Travel or just tourism?

3. What kind of travel does the study abroad program provide?

One of the reasons to go abroad is to see the most interesting parts of the country or continent you are visiting. The travel aspect of any program can be a great differentiator, providing an opportunityto really help participants to experience the local culture. Travel witha study abroad program should not just be about loading the entire program onto a bus and becoming a tourist at the top attractions in your city or country. My thinking is that many of these attractions you could see on your own with a decent guide book and minimal advice from the program leaders. Your program can really distinguish themselves by offereing local knowledge of off the beaten track tourism and experiences.

Specifically in Costa Rica, I encourage that on free weekends my students visit the most popular attractions like Manuel Antonio, Arenal and Monteverde, the three top tourist attractions in the country. I can refer a good cheap hotel and give some pointers on using the buses to get there and send them off with my blessing, but that’s not necessarily the trip i will take them on. We will take them to the out of the way mountain hamlet where we’ll do rural sustainable tourism. Or we’ll go to the farming cooperative that has created its own currency in order to improve the economic conditions of its members.  A good study abroad program will take you places or allow you experiences that you wouldn’t or couldn’t have on your own.

We’ve been working with Santos Tours for the last couple years developing tours in the off the beaten track areas of the central mountains. our students really like the family homestays, the picturesque mountain hamlets and the opportunity to climb through the center of an old growth oak tree and rappel off the top. it s a different experience than you get at the massive tour providers.

IGE student preparing chiverri for a typical jelly made during holy week

Travel should have a purpose that is part of your educational experience and not just be a weekend trip to the beach. The weekend trip to the beach is great and you should definitely do it, but it’s a waste of the time for the coordinators of the program. you should expect more from them if they are truly your local guides.

Some questions to ask your study abroad program:

1. What travel is included in the program? just weekend trips? weekly field trips in the city?

2. What is the purpose of the travel? is it educational? cultural?

3. Could you do the trips on your own or is it something that the program is really helping you to organize?

4. Is the tourism with just the big providers or is there some rural tourism that supports communities?

Here is a video of students in Costa Rica in the Santos region on a rural community tourism trip with Santos Tours.

http://www.youtube.com/user/IGEVideos#p/a/u/1/17lm6uMyoIc