareness and strengthens family bonds.

Through participating in experiences that involve helping others, young adults develop a genuine appreciation for their privileges. This newfound gratitude translates into a willingness to positively impact the world around them. By exposing children to these transformative experiences, parents play a vital role in nurturing empathy and shaping their children's outlook on the planet. Acknowledged for their efforts boosts their self-confidence and self-worth and reinforces their belief in their ability to effect meaningful change. This sense of satisfaction derived from making a difference further empowers them to continue playing an active role in society.

Conclusion

As parents and educators, it is crucial to support Gen Z in their quest to make a positive impact. By providing opportunities for real-life experiences and encouraging empathy, we equip young adults with the tools to navigate moral dilemmas and become compassionate leaders. We can nurture a generation that embraces social responsibility and works collaboratively towards a brighter future for all.

Ethical Journeys with Impact is driving a paradigm shift in how we approach environmental education. Camps International is nurturing a new generation of environmental leaders by empowering students to transform their perceptions, acquire practical skills, and address ecological stresses and biodiversity loss. As we confront the challenges of the 21st century, initiatives like Ethical Journeys with Impact provide hope and inspiration for a sustainable and thriving future. Let us embrace these transformative experiences and empower our youth to safeguard the planet they will inherit.

Using a student educational tour operator can offer several benefits, such as:

1. Expertise and experience: An educational tour operator has the expertise and experience in organising educational trips for students, ensuring a smooth and memorable experience.

2. Safety and security: A tour operator can provide safety and security measures, such as emergency support, risk management, and travel insurance, to ensure the well-being of students on their trip.

3. Convenience: A tour operator can handle the details and logistics of the trip, freeing up teachers and staff to focus on educating and leading the students.

4. Customisable itineraries: A tour operator can work with schools to create a customised itinerary that meets their specific educational and budget needs.

5. Cost-effective: A tour operator can negotiate group rates for transportation, accommodation, and activities, making the trip more cost-effective for the school.

Overall, using a student educational tour operator can enhance the educational experience for students and provide peace of mind for teachers and staff.

An analysis of younger travellers sheds light on the need for businesses to be more integrated with digital technologies, with many takeaways that Student Educational Tour Operators could implement.

Younger travelers demand a more integrated digital journey, and the industry will be forced to respond. They will accelerate the digital way of life and popularize fringe technologies by 2027. Many are frequent travelers who are ‘self-service first,’ and they embrace biometrics and digital passes to benefit from travel efficiency and convenience.

Digital identities, border crossings, and mobile platforms offer ample opportunities for younger digital native travelers who are familiar with using their mobile phone as a remote control for travel; market share will increase as digital natives become a more significant proportion of the passenger demographic, creating a seismic shift towards ‘digital first.’

According to the WTTC 2022 Global Trends report, younger travelers were the first to drive industry recovery and steer post-pandemic travel trends.

There are encouraging signs toward ‘mobile-first travel.’ Apple Wallet’s support for digital identity and mobile driving licenses/US State IDs for travel marked an important milestone. The digital identities that underpin Digital Travel are part of a much bigger ecosystem, which relies on the next generation of self-service technology infrastructure, featuring integrated cloud, mobile, and biometric-enabled self-service touchpoints for check-in, bagdrop, border control, and boarding. The combination of digital identities with this infrastructure provides a seamless, touchless, and personalized travel experience while allowing travelers to remain firmly in control of their data.

Governments, companies, and standards bodies have been working hard to create the next generation of self-service travel infrastructure. SITA leads in delivering solutions where ‘your face is your passport and boarding pass’ and ‘your mobile is your remote control for travel,’ in a new paradigm underpinned by digital identity. 

https://www.sita.aero/innovation/meet-the-megatrends/index.html

Business name: 
Educational Journeys

Brief summary of your business?

Educational Journeys is Australian owned educational travel agency that has over 20 years of experience in creating curriculum linked student study tours to destinations around the globe. We believe in creating bespoke trips that are hassle-free, the best value, and well-organised.

Which destinations do you specialise in?

