Senior Leaders: Lessons from the Road by Kate Simpson, President Crafting beautiful itineraries is our forte, yet we all know that the real magic happens when we hand the reins to our travel directors–those who are charged with making it all come to life. This fall, two senior leaders in our study abroad division were assigned as travel directors on important trips with highly discerning clients. Randall Salisbury, our Vice President for CET Programs, led our Road & Track Road to Revival trip to the United Kingdom, featuring the Goodwood Revival. Shelley Jessee, our CET Senior Director of Marketing, led a VIP group to Iceland for Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. They shared some insights with us. What was the highlight of trip you led and why? Randall: Unsurprisingly, the Goodwood Revival was the highlight of the trip for me. This is the only historic car event staged entirely in period dress and celebrates the glory days of racing. From the moment you arrive until the moment you leave, it’s fully immersive and interactive. This is a unique experience that even people without deep car knowledge can thoroughly enjoy. Shelley: The highlight of our trip to Iceland was a day that wasn’t even on our original itinerary! Weather required a last-minute change. Knowing that our group was interested in geology, our amazing local guide, Tryggvi, suggested we add Landmannalaugar in the Fjallabak Nature Reserve to our itinerary. Landmannalaugar is a geologist’s dream! The main attraction is the colorful rhyolite mountains, but in our 4×4 vehicles on the way to the mountains, we drove through lava fields formed by eruptions in the 15th century, admired the Ljótipollur (ugly puddle) crater which was anything but ugly, and counted waterfalls sprouting out of the canyon at Sigöldugljúfur. All were wowed, even the experienced geologists in the group. What is the secret to your success when acting as a Travel Director? Randall: Rolling with the punches, being flexible, and being fun yet firm are all things that have served me well when leading a tour. Setting expectations at the beginning of the program that, despite best efforts, things will change and that’s ok! If you roll with the punches and maintain a positive attitude, the travelers will follow your lead. Another key success factor is being a fun traveling companion, while also being firm in setting expectations. It is all about being an effective and clear communicator. Shelley: Anticipation and communication. You need to read the itinerary critically and anticipate challenges, bumps in the road, and possible delays. When you anticipate what could go wrong, you can plan for it and liaise with our local vendors and contacts to mitigate any potential issues. Then, when problems can’t be avoided, communication comes in to ensure the group is informed. As a travel director, you’re acting as a connector: connecting the travelers and their interests, our local contacts, and the planned itinerary to create a meaningful experience for everyone in the group. How does your experience as one of ATA’s senior leaders help you navigate the challenges of leading a travel program? Randall: At ATA (CET), I am responsible for navigating different personalities, work styles, and group dynamics all the while setting the tone and leading by example. I must connect with individuals, connect them to the mission, and find (and lean into) the natural rhythm of my team. Honestly, acting as travel director requires all the same elements. I know the importance of being prepared, finding solutions instead of being overwhelmed by the problems, and focusing on quality–all very transferable skills when it comes to being effective on tour. Shelley: Leading our marketing efforts, I focus on my target audience when building a campaign. And keeping your audience top of mind is one of the most important strategies in leading a successful travel program. Thinking of what the group is interested in, why they chose this particular tour, and what memories they’re hoping to leave the trip with helps to guide your decisions and view of the itinerary when making plans and last-minute changes. And as a senior leader, I always keep the big picture in mind: thinking two steps ahead, understanding how decisions will ripple through the organization, and anticipating how others will interpret actions I’m taking. Leading a travel program is an intense case study of being a leader in a dynamic, ever-changing business. Of all the trips ATA offers or has offered, which is your dream trip? Randall: Does ATA operate any trips to New Zealand?! If so, I want first dibs. Shelley: If I had the chance to be part of a Dinner with Friends trip, I’d jump at it! Getting to experience this food with amazing experts and hearing from the talented chefs would be an unforgettable experience. Thank you, Randall and Shelley, for your leadership—wherever you are in the world! We would gladly follow YOU anywhere.
