5 reasons you should always rely on a trustworthy student tour company for your special journeys
Travel to unknown places, to foreign lands and distinguished cultures, opportunities to experiment with historic traditions and taste new flavors, are some of the finer experiences we all look forward to, when we visit other countries. The principal purpose of a tourist is to live a unique experience, while learning thoroughly from the hidden wonders that we discover in unknown locales.
Student travels are often limited by time constraints, and it’s important that we rely on professional guides, to find organized and effective ways to navigate cities and countries. If you want to visit Europe, there exist many travel agencies and tour operators that specialise in organizing your trips, plans and transfers to your preferred destinations. Europe Incoming is one of the most sought-after travel companies to specialise in the domain of student travel.
If you’re an educator considering leading a trip and have done any research on the web, you’ve probably encountered some discussion of the problems associated with premium group travel companies. You know that there are many options, and it’s natural to be unsure if your preferred travel partner company is the right fit for your experiential travel program.
Which is why we’re bringing you a thorough guide on all you need, to ensure you have an excellent student travel experience. Imagine your students on tour, having fun, and asking great questions, piqued by curiosity and desire – to learn more, absorb more and evolve more.
When you decide to partner with an educational travel company, you aren’t simply picking a travel agent to get you to your destination and back home again; your choice entails much more than that. You’re entrusting many students with a priceless takeaway – “a trip of a lifetime”. It’s important that you place this responsibility in the able hands of a company that should care about your group’s wellbeing every bit as much as you do.
The trust factor
It’s the trust that consumers have in a brand that is the key differentiator that makes or breaks a travel supplier’s reputation. Less obvious, however, are the brands that engender greater consumer loyalty, less price sensitivity and more positive word of mouth. Europe Incoming is one such travel company, that inspires greater confidence, owing to its peerless track record and stellar repute in the domain of student travel.
Brand trust is more important than ever as the marketplace continues to expand globally and transparency is on the rise, with most prospects seeking reliability as one of the primary parameters to make an educated choice, when it comes to student travel. Where once you were only competing in a local market, now, travel companies find themselves pitted against hundreds of brands worldwide and customers rank your every encounter.
The best of the lot focus on people, not products and when they make a mistake, they are quick to acknowledge it in a way that feels genuine and real to consumers, and find ways to remedy the situation.
For brands in the tourism industry looking to build and maintain consumer trust, it’s important to focus on the people, not the product: that’s the key mantra. No brand is ever going to get it right 100 per cent of the time, particularly in a service business, and accepting responsibility for your brand’s mistakes is essential to moving forward and keep evolving as a cohesive unit with a well-defined purpose. Consumers are less forgiving of brands that are slow to admit their errors, deliberately try to mislead them or don’t provide appropriate solutions, which leads to erosion in brand equity over a period of time.
Trust in the tourism industry is built on the phrase ‘seeing is believing,’ because so much of the industry experience is tangible and measurable in nature. Consumers are unlikely to believe outlandish claims and expensive marketing unless they see that there is solid evidence to back it up, and the right infrastructure to support the brand vision. They also expect more than good products and positive experiences – they expect delight on many fronts. They want to feel that you are making a positive difference in the world, through your care of the environment, contributions to the community and treatment of employees, is also an integral part of the overall vision.
As a company, building trust requires a strong focus on one’s values, coupled with high regard for customers’ feelings and beliefs. Arriving at healthy common ground is of essence, to ensure long-term success. Being especially mindful of the impact of each of your interactions with your customers will go a long way to building brand trust, while mitigating conflicts, and avoid adding to the list of brands that customers love to hate.
Trust factor 1: Travel Program Pricing
You might be asking yourself, does it cost more money to have a premium travel experience? Or is it possible to get more in less? While it’s natural for you to want to get the most value for your students in a student trip, certain factors might play a big role in impacting costing. So the pertinent question really is, is it worth paying the same or a little more for a premium student travel experience? This decision completely depends on your purpose of travel – do you seek a finer, more comfortable experience, or a gritty learning curve which involves greater risk, at the expense of security. Weigh your priorities, and make a wise choice accordingly.

Trust factor 2: Support
Each student travel company will have a different standard of support for your trip, which is why customisation plays a key role in assuring a travel plan’s success. While support starts well before your trip departs, it’s important to compare how your trip feels on tour – a factor that could have a huge bearing on the eventual outcome and your aggregate tour experience. A trip with minimal support might look like a trip leader guiding and having charge of most of the tour’s responsibilities, which is the bare essential you need for any travel plan.
A somewhat supported trip might have an hourly guide that does not stay with the hotel group, while accompanying you on all the tour legwork. A supported trip will have a dedicated site coordinator that makes sure your trip runs smoothly, a skilled bus driver, and an engaging tour guide that stays with your group at the hotel, offering you complete assistance throughout the course of the trip.