We have a global network of travel partners and the expertise and experience in both international and domestic destinations. With the ability to fully customise an itinerary to suit our clients educational needs, we specialise in meeting our clients educational goals, wherever that may be.

What are the advantages to your business as a SETO member?

Not only do SETO share our values in the importance of Educational Travel, being part of a community and governing body that represents the industry provides our business the opportunity to connect with like minded organisations. We are proud to be part of an organisation that is advocating for our industry, something that has been missing for so long and are excited to see SETO’s growth and the positive impacts that will follow for our industry.

What was the greatest challenges to your business in 2022?

There is no denying that we faced some of the most difficult years in travel with the pandemic.  We have navigated many challenges but I think the greatest would be that many industry professionals left, taking with them a wealth of experience and knowledge. 

Consumer travel forecasts, where are your customers enquiring to travel?
Europe or Australia

Looking forward what are you excited about over the next 12 months?

Our focus over the next 12 months is going to be on improving customer experience through implementation of new policies and technologies.

Travel is its own form of education, which makes it one of the most important experiences a student can have.

Whether flying across the ocean, driving across state lines or visiting a big city nearby, travel can open a whole new world for our students, especially when done through school with a great teacher and expert tour operator.

From seeing different cultures to meeting new people and learning about history firsthand, student travel has a wealth of benefits that personal anecdotes and professional studies can attest to. There’s nothing like experiential learning, and travel provides the greatest experiences of all.

Let’s take a look at some of the many benefits of student travel.

Teaches independence. For many students, school trips are their main opportunity to experience what it’s like to be away from their family for an extended period of time. Even in a group of chaperones and fellow students, school trips let youth be a different version of themselves while taking on some personal responsibility. Travel is a great first-step in stepping out of your comfort zone, preparing kids for life after school.

Cultural awareness. Travel takes students out of their bubble and exposes them to all kinds of differences. For some students, simply seeing people experiencing homelessness firsthand is an eye-opening culture shock. For others, a trip out of the big city to experience rural life is novel. And of course, traveling internationally is lifechanging. Countless students have talked about how a school trip gave them more compassion for those struggling, helped them see how diverse other countries are (America’s not the only melting pot), and put life into perspective. Reading books and looking at pictures simply can’t do other cultures justice.

Critical thinking. Related to the above, seeing other cultures first-hand can help debunk myths and stereotypes students may have learned, which in turn increases their skepticism toward future falsities they’ll come across. While the internet connects us to other cultures in ways we never thought possible, the rise of misinformation means critical thinking is more important than ever before.

Improved academic performance through first-hand learning. Study after study has shown that travel increases intellectual curiosity and a willingness to learn and explore. Student travel also helps reinforce classroom material with experiential learning. If you’re a teacher, a museum trip can easily tie into something you’ve already taught (or plan to teach) this schoolyear, not to mention all the activities and discussion you can have once you’ve returned. No matter what your “learning style” is, experiential learning hits harder and lasts longer.

Creates collaboration. By nature of being together on a long trip, students are bound to form relationships and will likely end up experiencing things together in small groups. Lifelong memories will form, they’ll learn how to work and live with different personalities, and those relationships will stick when you’re back in the classroom (or band room, or choir room).

Builds trust. If a student is agreeing to go on a trip you’re leading, chances are they already trust you at least a little bit—but there’s nothing like the bonds that form through travel. Students will have to fully trust that you know what you’re doing, and may come to you when feeling homesick or dealing with bullying, sickness or other issues. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that, but the silver lining is that this provides a chance for you to impart wisdom and empathy to developing youths.

Lifelong memories. While not directly related to education, forming positive memories in association with student travel will help students think more positively about school in general. And besides, memories are their own reward.

There are far more benefits of student travel we haven’t listed here, but just to back this all up with some personal testimony, a 2019 post-tour student survey from EF Educational Tours found that:

93% of student travelers said their tour expanded their knowledge of the world

89% of travelers said they understand more about new people, places and cultures

88% of travelers said they grew more confident and independent

92% of travelers said they discovered more about themselves as a result of their tour

If 9 out of 10 students are seeing benefits like this from student travel, it’s clearly a critical part of our youth’s education.