Blog
The Case FOR Travel: Life Enriched
The Case FOR Travel: Life Enriched by Kate Simpson, President There was quite a brouhaha in the world of travel writing this summer. A professor of philosophy at the University of Chicago, Agnes Callard, wrote a piece in The New Yorker published at the end of June and entitled The Case Against Travel. Ross Douthat of The New York Times responded with his own counter-argument in late July. Then Arne Weissmann of Travel Weekly concluded a “mistrial” in early August. Not to mention many other sub-Reddits and social media discussions. You can guess where I, as President of Academic Travel Abroad, land. While I won’t bore you with the synopsis of the various positions for and against travel, I do encourage you to read and consider these points of view. Here is my counter to Professor Callard: Travel, mobility, exploration, discovery, encounters—these are all essential and compelling human needs. This is one reason why we, at ATA, never failed to believe throughout the pandemic that travel would return and flourish once again. Even this National Geographic writer in September 2020 expressed a similar viewpoint: Travel is essential the way books and hugs are essential. Food for the soul. So while Callard claims it’s all about empty locomotion, which we also know to be critical to our health and wellbeing, the benefits extend far beyond exercise. Travel is a primal instinct. Travel is “an extension of one’s education, a deepening of knowledge,” as Douthat writes. Of course, there will always be those who travel for mindless entertainment and superficial Insta moments. (Humans are also allowed such interludes.) Callard seems to condemn all tourists and travelers to this category, a view I find condescending and conveniently simplistic. Travel connects and bonds—whether it be with your fellow travelers or the locals you encounter along the way. Callard describes travel as a lonely pursuit: During my Paris wanderings, I would stare at people, intently inspecting their clothing, their demeanor, their interactions. I was trying to see the Frenchness in the French people around me. This is not a way to make friends. Indeed, we do not travel to observe people as we would animals in their natural habitat, but rather to immerse ourselves in the local culture and assimilate as much as possible and learn new ways of living. Callard’s most emphatic claim is one I object to the most. She writes “the single most important fact about tourism is this: we already know what we will be like when we return… Travel is a boomerang. It drops you right where you started.” At Academic Travel Abroad, both a study abroad provider and an educational travel company, we have myriad examples of both students and travelers returning home changed in fundamental ways. I will cite just two: A Black student from New Orleans with high financial need, once a Katrina refugee, who had never left her state, let alone the country, goes to Taiwan to study Mandarin. She is a first-generation college student and her trajectory in life is forever altered. A world of possibilities opens for her. She now has a successful career in international finance and accounting and all her nieces and nephews are inspired to explore the world beyond their city. A group of trustees from a major national organization travel to Cuba. Some are liberal, some conservative, some Cuban American. All bring their own preconceptions about this island nation with them. All leave its shores with a fundamentally different understanding of U.S. policy toward Cuba. One offers to call his Congress person to lobby for change. Callard cites the disappointment of unmet expectations when traveling and how a traveler “outsources the vindication of his experiences to the ethnologist, to postcards, to conventional wisdom about what you are or are not supposed to do in a place. This deference, this “openness to experience,” is exactly what renders the tourist incapable of experience.” Yet it is when one experiences a dissonance with what we thought we knew to be true and what is true that growth, adaptability, resilience and self-awareness are augmented. It is in these moments that we question our existing values, our biases and our past education. Humility is expanded, and we are invited to embrace the unexpected, to settle into discomfort, and to open our hearts and minds to all that is not familiar. Callard’s final salvo against travel is the fact that it is a way of denying we will all one day die: the prospect looms, terrifyingly, as “More and more of this, and then I die.” Travel splits this expanse of time into the chunk that happens before the trip, and the chunk that happens after it, obscuring from view the certainty of annihilation. She’s right. Travel gives our lives meaning. Why? Because it educates, challenges, changes and enriches us in so many ways. Please write to me at [email protected] to share your reaction to these articles.
2023 Q2 Newsletter
ATA’s Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (JEDI) Action Plan consists of specific long-term goals to work towards transforming our workplace, programs, and industries to be more just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive. Every employee contributes to this work, and at the end of every year we come together as an organization to evaluate our progress. Department leaders’ progress reports and goals for the future are evaluated anonymously by volunteers at every level of the organization before being published in preparation for the next year’s work. After two years of hard work, intensive review, and lessons learned, we expanded the scope of our work, originally called the Anti-Racist Action Plan.
