September 03, 2010
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||
|
|
|
Keys to Saving on Educational Travel Twenty years ago, when educational travel was still in its infancy, the price of a tour seldom ranked high as a deciding factor for travelers. Museums, special-interest associations, and universities had tapped into a budding market that thirsted for the chance to "learn through travel." Early educational tour operators quickly settled on key components that justified higher prices: tour leadership by experts and scholars; detailed pre-trip preparation and orientation; and the inclusion of special events, themes, activities, and private entrée only available through their auspices. Today, with educational travel the fastest growing segment of a burgeoning leisure travel market, increasing competition brings expanding choices and more affordable options. Even a long-time player such as Smithsonian Associates, feeling the need to respond to the trend, offers three separate price levels for tours. Expert study leaders, pre-departure books and reading lists, private concerts, receptions with local artists and dignitaries, and behind-the-scenes access are the rewards to travelers on top-dollar Smithsonian International Tours. Mid- range Smithsonian Odyssey Tours offer expert tour leaders and pre-trip reading suggestions. Travelers on Smithsonian Museum Lover's Vacations, low-cost independent trips, receive an annotated booklist and a specially prepared introduction to a major museum at the destination. Key components mark the difference in price for Smithsonian Associates travelers, and they can for individual travelers as well. The next time you pine for an educational tour that withdraws more from your bank account than can justify the deposit to your store of knowledge, pick the components vital for you. Then follow these suggestions to find the key to a travel experience that satisfies both your brain and your budget. Looking for Expert Study Leaders and Guides? Savvy travelers book their own air and hotel, then add educational, guided tours on site. In Rome, for example, a nonprofit group called Scala Reale operates nine different walking tours led by American graduate students currently studying in the Italian capital. On a typical day, you can spend the morning combing the Colosseum and the Roman Forum with a young scholar completing his dissertation on Julius Caesar; an afternoon with an art history student, searching out all of Caravaggio's works in Rome; and an evening strolling through Baroque Rome in the company of Scala Reale founder Tom Rankin, an American architect who has lived in the city since 1991. Your cost: A $20 registration fee to join Scala Reale entitles you to participate in a two-hour Orientation Walk. Half-day walking itineraries cost $45.50; three-hour thematic walking tours are $36 per person. Services similar to Scala Reale exist in Venice and Florence, as well as in other major European cities. In comparison, Scala Reale's full slate of tours with experts in Rome's history, art, and culture--and a budget, one- week hotel and air package (check out www.centralholidays.com for a good option)--will cost $1,150 in the off-season. Focusing on Pre-Trip Preparation? Compile a pre-trip reading list with the help of Longitude Books. This web and direct mail-based bookseller contracts with most of the top nonprofit travel programs to provide the annotated reading lists they send to their travelers. Plan a trip to the Galápagos Islands, for example, and Longitude's web site will pull up a reading list of 41 books and two maps, everything from naturalists' guides and tourist guidebooks to novels to Charles Darwin's own works. Your cost: Longitude grants special discounts (usually 15 percent) to book purchasers traveling with their nonprofit travel program partners. Buy their recommended package for a destination (for the Galápagos, five books and a map for $94, including shipping), however, and the price will automatically include a 15 percent discount. Value Private Entrée and Special Visits Above All Else? Find travel agents who operate specialized tours. With air commissions no longer a reliable income source, travel agents are turning into tour operators, specializing in destinations, establishing relationships with the best ground operators and local guides, and developing the personal connections to put their travelers behind the scenes. Alexandria, Virginia-based Judy Borisky crafts music tours to Prague. On a typical tour, her travelers enjoy a private violin concert at Prague's art nouveau Municipal House; a private concert by a well-known Czech maestro playing rare violins--one of which belonged to Mozart--in a 10th-century monastery; and a concert of music from composers who perished in the Holocaust, performed at a Prague synagogue rarely visited by tourists. Your cost: By eliminating an extra middleman and forgoing mass mailing promotions (most agents market to an established customer base), travel agents can avoid extra costs that are typically passed on to the tour participant. Borisky's Prague tour, despite its many concerts and performances, comes in at only $2,750 for land and air. Find other travel agents who specialize by using the search engines maintained by the American Society of Travel Agents and the Institute of Certified Travel Agents. In Search of a Full-Scale Study Program? Book directly with educational institutions. Kellogg College, which encompasses Oxford University's Department of Continuing Education, operates Oxford Seminars for more than half a dozen American institutions--including Smithsonian Associates, University of California at Berkeley, and Florida State University--offering the chance to take one- to three-week classes from Oxford lecturers. But Kellogg College also runs its own "Oxford Experience," week-long sessions offering similar courses to overseas travelers. Your cost: If your heart's set on studying a specific topic, you'll be stuck with one of the higher-priced options. Forgo the special excursions and events of the US-sponsored programs and allow a one-week taste of the Oxford life to fulfill your dream of studying in the same hallowed halls as W.H. Auden, Albert Einstein, and Lewis Carroll, and you can cut the cost of an Oxford seminar to $1,158. TRAVEL LEARNING: STUDY GUIDE - American Society of Travel Agents - Judy Borisky CTC - Institute of Certified Travel Agents - Longitude Books - Scala Reale - Smithsonian Study Tours - The Oxford Experience July 2002 |
Home | Hotel Reviews | Thumbs-up | Thumbs-Down | Breaking News
Podcasts | Travel Deals | Travel Gear | Travel DVDs | Travel Links | FREE Travel Brochures
Rudy Maxa's TravelerTM is a trademark and SavTrav© is a registered trademark of Rudolph J. Maxa Jr.
©2007 SavTrav Productions, Inc. All rights reserved.