Travel companies see a lucrative lesson in education tourism

Education tourism, though still at a nascent stage in India, is seeing both new and established players come up with strategies to grab a bigger pie of the segment.

As learning moves out of the four walls of the classroom, travel companies are making the most of this opportunity. You could go cycling from Seattle to San Francisco, bike across Coorg and Uroli, go star gazing in astronomy camps or visit villages and take part in local projects, master kite-flying, photography while on a camp in Uttarakhand or take nature walks and learn to preserve environment. The idea is not just limited to sight-seeing but also to build life skills such as leadership, teamwork, innovation, etc.

Education tourism, though still at a nascent stage in India, is seeing both new and established players come up with strategies to grab a bigger pie of the segment. For a leading leisure travel company Cox & Kings, for instance, the segment alone is contributing over 35 per cent to its revenues.

The company expects this “recession-proof” tourism to be its biggest growth driver and is looking for 60 per cent of its revenue to come from education tourism in the next couple of years. “Schools now have included field trips as part of their curriculum. Response from parents has been very positive and schools are encouraged by this phenomenon,” said Peter Kerkar, director, Cox & Kings. The company had acquired the UK-based HolidayBreak in 2012 to transform from tour operator to education specialist.

Education business for Cox & Kings includes three key brands of PGL, NST and Meininger. “PGL business would be rolled out into other key C&K markets of Australia and India, where we see a large potential for this business,” Kerkar added.

Alongside established players, specialised adventure-based camping tour companies such as inme Learning have found a niche market catering to around 15,000 children and 30 schools. “The idea of this segment is to present what lies beyond the classroom through experiential learning programmes, industrial tours, adventure trips, university visits, language courses, exchange programs, etc. Hence, the focus of interest for an individual can be recreational, educational, or even a combination of the two,” said Puneet Palaha, Co-founder and director, inme Learning.

Inme’s strategy is to strike partnerships with schools and educational institutes for conducting “life skills driven, focused programmes” for children in the age group of nine-17 years across key locations in India. “The concept of education tourism is growing in other parts of the world and in India it is not even a part of any specific business sector,” Palaha said.

The cost of packages starts at Rs 18,000 a head and can go up to a few lakhs depending upon the destination and activities undertaken. The biggest challenge is to convince schools on the need for such programmes. “Issues like safety, security are also playing on parents minds. While utmost care is taken, in India the concept is still just limited to metros in the upper strata of the society,” a senior travel company executive said. Not many travel companies have ventured into this space because of the logistics and specialisation required to conduct such tours.

Travel companies see a lucrative lesson in education tourism