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10 Tips for planning a school trip or sports tour

Whether you're a first time party leader or an old-hat, there are some pitfalls to be avoided when planning a tour. Here are the Energy Travel 10 tips to planning a trip abroad.

Energy Travel is a new company specialising in Ski and Sports tours for schools, clubs and groups. We may be new, but our staff have years of experience helping groups to go away on successful tours across the globe. We’ve picked up a few tips along the way, so whether you are a first time party leader or just want to check that you’ve thought of everything, here is our 10-step guide to things that you might want to consider when planning a trip away:

Timing – check your school calendar

If this is a new trip or a one-off, make sure it doesn’t clash with an existing trip. Does the Geography department always go away at Easter, does the ski trip happen every February? Healthy group sizes help with the price and the atmosphere on tour so try and find an empty week of the calendar.

Avoid exams periods?

If you want older children to go away then the tour might have to happen away from exam study periods. Summer and Autumn are perfect times of the year away from exams. If you are looking for a tour in the Spring then perhaps aim this at younger age groups.

Get permission first

It may sound obvious but planning a trip takes time and effort. We’re hear to support you from planning until departure but it’s best to get the all-clear before you begin. If you need to present options to the Head Teacher or Head of Department in order to get the sign-off, contact us and we can prepare a full presentation for you.

Letter of interest vs sign-up letter

There’s no set path to follow when launching the tour. For first time or one-off tours, a letter of interest can work as a good barometer and keep some details vague whilst you test the water. Alternatively, a tour launch letter sent blindly, could fall flat. Just remember that people may say yes to the letter of interest but until they confirm their place with the payments of a deposit, they’re only theoretically coming on the trip.

Payment plan

The great advantage of school trips is that you can plan them well in advance of departure. There’s usually a deposit payment to make at the start which is a set-fee but from then on, you can set up a payment plan that works for pupils and parents. Advertising a trip for £500 may sound daunting to some whereas £50 a month sound much more feasible. So long as it is clear to understand and doesn’t change.

6. ABTA/ATOL/Covid

It’s a good idea to get a variety of quotes from different specialist travel companies. The only pre-requisite is that these companies are ABTA members, this gives financial safety to the school, and ultimately the parents and pupils too. If you are heading away by air then the company will need an Atol license which guards against airline failure. Right now, it’s also worth checking through a company’s Covid guarantee and what it means in practice.

7. Parent version of quote

Organising a trip is no small undertaking and whilst word-of-mouth can get pupils and parents excited, let the travel company help you promote the trip by providing letter templates, posters or even a parent version of the proposal full of images and links. This will allow parents and pupils to buy into the trip and be more willing to sign up.

8. Launch event online or in person

After a year of living online, perhaps the days are gone when parents would have to come into the school for a trip launch or pre-departure presentation. Whilst these may return (and some parents will always want to ask questions in person) the ability to launch a trip with an online presentation makes things convenient for you and for parents and pupils. Your tour operator will prepare the presentation, you can add some key slides of your own and then in 30 mins, the tour will be launched with images, videos and a Q&A. Bingo!

9. Collect a good first deposit – stops drop-outs

Hopefully all your group is fully invested in the tour but if you only ask for a small deposit, some of the fickler members of the group may drop out. We have heard of trips where one popular girl dropped out when she was picked for a county sports team but because she had dropped out, another 10 girls dropped out too! This can devastate the trip and require a price increase to cover the fixed costs. A higher deposit stops people dropping out.

10. Get names and details as per passports from the off!

By the time you launch the trip, there may have letters, a presentation as well as questions from parents before or after school. As such, it’s much easier to request information in one go, right at the start. Make sure you collect full names, as per their passport (through the years we’ve come across kids who didn’t even know their official name) and ask everyone if they have a valid passport. It’s also worth checking if you have any foreign nationals in your group, if so they may need a Visa (We’ve seen teachers have to stay behind with children who weren’t allowed through airport security, the parents hadn’t understood Visa entries, and whilst this can usually be sorted within 24 hours, it divides the group, costs time, money and is incredibly stressful for everyone).

There are multiple elements to planning a school trip, these are just 10 of them but hopefully they help you avoid some of the pitfalls we have witnessed over the years. Happy planning!

Published: Friday 02 July 2021