Selecting a Tour Operator

Taking middle- or high school students out of the country (or into a big city) on an overnight field trip is a big responsibility, and planning the trip is not a job for amateurs.

Our best advice is to recommend that you select a tour operator that you have some reason to trust, and the tour program that works best for your students, and do not worry about small price differences. As in any service field, there are large differences in the experience and capability of tour operators and the quality of their programs, and a small difference in price can easily translate to a large gap in quality.

Here are some factors as we see them:

Specialization: It is an age of specialization, and a sharp focus on a narrow segment of the business may be the most important indicator of ability and quality.

Experience: Time in the saddle is usually an important factor as well, and might generally be a good indicator of financial stability, but it is not definitive … we have watched a tour operator or two doing suboptimal work for years.

Size: Tour operators don’t get large for no reason (nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded), but there is such a thing as too large, and being all things to all people doesn’t always work.

Quality of Components: Unless you like to gamble, you should know, before you send your first deposit, what bus charter operator will be taking you to your destination (if you’re traveling by motorcoach), where you will be sleeping, and where and what you will be eating, and if your account representative can’t tell you, you should wonder if you’re getting the service you and your students are or will be paying for.

Price: Don’t sweat the small stuff (excuse the slang), but large price differences are a red flag also. VISIT CANADA is not the only reputable operator of the kinds of programs we offer, but among all the responsible companies, costs of components, and therefore prices, are largely the same. A remarkably low price can only mean a difference in the quality of ingredients, and though you do not always get what you pay for, you never, ever get what you don’t.

VISIT CANADA would win in some price comparisons, and lose in others, but our claim to fame is the consistent quality of our programs and maturity of our advice, and we take no particular pleasure in winning a trip on the basis of cost.