The Far East

Ben Sinclair is Xplore's Sales and Marketing Director. Having worked in the youth travel industry for a number of years he has been lucky enough to visit many cities across the world! 

'Last year Xplore welcomed thousands of students from over 26 different countries worldwide for everything from summer language courses in the UK, high school placements in the USA and class trips to Germany. 

In order to recruit students from so many countries we travel the world to find like-minded partners to represent Xplore and promote our programmes in their markets. Following several European visits, myself and the company’s managing director, Lewi, set off to the Far East last month, landing in South Korea before heading to Japan for an educational and study abroad networking workshop organised by ‘Alphe’. Despite attracting students from all over the world Xplore is still relatively new to markets such as these and such events organised by ‘Alphe’  provide us with a great opportunity to meet potential new study abroad and language travel partners. They also enable us to gain a better understanding of the requirements of the student market and the current trends in studying abroad.

First stop, Seoul. It was a frosty start with temperatures below zero but the friendly atmosphere that welcomed us soon warmed things up. While these trips are tightly scheduled with meetings and travel, we’re always keen to gain cultural insight by experiencing the local culture for ourselves. Located on the outskirts of the popular district of Itaewon, we wrapped up and set off downtown to sample the bright lights where east meets west via a variety of English and German style pubs and lots of choice from Asian cuisine including sushi, Chinese and Thai for the foodies. But you can’t visit Korea without sampling one of their famous barbecues and we were fortunate enough to be treated to one by one of our local partners. Thankfully on arrival they quickly bag and store your coat away from the bbq smoke while you dive in to a feast of various meats, kimchee and dipping sauces!

The next morning it was down to business with a series of one-to-one meetings with potential agents looking for new and exciting programmes to offer their student market. With only 30 minutes per meeting to make an impression we present a overview of Xplore’s varied product range and while it's intense with such a short time slot per meeting, fortunately our industry is well versed in doing business in English. Not only do these events present a great opportunity to meet potential customers they also allow us to meet similar companies with whom we can share ideas and experiences. Once the two days of meetings were finished it was straight back to the airport that afternoon for our flight to Tokyo with new friends from Kilgraston School in Scotland and Communicate Language School in Manchester.

Tokyo is certainly one of my favourite places in the world - clean, friendly, vibrant and the food is incredible! Our third visit to Tokyo, following two previous research trips, we decided this time to attend the Alphe workshop with a view to meeting new agents and were guided well by Alphe’s staff who were very supportive throughout the event. Arriving late Tuesday evening and keen to see come of the city, we rose early, donned our running gear and set off attempting to navigate our way to the Emperor’s Palace. What began as a four mile jog ended up 7 mile run around but gave us amazing views of the city early morning. Showered and breakfasted we were straight to business with a pre-arranged meeting across the city before the workshop in the afternoon.The format for the Tokyo workshop mirrored Seoul and once again we met many companies working in the student language travel sector, gaining further insight in to the Japanese student market and the programmes they’re most interested in. On the last day with meetings over, we found time to visit a company we met on our first trip to Tokyo in 2012 and have subsequently become good friends with and our last afternoon meeting culminated in a traditional Japanese feast and sampling the local saki!

There’s no doubt that these networking trips provide a great opportunity to meet industry people from both sides of the table. The sharing of ideas and learning of market trends and student requirements is invaluable and experiencing cultures first hand goes even further to help our understanding of how Xplore can provide suitable programmes for everyone.'

Safer Internet Day 2015

Today is Safer Internet Day! 

Visit http://www.saferinternet.org.uk/advice-and-resources for all the information you need to stay safe online. 

Safer Internet Day 2015 will be celebrated globally on Tuesday 10th February with the slogan ‘Let’s create a better internet together’.

Coordinated in the UK by the UK Safer Internet Centre the celebration sees hundreds of organisations get involved to help promote the safe, responsible and positive use of digital technology for children and young people. 

Globally, Safer Internet Day is celebrated in over a hundred countries, coordinated by the joint Insafe/INHOPE network, with the support of the European Commission, and 31 national Safer Internet Centres across Europe.

The day offers the opportunity to highlight positive uses of technology and to explore the role we all play in helping to create a better and safer online community. It calls upon young people, parents, carers, teachers, social workers, law enforcement, companies, policymakers, and wider, to join together in helping to create a better internet. Ultimately, a better internet is up to us!

www.saferinternetday.org.uk

Exclusive Language Camp in China

Our exciting new language camp is being featured in the upcoming Study Travel Magazine, but if you can't wait for your copy you can read all about it online!

http://www.hothousemedia.com/stmnews/news/150121-Xplore-opens.html

ABLS and Travel-Safe International

Xplore has recently gone through a mandatory re-inspection by 
ABLS Accreditation (Accreditation Body for Language Services) and received accreditation until 2018. 

