An Introduction to

1

• An Introduction to
• the Student and Youth Travel Market
• Nancy Reiter, President
• The Student and Youth Travel Association (SYTA)

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Topics We Will Discuss Today

• An introduction to the market
• Trends in the market
• Why work with the student and youth travel
  market?
• What Student/Youth Tour Companies Look for in
  Destinations

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1. An Introduction to the Market

• Student and youth travel
• Travel by youth 25 years of age and under
• Away from their community
• Not for business
• Not primarily to visit friends or relatives.

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Demographic Information

• 24 of all international travelers worldwide are
  youth/student travelers
• 85 million young people in the US and Canada
  between 5 25 years of age
• Largest youth group is currently 10 to 14 years
  old
• There are approximately 18 million students in
  colleges and universities in the US and Canada

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Length of Trip

• Length of Domestic trips are differentiated in
  two categories
• Day Trips
• Overnight Trips
• Day Trips
• More likely to be younger students
• Often a very full day (longer than a regular
  school day)
• Overnight Trips
• Typically range from 1-3 nights

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How Students/Youth Travel

• Group Travel (Primary and Secondary school age)
• - Primary and secondary school age
• 2. Individual Travelers
• -Older High School College

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Student/Youth Market Segments

• Primarily Group Travel
• (1) Educational Travel
• Music/Performance Travel
• Group or Individual Travel
• Sports Leisure Travel
• Summer/Teen Travel
• Language Travel
• Grad Trips (HS Seniors)
• College Age Travel

• Primarily Individual Travel
• Spring Break Trips
• Backpackers
• Gap Year Travel
• Working Holidays
• Study Abroad

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Types of Student/Youth Travelers Targeted As
Reported by SYTA Active Members
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Student Tour Operator Revenue By Age GroupAs
Reported by SYTA Active Members (Oct 2004)
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Top US Destinations Traveled To Ranked by of
SYTA Active Members that Provide Travel to that
Destination
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Top Canadian Destinations Traveled To Ranked by
of SYTA Active Members that Provide Travel to
that Destination
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Top International Destinations Traveled To
Ranked by of SYTA Active Members that Provide
Travel to that Destination
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Michigan State University Study of 12-18 year
olds

• Data shows that 60 of students aged 12-18 travel
  on an overnight trip in a non-family group.
• Extrapolated to total population indicates an
  industry of nearly 10 billion, just for this
  12-18 year old age group.

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Distribution of Reported Student and Youth Group
Trips by State of Destination
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City Destinations for Student and Youth Group
Trips and Total Estimated Expenditures Captured
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2. Trends in the Student/Youth Market
Continued Growth with Changing Buying Patterns
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Growth Factors in Student and Youth Travel

• Student population continues to grow
• Growing percentage of students traveling
• Students traveling at earlier ages
• Trend back to North American travel in 02 03
• Started to see more international travel in 05
  06
• School travel has become an expectation of school
  systems but relevance to curriculum and liability
  are becoming important issues

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Increases in Student and Youth Travel As
Reported by SYTA Active Members
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3. Why Work With the Student/Youth Market?

• Large travel market
• Fastest growing major market in the travel
  industry
• Easy to identify niche
• Shoulder time for many suppliers
• High repeat business
• Large groups (2 or more busses)
• Low last minute cancellations
• Disposable incomes
• Seeding future business

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Seeding Future Business

• Student travelers have up to 60 years of spending
  power!
• There are many reasons they might return to your
  destination

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4. What Student/Youth Tour Companies Look for in
Destinations

• Hotels
• Attractions
• Restaurants
• Motorcoaches

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What Student Tours (grades K-12) Look for in
Hotels (highest priorities)

• Student friendly helpful staff
• Large number of concentrated double-double rooms
• Affordability
• Pre-arrival check-in
• Ability to turn off phones
• No bars in rooms
• Motorcoach access
• Ability to turn off premium cable TV channels
• Adequate elevators/stairways for large groups
• Rooming list available prior to arrival
• Hotel rating

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What Student Tours (grades K-12) Look for in
Hotels (lower priorities)

• Upscale appearance
• No balconies or atriums
• Sealed windows or windows with stoppers
• Long straight corridors/hallways
• Full American breakfast
• Large sleeping rooms
• Vanities outside the bathrooms
• Indoor swimming pool
• Large meeting space
• Continental breakfast
• Lounge on site
• Onsite laundry facilities

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What Student Tours Look for in Attractions

• Student/youth friendly and helpful staff
• Able to handle large groups
• Easy check-in
• Hands-on activities that tie to school curriculum
• Environment lending itself to good group
  management
• Entertainment quality
• Deal with large group communications issues
• Educational components
• Deal with short attention spans
• Location near other major attractions
• Group friendly briefing/meeting area
• Multi-media/multi-sensory
• Technology driven

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What Student Tours Look For In Restaurants

• Student/youth friendly helpful staff
• Quick turn-around (45-60 minutes)
• Location/accessibility
• Non-smoking area
• Minimum wait (10 minutes)
• Multiple entrée choices at single location
• Food courts
• Atmosphere/novelty
• Buffets
• Direct entry and exit to motorcoaches

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What Student Tours Look for in Motorcoaches

• Student/youth friendly drivers
• Experienced drivers
• Driver cell phones/direct communication access
• Safety record
• Cleanliness
• Price
• Late model coaches
• Amenities on board

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Marketing to Tour Operators

• Determine your student travel offerings
• What do you have that will make teachers want to
  bring their students to your facility?
• Target student tour operators
• Tailor your product offering to a tour operator
  niche.
• Visit www.syta.org, to access to tour operators
  by type.
• Timing
• Selling Season is typically end of August through
  late November.
• Trip season is primarily April through early June.

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Benefits of SYTA Membership

• Active tour operators of SYTA account for almost
  1.55 billion U.S. in student and youth travel
  each year
• Active tour operators of SYTA provide trips for
  over 2.2 million participants each year
• Networking opportunities
• Collective Voice
• Recognition
• Industry Education
• Business Development
• Member Education

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The Student Youth Travel Association (SYTA)

• 774 SYTA Members
• Current active tour operator members of SYTA
  accounted for almost 1.68 billion US in student
  and youth travel, providing trips for over 2
  million participants
• 123 Active/International Affiliate members - tour
  operators and travel agencies
• 633 Associate members - hotels, attractions,
  restaurants, travel industry service providers,
  non-profit organizations in the youth travel
  market, and Destination Marketing Organizations
  (DMOs)
• 18 Allied members AASA, ABA, ASTA, BETA, CAP,
  WYSTC, MSU-SYTRI, NASSP, MENC, NMSA, NTA, OMCA,
  USTOA, TIA and TIAC

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Selected Web Sites for Information

• syta.org SYTA web site
• statcan.ca Canadian Statistics
• census.gov US Census Bureau
• nces.ed.gov US Educational Statistics
• tinet.ita.doc.gov US Office of Travel
  Tourism
• Canadatourism.com Canadian Tourism Commission

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The Voice of Student and Youth Travel

__________________________________________________
__________________ SYTA 3048 Clarkston Road
Lake Orion, MI 48362 USA Phone (248)
814-7982 - Fax [phone] E-Mail
info_at_syta.org - Web site www.syta.org