Catching Them Young

One of the fastest growing segments of tourism in the post-pandemic era, in terms of outbound tourism from India, has been educational tourism, where students are taken on short-term visits combining learning with sight-seeing and pleasure.

- Ranvir Nayar

For decades, for students of all ages and all over the world, one of the most exciting things on the school calendars are the field trips. They come in all the forms imaginable. Be it to the city zoo, museum or to an ‘out station’ destination some distance from the city, in some other part of the country or even across the oceans.

There is a school field trip to fit all ages, all budgets and all aspirations. They can last anything from half a day to half a month, can cover culture as much as cutting-edge science and be a short drive or a long-haul flight away. While earlier most of the field trips, even for college-going students were within the country, over the past two decades, the schools and the students have begun to spread their wings and enhance their ambitions and are now increasingly travelling to numerous overseas destinations as well, both near and far.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic brought this niche segment of outbound tourism to a screeching halt for well over two years, it was amongst the fastest growing segments of the outbound tourism market and not just from India. According to a report by Future Market Insights, a market research firm, global travel companies have spotted a new pot of gold in educational

tours, as demand for education with travel as students begin to explore the world outside their classrooms and even outside their country of residence. FMI says that the segment will grow to USD 1.95 trillion by 2031.

It adds that one of the main driving factors behind the growth in the segment is that the concept of informal learning is more appreciated than formal learning and “education with travel” is the new buzzword.