Resource: https://teachtravel.org/2022/09/07/benefits-of-student-travel/

Business name: 

Student Horizons

Where are you located?

Sunshine Coast, Queensland and Auckland, New Zealand.

Brief summary of your business?

Student Horizons is a leading educational school travel company, providing life-shaping educational, music and sporting experiences in Australia and around the world. Our unifying purpose is to enrich the lives of young people, delivering “experience for life”.

Which destinations do you specialise in?

Student Horizons specialises in delivering school trips for students and teachers across Australia and around the globe. Popular short-haul destinations are New Zealand and Fiji and popular long-haul destinations include the USA, the UK and Europe. Domestically, Canberra is of course a rite of passage and far north Queensland is hard to beat with two world heritage sites. We are also seeing strong interest in our Outback tours.

  What are the advantages to your business as a SETO member?

SETO membership brings a sense of belonging for the people in our business. We are already seeing a collegiality among members and this no doubt will assist with general wellbeing. As a board member of SETO, I can personally speak of the growing friendships I have made already with likeminded, passionate educational travel veterans. We have all been through some hard times and hence the collegiality that SETO fosters for the people in our sector is particularly valuable.

What have been the greatest challenges to your business in 2022?

The start of the year was difficult with the Omicron wave impacting confidence but in Term 2 we started to see a surge in tour enquiries and the enquiries have kept on coming. Despite strong enquiry levels the selling environment has remained challenging with low air capacity and high fuel prices resulting in high airfares and overall tour prices that are not attainable for many schools.

A lack of people in our business has also made it challenging in being able to keep up with the high level of enquiries.

Consumer travel forecasts, where are your customers enquiring to travel?

We are observing elevated levels of enquiries across the following international destinations: New Zealand, Fiji, USA, UK and Europe, Japan, Vietnam and Cambodia, and domestically Canberra and Far North Queensland.

How has your business changed and adapted since the global pandemic hit?

Like most businesses we had no choice but to reduce our cost base to a tiny % of pre-pandemic costs to survive. This unfortunately meant we had to relinquish offices and let go of many amazing people.

We adapted our product offering, developing new domestic educational products for Student Horizons with a focus on Canberra, Far North Queensland and the Outback. We are particularly proud of a unique “experiential careers program” we developed that received exceptional feedback from clients, partners and suppliers alike. We will retain these domestic offerings within our product portfolio that will sit alongside our international experiences.

Student Horizons will remain a leaner business with a refined focus on technology. We continue to add value to our integrated in-house sales, product, operations and client cloud platform. These improvements are helping us to simplify processes, gain efficiencies, save time and costs and add value to our client’s overall experience.

Looking forward what are you excited about over the next 12 months?

Quite simply we are looking forward to getting back to doing what we love. We have multiple school groups travelling to a raft of destinations domestically and around the world in 2023. We also expect some late international bookings for next year now that most schools and school associations have relaxed internal travel restrictions.

We are anticipating unprecedented levels of new enquiries in Term 1 next year if the last two terms are anything to go by. There is evidently a strong desire from teachers and school leadership to be once again offering experiential travel opportunities to their students as part of a holistic education.

Based on existing bookings made over the last 12 months and future demand forecasts we are thrilled to be finally able to look at staff recruitment in 2023.

On a personal note, I am excited to be back out there leading some of our groups as Logistics Director to Fiji, New Zealand and Canberra.

The fire is back in the belly. Bring on 2023.

Jamie Wansey - Founder, Student Horizons

School expeditions and learning outside the classroom are all designed to challenge students on a physical, social, morale and mental level.  It is not only an inspiring and collaborative time with their friends but allows students to engage in global issues introduced in the classroom in real-life situations.  

The greatest opportunity for schools and teachers to empower young adults to give back is by incorporating learning outside the classroom programmes that encourage them to interact with local communities and develop essential life skills by exploring meaningful experiences overseas. Life skills and teaching our students to become responsible and contributing citizens are important - and involving young adults in experiential travel is an excellent way of teaching our future leaders the ropes in a guided and facilitated manner.

Why immersive school expeditions?

