Stay connected – Communication on tour

One of the hallmarks of a successful student travel experience is a sense of connection.

Directors feeling connected and supported by their planning team

Chaperones and parents feeling informed and involved

Students feeling excited to share memories with their friends

That sense of connection doesn’t happen by accident – it’s created when everyone involved makes communication a priority. Here are some tried and true ways we use communication to connect on tour:

On the ground

Keeping directors, chaperones and tour guides connected is incredibly important – whether you’re communicating a specific need, an update to the itinerary or a last-minute change. We love adding helpful apps to our communication arsenal. One that we use regularly is our BRT Moments that Matter App. One part messaging tool, one part memory sharing platform, and one part traveler tracking tool, our app allows everyone on the ground to stay on the same page throughout the tour. Another app many of our clients leverage is  Remind. This program is often used by directors to communicate with both chaperones on tour and parents back home.

Back at home

Parents and family with students on tour want more than emergency contact details – they want in on the fun and love receiving pictures, videos and updates along the way. We’ve seen school groups communicate with folks back home in several ways, ranging from the latest apps to good old fashioned email chains. In the weeks leading up to the trip, we encourage groups to decide if they want to communicate via apps like Remind or GroupMe, simple text message groups or old school email lists – whatever works best for the group. Parents and family can also use our BRT Moments that Matter App to see trip photos as students and chaperones post them – it’s a fun way for family back home to feel like they’re part of the experience.

In their pockets

While it’s important to teach students to be  travelers, not tourists, we know the quickest ways for students to share those tour selfies is through social media. We always offer guidance on cell phone usage while on tour, but we also want these students to make incredible memories together and to be able to capture, share and post them. Whether they’re sharing via an app like our Moments that Matter app or on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, we know that those captured moments last forever.

Whatever communication method your group chooses, the most important thing is to discuss and decide how everyone is going to share information while on tour. When everyone is on the same page and feels supported, involved and equipped, travel magic happens.

Stay tuned for our next post , where we’ll be sharing some of the magic that’s happening on this year’s spring break tours around the country!