GO Educational Tours’ priority is the student and the experience he/she will get from their travels. We train our GO Leaders to be student focused so that their travel experience is continually enriched.
Our itineraries are well balanced. We don’t try to fit everything in a few days to justify the cost. An overwhelming schedule can be counter productive and lower the retention factor. It has been our experience that most tours return with a lower satisfaction rate when too many sites and attractions have been scheduled. The pace of a tour should be good enough to avoid lulls and optimize transit time while taking into consideration the personality of the student group.
One thing we like to avoid is having to leave when the students’ interest is fully engaged. Let’s say, for example, there an additional wreath laying at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery, is it worth rushing to the next appointment? Sometimes its best to stay and live that moment and then our GO Leaders will adapt the schedule to the changed timing.
Is it worth cutting time at the Jefferson memorial to get to the next memorial? Having that flexibility and adaptability on tour is key to a successful tour. It makes sense and it is very appreciated.
We keep this in mind and it is part of our training for our GO Leaders: adaptability, flexibility and understanding all for the benefit of the students- it is the students’ tour after all.
The secret to a great school trip starts with a smile.