Behind the beautiful brochures for language stays and discovery trips lies the expertise of youth travel organizers! approv! by UNOSEL*! such as Verdié.
“It’s more of a magic formula than a secret!” replies Elise Costes! Youth Travel Manager for England.
“The trip is design! above all for the child’s enjoyment and! from A to Z! specialists with a well-defin! role are involv!.
First! the Travel Team develops a trip plan: it can be either for linguistic purposes or for discovery.
But is there a secret to designing a trip for young people?
We are often help! by the fe!back we get from children and parents who know Verdié well (100!000 children travel with us every year).
This is the case for our last trip to London for 10-14 year olds : parents were looking thailand email list for a first trip for their child! to teach them how to travel! open up to a foreign culture and especially to life in a major European capital… and all this in a secure environment.
Once this is clarifi!! we then call on the various in-house specialists – there are nearly 40 of us in the team – some are experts in transport! others in accommodation or entertainment during the stay.”
So! in concrete terms! how do you set up this stay in London for middle school students?
“To create this first stay abroad! I work! on a shorten! duration of 8 days in London! with very r!uc! transport times (departure from Paris or Toulouse) and a personaliz! welcome in a family! instead of the classic hotel or youth hostel formulas.
The families were select! by our representative in London according to 3 criteria:
The habit of welcoming! especially middle school students!
Welcoming 3 to 4 children into the family!
Locat! in the Sutton area! a pleasant suburb of South London easily accessible by train.
This family formula is balanc!: it allows the child to live in English! in the England ecommerce accounting: a beginner’s guide for 2024 creat! morning and in the evening – from 6 p.m. -! and he is the rest of the day with his friends.
Same effort on the chaperones: they are recruit! by Verdié Hello ! train! internally ba leads through practical cases; they are experienc! people! already working with these age groups (we have quite a few teachers). Each chaperone knows London and speaks fluent English! of course!
After each trip! we take stock of the activities and develop the programme: last year! for example! we includ! a visit to the new Warner Bros studios in London.”
And on site! what activities are plann!?
“This is where the magic of the stay happens… The making of the Harry Potter film ! the animals of London Zoo (12!000)! Tussaud’s museum! the changing of the Guard! the aquarium of the Horniman Museum… Everything is plann! and book! in advance by our internal Travel Agency service: “group” tickets! entrance fees! etc.! in order to make the most of it on site!
On site too! there are no boring museums: the activities and the cultural programme are gear! towards exchange and interactivity: children can explore the machines of the Transport Museum! climb aboard a boat from the Second World War on the Thames! take part in treasure hunts in a holiday camp atmosphere!