As travel agents, you already know that many people find comfort in group travel, and meaningful friendships are often born. We at USTOA interviewed a sampling of travelers who have taken repeat, escorted tours to find out more about this important, but under-reported, phenomenon. Here’s what they had to say.
Angela Pittman, 53, a retired school teacher from Winston-Salem, N.C., has visited more than 40 countries. “When people have curiosity about the world, what you can learn and give, it makes for a full-circle experience,” she says. Pittman also cites one-on-one exchanges with people from the different cultures she’s visited as contributing to her love of travel.
Trudy and Ken Thornton, 72 and 74, respectively, formed lasting friendships with other members of their group from a Canada tour; they regularly get together for reunions. “We keep in touch by email, says the city?, Maryland couple. “We are keeping up the reunions and are making plans for another trip together.”
A retired teacher from city?, Ill., Carol Marasovich, 56, found a new circle of friends while heli-hiking in the Canadian Rockies. “It was not a huge group, and that’s what made it nice,” she says. “You got to meet everybody in the group. We might even find another trip in common that we all would like to do.”
Gay Gagnon, 64, of Lutz, Fla., has taken 10 tours with the same operator, half with her husband and two with women she met while traveling. This year she’s planning to go to Seville, Lisbon and Madrid with the same company.
A military pilot director of personnel now living in the U.S.? Virgin Islands, Caroline Adams, 45, has made lifelong friends through her travels. “I have a dear friend in California that I met in Costa Rica,” she says. “We share notes on trips. We can learn about what to do next from each other, and we provide each other with a pre-briefing or post-briefing.”
Diana A. (why the anonymity?) , who’s in her late 50s and hails from Wayzata, Minn., finds that the learning experience appeals to her fellow travelers. “It’s just such an education, not only from the places you go, but also from the people who go with you,” she says.
As soon as Diana started taking tours on her own, she made friends with a group of single women also traveling solo. Soon they became traveling companions. A friend she met on a trip to the Greek Islands has since joined her in South America, Egypt and Russia. Another fellow traveler accompanied her to Ireland, Alaska and Costa Rica, and a third to Thailand and Vietnam.
“The discussions with the people I meet on trips are so interesting,” she adds. “I’ve met a pathologist who escaped from Siberia, an archaeologist who worked on the Big Dig in Boston and an older gentleman who worked on the Manhattan Project.”
What the Experts Say
Dr. Jonathan Bricker, a psychologist at the University of Washington, observes that shared values are what lead people to form personal connections and lasting friendships on tours. “When we meet people who share our passions, such as discovering or giving to others, an important connection is taking place at a fundamental level,” he says. “These relationships can get at the core of what travel is all about for people.”
When clients plan their vacation, he says, they usually think about the sites and activities they will be enjoying. But people don’t usually think about another key part of touring: the connections they will be making with their traveling companions.
“I strongly believe touring provides an excellent opportunity to not only explore new destinations, and learn about history and culture, but to travel with others,” Bricker says. “People really get to know each other through sharing experiences, which leads to the formation of lasting bonds. Many tour operators offer special-interest vacations, so that people who are passionate about the outdoors or wildlife, history, architecture, wines and culinary adventures can easily find others with the same interests.”
The USTOA website provides drop-down lists so you and your clients can search for companies by activity and destination. USTOA member companies have met the travel industry’s strictest criteria, including participation in the USTOA Travelers Assistance Program which, among other things, requires each member company to set aside $1 million in security to protect consumer payments in case the company goes out of business.
For more information
800-GO-USTOA
www.ustoa.com or www.ustoa.travel