2023 Q1 Newsletter
ATA’s Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (JEDI) Action Plan consists of specific long-term goals to work towards transforming our workplace, programs, and industries to be more just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive. Every employee contributes to this work, and at the end of every year we come together as an organization to evaluate our progress. Department leaders’ progress reports and goals for the future are evaluated anonymously by volunteers at every level of the organization before being published in preparation for the next year’s work. After two years of hard work, intensive review, and lessons learned, we expanded the scope of our work, originally called the Anti-Racist Action Plan.
2022 JEDI Annual Review
ATA’s Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (JEDI) Action Plan consists of specific long-term goals to work towards transforming our workplace, programs, and industries to be more just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive. Every employee contributes to this work, and at the end of every year we come together as an organization to evaluate our progress. Department leaders’ progress reports and goals for the future are evaluated anonymously by volunteers at every level of the organization before being published in preparation for the next year’s work. After two years of hard work, intensive review, and lessons learned, we expanded the scope of our work, originally called the Anti-Racist Action Plan.
2022 Year in Review
A Year of Firsts! As 2022 comes to a close, we look back on the many ways that our year astonished, changed, and motivated us! In Educational Travel We operated over 40 programs in 2022, and 14 were with new partners! These included Wondrium, Boca Grande Community Center, ArtNews, Zagat, Decanter, Chautauqua, Road & Track and The First Division Museum. The Rhone Valley’s diversity of wines attracted an international audience ready to taste the rich Viogniers of Condrieu, the wild Syrahs of Cornas, and the glorious Grenaches of Gigondas. (Decanter magazine) Two trips—to Iceland and New Orleans—showcased the resilience and adaptation of local populations in the face of climate change. (Chautauqua Institution) An epic, four-country performing arts patron trip arrived in London two hours after Queen Elizabeth’s death was announced, and travelers were treated to a unique experience unlike anything they could have ever planned. (The Philadelphia Orchestra) A group of very lucky history aficionados followed in the footsteps of the US Army’s heroic 1st Infantry Division to the World War II battlefields in France. (First Division Museum) In Study Abroad After two+ years of program closures and interruptions, many of our programs came roaring back with record-setting enrollment to Florence, Czech Republic, Taiwan, and Japan. This fall, in cooperation with the University of Minnesota, a review committee comprised of faculty and study abroad professionals traveled to Jordan and evaluated every aspect of our Arabic language program, from orientation to faculty development and support. We’re pleased that their final report gave the program such high marks, particularly in the areas of academics and student services! Four of our US-based staff recently hosted a well-attended webinar that focused on the future of study abroad in Greater China. When will the mainland open to study abroad, and what will be the health/safety concerns once students can return? Our experts shared their thoughts on these timely questions! New Relationships We welcomed the following new partners to the ATA family in 2022: Our Priorities in DC: JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) and Sustainability On the JEDI front In 2022, we spent time reflecting on the first two years of our Anti-Racist Action Plan—what worked well, what didn’t, and who’s voice was left out—and internally launched a new JEDI Action Plan that continues to involve all staff. We hosted three “Food for Thought” discussions and a JEDI book club and attended Diversity Abroad’s conference. On the Sustainability front We’re thrilled to announce that our decarbonization fund, in partnership with Cool Effect, is investing in three projects this year in Honduras, Indonesia and Tennessee. We also participated in the US Tour Operator Association’s inaugural “Sustainability is Responsibility” Summit in Bodo, Norway. Our Incredible Team Previous Next The hybrid office model we introduced in the spring balances flexibility with the in-person togetherness we seek from each other. Next year, we will be piloting a new reduced hours work schedule. Heartened by data coming from organizations such as Four Day Week Global, we are eager to join other firms who see the social, economic and climate benefits of this move. With fresh passion and commitment to our partners, students and travelers in 2023, we send you our heartfelt thanks and best wishes for the year ahead. Chase Poffenberger
