Christian, history teacher
Christian never dreamed she’d be able to travel with her students. “I work at a special needs school,” she explains. “Our students are high functioning, but not everything in a standard catalog tour makes sense for us.”
She researched a number of different companies and became frustrated that their itineraries were completely set. “Many of our kids are severely ADHD or on the autism spectrum. I didn’t like that we’d be locked in to spending a certain amount of time in each place—like several hours in a museum, for example. When I visited the Explorica website, I found that not only could I change the activities, but the prices were better, too.”
Christian used the Instant Tour Customizer to create her perfect trip, and began signing up students. “My rep helped me with recruitment, and the training trip gave me a sense for what to expect,” she says. “But the tour director is what really made my experience remarkable.”
“We were in Alcázar Castle,” she recalls, “and our tour director could tell the tile work and architecture wasn’t holding my group’s attention. So she switched gears and started talking about how the fortress was featured in “Game of Thrones.” The kids were enthralled and suddenly it became real to them where they were. In Madrid, my kids saw posters for a bull fight and began asking if they could go. I didn’t think we could do something like that on the fly, but our tour director arranged a tour of the arena for us.”
Christian says it’s the same on each of the Explorica tours she has led. “I love that the tour directors come up to you and say, ‘look, we might have extra time today. Was there something else you wanted to do here?’ Or ‘I think your students might enjoy this other thing instead.’ And they’re always right,” Christian says. “With Explorica, it’s a true partnership.”
Customize your own Explorica educational tour by visiting explorica.com/customize or call 1.888.310.7120.
I agree on the role of the tour director. I can’t say enough positive things about ours!