If you have ever wondered why you should use a tour operator for student group travel, I can answer with one memory. It is 1 a.m. I am ten blocks from Times Square. More than 120 of my students are waiting for an awards ceremony scheduled for 10:30 p.m. that will not start until 3 a.m. I have not slept in 48 hours. I make the call to send my kids back to the hotel, and I miss the moment we traveled all that way for. It was our capstone event. More than half my group were graduating seniors. It still stings.
The Night Everything Went Wrong
It was my third year as a head director and the first out-of-state trip our school had taken in more than 25 years. The contest failed to deliver on its promises and left my students and me in a desperate situation. I had good intentions. What I did not have were professionals at my side with the group travel knowledge and experience to prevent a disaster.
That night taught me more about trip planning than any clinic or conference ever did. Here is what I would tell any director planning a choir trip.
What I Would Tell Any Director Now
- Vet the contest. Talk with your peers. Read reviews online. Look for a track record of satisfaction from directors and parents alike.
- Confirm your travel plans well in advance. Reservations should be finalized and the itinerary available for your review. You should be able to run the trip through your mind before you ever load a bus.
- Know who answers when you call at 1 a.m. When a restaurant cancels your dinner reservation an hour before because a pipe burst, you do not want to be the one frantically arranging alternatives. You have students, parents and wet socks from the rain to manage. You need someone with the confidence and experience to step up when the pressure is on.
- Consult professionals who have done it before. Moving 120 teenagers through Times Square is a different beast than hosting a local contest. Work with someone who has the experience to bring it all together.
Choir trips, by definition, involve a million moving parts. When you are trying to focus on your students and their music-making, travel planning can be especially overwhelming to take on alone.
Two Things I Got Wrong About Tour Operators
“We just can’t afford it.” I never ran the numbers. Count the hours your next trip will take that have nothing to do with music: rooming lists, contracts, invoices and rebuilding the itinerary. Put your hourly rate on those hours. That is a real cost, paid in a currency your budget does not track. Directors who plan every detail themselves often pay the expensive version, with no one to fight for them when something goes wrong.
“I have to do it all anyway.” Planning the trip by yourself means managing contracts you were not trained to read, endless phone calls and emails to vendors, emergency response at every hour, being the main contact on every list, tracking every small detail only to realize you missed the really big ones. Where in that list am I teaching music?
What a Tour Operator Actually Does
A better contest or a bigger budget was not going to magically fix all my problems. I needed someone who could handle the logistics, from proposal to stepping off the bus after a long, rewarding trip. That is the job of a professional tour operator. Here is what one handles on your behalf:
- Contracts and vendors. A tour operator reads the fine print, negotiates with hotels, motorcoach companies and restaurants, and holds vendors accountable so you never have to.
- Rooming lists and logistics. Housing 120 minors, tracking dietary restrictions and building a workable schedule are daily work for a travel professional, not a crisis.
- On-trip support. A real human answers at any hour, with the authority and relationships to fix problems on the spot, from a burst pipe to a delayed bus.
- Contingency planning. Experienced operators plan for weather, closures and cancellations before you leave, so a setback becomes an adjustment instead of a disaster.
When you cross a state line, stay overnight or have enough money on the line that losing it would end the trip, you want professionals like Music Travel Consultants in your corner.
Why I Recommend Music Travel Consultants
This is why I recommend traveling with Music Travel Consultants (MTC), HOA’s preferred travel provider. MTC is led by current and former music educators who have stood where you stand. They know what it is like to be responsible for other people’s children in a city far from home, and they build every itinerary around what directors and students actually need.
On the blog, you can read why directors choose to travel with MTC to HOA Championship events from Orlando to Nashville.
Plan Your Trip
If my story saves you one sleepless night, it was worth telling. When you are ready to plan your next student trip with a team that has your back, request a quote from Music Travel Consultants. They will take care of every detail so you can focus on your students and the music.
Sending you “Nothin’ but Love” as you plan your next adventure!
Dan Baker