Authentic Experiences

Going ‘off grid’, away from the tourist trail coupled with authenticity from meaningful local interactions makes an immersive school expedition impactful. This, along with educating student travellers on cultural differences, engenders mutual respect between travellers and hosts and allows students to challenge their perspectives.

Meaningful Contributions

When young adults are given the opportunity to help build public amenities, plant trees or find practical solutions to ease food shortages, they learn how to overcome real-world challenges. They also gain first-hand experience of how their personal actions can contribute to the sustainable improvement of communities and the environment.

Creating Global Citizens

To be an effective Global Citizen, young adults must be flexible and proactive. Immersive expeditions provide the environment to develop life skills such as problem solving, decision making, critical thinking, communication and teamwork. 

Personal Development Journey

They enable students to step outside of their comfort zone, gaining extra-curricular experience highly regarded by universities and employers. In addition, the health benefits are vast; improved positive mental health and wellbeing, greater resilience and self-awareness and lessened anxiety and stress for instance.

Camps International understand the need to provide these opportunities for your students and are passionate about delivering exceptional immersive school expeditions that connect you and your and students to the real world in destinations such as Kenya, Borneo, Cambodia and Peru.

While Camps International work towards achieving a number of UN Sustainable Development goals through sustainable projects, opportunities are abundant for students and teachers to make a difference, and the advantages are numerous, both for the traveller and the global community.

 

"Going on expedition has completely changed my global perspectives. It has made me a lot more determined to search for ways to help other people and go out of my comfort zone with new experiences.” – Emily Betteridge, 2019 travelling student to Kenya

 

About Camps International

Having operated for 20 years, Camps International offer life-changing school expeditions at their permanent camps across seven countries, in Africa, Latin America and Asia. Since its inception, 30,000 students and teachers have been on expeditions, working across 400 projects, impacting more than 120,000 lives across the globe. By participating in these expeditions, students and teachers develop essential real-life skills such as collaboration, decision making, analysis, and moral and cultural responsibility while developing a stronger sense of belonging to a sustainable cause for their future.

More information visit: www.campsinternational.com.au

Business name: Educating Adventures 

Where are you located? Melbourne, Australia and Queenstown, New Zealand

Brief summary of your business?  Educating Adventures works with schools to prepare tomorrow's global citizens, by providing bespoke international travel experiences for students. We offer a wide variety of tours tailored to inspire and educate students, with focus areas such as STEM, Arts, History, Cultural, Ski, and more - all mixed in with lots of fun! 

Which destinations do you specialise in? New Zealand, USA, Europe, Asia

What are the advantages to your business as a SETO member? Everyone coming together to work for the greater good of the industry and create a voice for our niche. 

What have been the greatest challenges to your business in 2022? Flight costs, staffing, the strength of the USD, and re-establishing some of our overseas relationships, especially in the US, have been challenging. Oh, and the high cost of hotels in NYC! 

Consumer travel forecasts, where are your customers enquiring to travel? New Zealand, USA, Europe – some schools are very keen to return to travel, whereas others will wait until 2024 or 2025. I imagine 2024 will finally feel like a semi-normal year again. It would be good to see Western Australia returning to school travel too – I think they are being a little more cautious.

How has your business changed and adapted since the global pandemic hit? Less staff, flexible working, reduced costs etc. Less face-to-face meetings and greater use of Teams and Zoom for meetings and information nights, which gives parents and students the opportunity to join in from the comfort of their home and reduces our carbon footprint, a win-win.

Looking forward, what are you excited about over the next 12 months? We’re excited about facilitating incredible overseas experiences for students again, as they’ve missed out on so much. I really admire the Principals who are leading the way, allowing and encouraging their students and staff to take the opportunities offered by overseas tours again. I recently visited Europe with my family, and it was so exciting to be travelling again and experiencing different cultures. Happily, none of our flights were delayed and no luggage was lost!

Business name: Estilo Sport Travel 
 
Where are you located? Northern Beaches NSW.
 
Brief summary of your business? 
We are a bespoke group operator, with all Estilo tours customised to suit the requirements of each group. Our staff specialise in groups travelling to participate in a particular activity. Whether it be sport, academic or service, staff from Estilo can organise a tour that meets all of our client requirements. 
 
