GLOBAL SEMINARS Educational Tours

PLANNING - Table of Contents:

DESIGN (See Full Ten-Step Details Below)

BUDGETING

PAYMENTS

REQUIREMENTS

DESIGN - Ten Steps to a Successful Educational Tour

STEP ONE - Let Us Know Your General Interest

Simply send us an E-Mail or Fax (to 1-510-527-9390) introducing yourself and let us know:

The name of your school or organization.
The primary contact person for us at your school or organization (with their fax and email).
The general topic and possible cities or regions you wish to explore while traveling.
Your estimate of the minimum and maximum number of participants.
Your estimate of the minimum and maximum cost that might work for your participants.
A prioritized list of all possible blocks of time when we might schedule your tour.

Initial inquiries have been sent to Global Seminars anywhere from a year to a couple months prior to the arrival date. Obviously, the quality of the tour increases greatly when we have more time to prepare. Furthermore, many of the best or most cost-effective accommodations and many of the most popular itinerary components fill up months in advance - so you will have additional choices if you contact Global Seminars early.

STEP TWO - Global Seminars Will Respond

We will have some initial suggestions and more questions about your goals for the tour, the level and type of students likely to participate, etc.

STEP THREE - You Select Your Travel Agent

A travel agent in your home country will be helpful to you for:

determining to best possible current international airfare costs and available flight times,
making (aka blocking) your reservation,
visa processing,
travel insurance, and
possibly handling of payments to Global Seminars.

Global Seminars can suggest a travel agent in your home country based on our past experience. For instance, we have worked with some of the major international chains of student travel agencies such as STA and CIEE (Council Travel) as well as excellent country-specific Travel Agents (such as Scenic Travel in Singapore). The final selection of a Travel Agent is your decision and, for agencies willing to quote you and us international airfares at cost (without commission to the agent), Global Seminars will build a fee for them into the tour budget in return for their providing you all the services listed above.

STEP FOUR- Define the Role of Your Travel Agent

Your Travel Agent will inform you when payments are due by you. They will have their own requirements in order to satisfy international air carriers, etc. The three deadlines below

5% (prior to detailed itinerary development),
15% (two months prior to tour) and
80% (two weeks prior to tour)
are for the cost of the Ground Package (i.e. domestic costs within the country to be toured) to be provided by Global Seminars. These three payments can be made by you directly to Global Seminars or through your travel agent. You may wish to consult administrative and accounting officers in your organization to decide:

if you want your local Travel Agent in the role of intermediary (prime contractor) between your organization and Global Seminars - handling payments to Global Seminars and perhaps some of the initial or major negotiations with Global Seminars - or
if you want to purchase the Ground Package from Global Seminars directly and separately purchase international airfare and other services from your Travel Agent.

Global Seminars has worked happily both ways - but, in either case, much prefers that we can work directly with educators on the details of itinerary to speed communications and decisions.

STEP FIVE - We Agree on Basic Outline and Pricing

The Role of the Basic Outline: Through direct and frequent contact with your primary contact, Global Seminars will attempt to quickly guide you to a decision on the basic elements of your tour - enough elements to enable you to get school or organizational approvals and to successfully attract participants and gather the initial deposit.

The basic elements include:

the dates and cities to be included,
the level of housing, meals and domestic transportation to be included,
the educational strategy and a list of possible educational stops (listed in categories of very likely, somewhat likely or less likely to approve our visit), and
the major amusements or entertainment, if any, that are included in the budget.

Variable Tour Pricing: As you register participants and collect the 5% deposit from your organization or from participants you may need to announce to potential participants that the full tour cost will vary according to the number of participants (larger groups have a lower per person cost). Global Seminars will typically give you the tour cost at three levels, giving the maximum and minimum number of participants associated with each of the three levels. Alternatively, you can decide what the minimum possible group size is and use the pricing Global Seminars gives you for such a small group. Then as the group grows you will have collected more than enough funds to work with or refund, an easier task than seeking additional funds from your organization or participants later.

Inflating the Price You Announce and Collect: Several educators have found it useful to announce and collect a single and firm price slightly higher than what is required of them by Global Seminars and their Travel Agent. This then becomes a contingency fund should:

group size fall into a more expensive price category,
unexpected costs (such as injury or illness of any traveler),
exchange rates change, etc.

The unspent portion of this fund can be brought along by the group leader(s) and used to:

add to the meals or attractions during the tour or
to enable payment of gratuities (tips).

Group Size Considerations: You should keep in mind that there is usually room for 46-52 passengers in the larger coaches (plus one seat for Global Seminars staff). The closer you come to filling the coach the lower the average cost per participant (smaller or mini-buses are almost the same cost to charter as the largest coaches). On the other hand, if possible you should avoid a final group size that is only slightly larger than a full coach (or a multiple thereof), because this can increase transportation costs by necessitating an extra coach and underutilized coaches.

STEP SIX
Your 5% Deposit Launches Our Detailed Research

The more detailed research by Global Seminars on the specifics of your itinerary and negotiations with suppliers of housing, food and transportation cannot begin until after we have your 5% of the cost we have together determined for the group size projected. For bank transfer and refund information see Planning: Payments.

STEP SEVEN
We Agree on the Detailed Itinerary

This is a collaboration. The person at your school or organization who has been designated as our primary contact should try to be available in this period to respond quickly to our inquiries and make decisions as we provide you with options. Global Seminars will be making commitments and deposits on our end that often require quick decisions by all concerned. If you intend to make decisions by committee on your end - we ask that you design your process to enable these rapid decisions.

STEP EIGHT - 2 MONTHS PRIOR
You Send 15% (20% Total)

Two Months prior to the beginning of your tour, Global Seminars will need a name roster (with gender, underlined family name, nationality, passport number and date of birth and special dietary or disability requirements).

At this point we will have agreement on a Detailed Itinerary and many of the major costs of the tour must be paid to suppliers by Global Seminars. Minor itinerary changes often occur in the final two months prior to a tour as you or we have new ideas or as our educational collaborators (who often are volunteering their time) surprize us with scheduling or other issues.

At this point the group size should be determined closely enough that the final per participant cost will be known - although minor group size changes often occur in the final two months prior to a tour. For bank transfer and refund information see Planning: Payments.

STEP NINE - 2 WEEKS PRIOR
Full Payment Due (100% total)

Global Seminars must ask you not to fly and cannot begin your tour unless full payment is in our accounts and has cleared. For bank transfer and refund information see Planning: Payments.

Also at this point, two weeks prior to the tour, proof of full health and accident insurance, including policy numbers and contact information, to cover all travelers should be faxed to Global Seminars.

Also at this point, two weeks prior to the tour, the group escort should fax Global Seminars the Agreement and Medical Authorization forms for all travelers or, for groups over 20, a certified letter stating they have all such forms and will give them to Global Seminars immediately upon arrival. See Planning: Requirements.

STEP TEN - ENJOY YOUR TOUR!

Global Seminars will welcome your last minute ideas and requests throughout the tour - and your feedback - and will have all participants complete a detailed evaluation at the end - sharing the results with you so you can begin planning for future return trips.

Other Planning Topics: