Before meeting with a Student Horizons tour development specialist, we suggest you have these things in mind:

• What is the purpose of the tour?
• Where do you wish to tour? And at what time of year?
• Can your tour’s dates be flexible? A day or two’s difference can result in a better price.
• What will be the duration of your tour?
• How many students are you looking at taking? If you are unsure, it can be helpful to have both a minimum and maximum number in mind.
• Will it be single gender or mixed gender?
• How many teachers will you need? We recommend a minimum of one teacher to every ten students.
• What is your school’s approval process, and how long does the approval process usually take?
• What is the budget?

Once we have worked out the basics with you, we will begin collaborating on your itinerary. Things your specialist will work on with you are:

• The area or areas to visit within your chosen destination
• Sightseeing activities
• How many fixtures, performances, workshops or coaching sessions to include
• What type of accommodation would be preferred (hotels, hostels, or a mixture), and what meals would you like to be included/pre-organised
• Costing the tour

Before your booking can go ahead, you will need to secure the support of your school’s Board of Trustees/Governors and senior leadership, in accordance with your school’s approval process. Student Horizons will provide any necessary supporting paperwork to streamline this process.

Once your tour is approved and you are happy with your proposed itinerary and quote, there are just a couple of things that need to be done to help get your tour confirmed:

• Spread the word! Your tour development specialist will organise an information evening for parents, students and teachers, and will rely on you to advertise the tour and get everyone excited! Families will be able to ask the Student Horizons specialist any questions they may have, and register their interest to give a more accurate idea of numbers. Your specialist will also notify families of the due date of their first deposit.
• When numbers are confirmed, all that remains to do to confirm your tour is to fill out a booking form and obtain the first non-refundable deposit from each travelling student.

Once booking is complete, your tour development specialist will hand the tour over to your Operations Officer who will begin making the necessary early bookings. Your Tour Coordinator will become your main point of contact throughout the rest of the organisational process, and will provide regular updates as bookings firm up.

Your Operations Officer will handle almost every aspect of organising your tour, but there are just a few things that will be required of you over the next few months:

• Collecting copies of passports for every person travelling on the tour, including staff
• Ensuring that any students travelling on international passports have the necessary visas
• Providing rooming lists dictating which students will be rooming together
• Organising the group’s transport to the airport on the day of departure
• Notifying us of any dietary requirements or medical concerns
• If you are travelling with a sports team or music group, your TC will need to know the standard of your group’s abilities, in order to line up the most competitive fixtures or appropriate school exchanges
• Music tours will need to provide an instrument list
• Providing t-shirt sizes if your group is ordering tour gear
• Ensuring that each deposit is paid to Student Horizons on time
• We will need two emergency contacts from the school, who will be contacted by Student Horizons in case of any incident occurring on tour

Shortly before departure, your TC will book in a meeting with you to hand over the Tour Manuals and answer any last minute questions.

• We recommend that everyone on the tour wear their tour polos (if applicable) and lanyards on any travel day
• If you have a Student Horizons Logistics Director travelling with you, they will meet you at the airport and help facilitate check in
• Your Logistics Director (if applicable) will handle all logistics during the tour, while pastoral care of the students will be the responsibility of the staff
• If you do not have a Logistics Director, the Tour Manual will have all the information and resources you need to see the tour through to a successful conclusion

At Student Horizons we are committed to providing the very best quality and personal service, and in order to ensure we meet this standard, we need your feedback.

• When you have returned from tour, your TC will send you two feedback forms, one for staff to complete and one for students. We greatly appreciate your help in getting these filled out.
• Your TC will also set up a debrief meeting shortly after your return, so you can discuss everything that did or didn’t go well on tour, and what you would change for next time.