Which destinations do you specialise in? 
Pre pandemic passengers with Estilo travelled to all four corners of the globe. Post pandemic, we have found most tour groups favour destinations closer to home, including Fiji and New Zealand. In April 2023, we will send tours to New Zealand, Fiji, Europe and the USA for sport, drama and academic purposes.
 
What are the advantages to your business as a SETO member? 
As a member of SETO, Estilo Travel can rely on the expertise and support of industry professionals. Financially, we are accountable for client payments and our staff can rely on industry leaders for advice and direction when required.
 
What have been the greatest challenges to your business in 2022? 
In 2022, we have found supply to be a major hurdle. Pre 2020, flight costs would remain quite stable, with passenger amendments completed swiftly and inexpensively. We are finding in 2022, with greater passenger demand, increases in group size to be a challenge to accommodate. Unfortunately, the pandemic forced the closure of some reputable international suppliers, some of which we have been using for over 10 years!
 
Consumer travel forecasts, where are your customers enquiring to travel? 
We expect the South Pacific (New Zealand and Fiji) to be busier than ever in 2023
 
How has your business changed and adapted since the global pandemic hit? 
Our head count has decreased since the start of 2020. We had developed an outstanding team of travel consultants, specialising in sport, service and academic. With travel now resuming, we are in the process of rehiring extra staff to work with our existing and future clients. 
 
Looking forward what are you excited about over the next 12 months? 
With international travel now back in full swing, staff from Estilo are looking forward to working with our existing and potential clients in assisting them with their next tour.

Business name: World Challenge 

 

Where are you located? 

Melbourne is our Australian HQ, supporting our World Challenge representatives across the country. We’re also fortunate to be part of a global World Challenge team with a UK HQ just outside London and a wider Travelopia Group with offices and staff across the globe. 

Brief summary of your business? 

Founded in 1987 and incorporated in Australia in 2003, World Challenge understands the many varied needs of educators and students when developing trips, so we offer a very wide range of educational travel options, including expeditions, curriculum tours, sport tours and learning service journeys. 

We recognise that these trips are often amongst the first that young people undertake without family, and so our mission is to deliver truly life enriching experiences that will stay with them forever.

We’re committed to providing the most secure financial and physical safety assurances available, as demonstrated by our legacy of accreditations, awards, and positive customer reviews, and are committed to the important journey of travelling in such a way that ensures a brighter future for both people and planet.

Which destinations do you specialise in?

Australia, New Zealand and a further 40 or so countries throughout Asia, Europe, North and South/Central America and Africa. 

Have you won any awards or had any special recognition acknowledgment of your business?

Of all the achievements we’ve enjoyed, we’re probably most proud of our journey to becoming climate positive. It’s been a long and arduous journey to this point, but certainly an important one that we’re all very committed to continuing.  

What are the advantages to your business as a SETO member?

As a member there’s a real sense of ‘being stronger together!’ The world (and the world of educational travel) has changed significantly over the past few years, making SETOs main pillars – Governance, Advocacy and Education – more important than ever before. 

What have been the greatest challenges to your business in 2022?

Recruitment. Sadly, many people left the industry given the challenges of the past few years. However, it’s also been very pleasing to see more excellent candidates appearing as we’ve built back over the past few months. 

Consumer travel forecasts, where are your customers enquiring to travel?

Enquiries have really increased significantly in the past six months. Previously almost all enquiries were for Expeditions within Australia, but now there are many varied enquiries, particularly for Curriculum Tours to Europe, Sports Tours to New Zealand and of course Expeditions too many different parts of Asia.

How has your business changed and adapted since the global pandemic hit?

We’ve really worked very hard on our overall proposition, developing significant capability to deliver Curriculum and Sports Tours alongside our Expeditions and Learning Service Journeys, together with the systems and processes to enable this. We have a new bespoke reservation system enabling a real breadth of trips, a custom Learning Management System to deliver educational outcomes and many new partners around the world.

Looking forward what are you excited about over the next 12 months?

Student Travel is what excites and unites us all, so it’s great to be back operating trips – bring it on!