It also means that Xplore has been awarded the Silver Level award from the educational and training division of the international charity Child-Safe International, which 'for over ten years has been at the forefront of efforts to safeguard and protect young people involved in educational, cultural or language trips overseas'. 

Having this accreditation is a big achievement for the company and endorses the high standard of English Language provision at our centres across England.

As ABLS Accreditation is a UK Border Agency approved accreditation body Xplore can continue to support visa applications for those students travelling from outside the EEA. This enables agents outside the EEA to send their students to Xplore to take part in English Language courses and enhances Xplore’s placing in the youth travel market.  Repeat inspections will ensure the quality assurance criteria and UK legal requirements are adhered to.

Being re-accredited ensures continued best practice for the thousands of students who come to an Xplore Language Camp each year in the UK. It demonstrates a continued commitment by Xplore to quality assurance and professional development in all areas of business.  It also gives Xplore a mark of quality that is universally recognised by government agencies, industry agents and the market as a whole.

Some quotes from the inspection report: 

'Overall the standard of welfare throughout the organisation is of a very high standard.'

'Xplore, as part of the wider Klub Group, is a well-organised and well-run company with a great deal of expertise in the activity holiday market. Staff at all levels appear bright, energetic and enthusiastic about their work.'

'There is a creative use of technology to run operations across the different centres and communications

are excellent. Centre Managers feel well-supported by Head Office.'


'The schools used as centres for the summer school are superb locations with a wide range of facilities ideally suited to the wide range of activities on offer.'

'Examples of good practice observed included:
- Well-planned lessons
- Engaging materials
- Close monitoring of students throughout and encouragement
- Good use of students’ names
- Attention to pronunciation errors
- Effective range of correction techniques
- Good use of elicitation
- Lively, student-centred activities
- Good teacher / student relationships
- Effective management of discipline issues

- Excellent use of technology, especially Interactive Whiteboards with very young learners'

http://www.ablsaccreditation.co.uk
http://www.travelsafeinternational.com

George's marvellous Morocco!

It's a little chilly here in England today and so to brighten us all up we thought we would take a trip down memory lane with George, one of our Group Sales team as he talks of his (warmer) travelling days!

'Having started with the company 10 years ago as a young work experience boy I have grown not only with the company but grown to love the industry and the amazing programmes we are able to provide to students from all over the world each year.

From my work experience placement, I went on to be an activity instructor, a senior instructor, then running a number of our activity centres for 4 years as a centre manager and then finally moving on up into our head office as a Group Sales Executive.  Throughout my time with Xplore I have had the opportunity to travel around the world on both a personal level and a company level. From taking schools on sports tours to Italy, France and Portugal to travelling around South Africa.

For now I would like to take you through a 3 week trip around Morocco.

We started out in Marakesh just before New Year’s eve. As New years is not vastly celebrated in Morocco it was a pretty quiet evening. However there was a lot of excitement about being able to experience the famous Marrakesh souk. It is a large outdoor and indoor market selling pretty much anything you can think of from carpets to spices, jewellery to lamps! An experience for sure with street artists, snake charmers, and so many sights, sounds and smells! I came away with spices and herbs and memories of a very fun few days. 

We headed down to the desert for a camel trek across the sand dunes. We spent the night in the dunes eating a famous Moroccan tagine made by our guide. It was a cold night but was worth it being able to see both an amazing sunset and sunrise.

Following our desert trek we headed across the country to Essaouira a seaside town on the west coast of Morocco. This was the final part of our trip and a chance to relax on the beach, do some sightseeing, enjoy the sunshine and play some football against the locals.

All in all a country I would recommend to anyone. Especially if you want to practice your French skills. Watch this space for more adventures in other destinations around the world!'

Introducing Bredon

Welcome to Bredon, Xplore's newest centre in England offering language and group travel programmes. 

Bredon is a beautiful centre situated in 84 acres of grounds on the borders of rural Gloucestershire and Worcestershire.

Operating during the summer and at Easter, this centre offers a range of adventure activities and sports. Facilities include a sports hall, outdoor swimming pool, gymnasium, tennis courts, sports fields including rugby and football pitches, meeting rooms, class rooms and accommodation.

This centre is perfect for language programmes, culture and educational trips or sports tours. Students will enjoy a range of adventure activities in a rural setting.

Bredon offers 156 beds in single/twin rooms and dormitories across 4 houses with kitchenettes and common rooms.

Students can visit local historical sites including Roman Baths, Shakespeare Museum, Warwick Castle, Lacock Abbey, Gloucester Cathedral and Blenheim Palace. 

Within easy reach  of Bredon are offsite activities including tenpin bowling, cinema trips, shopping, ice skating, swimming and a visit to Cadbury World! 

Students can enjoy day excursions from Bredon to London, Oxford, Manchester, Gloucester, Stratford-Upon-Avon, Warwick and Birmingham. 

Onsite there are excellent facilities for activities such as abseiling, archery, climbing, canoeing, high ropes, quad biking, swimming, raft building and zip wire. Students can also enjoy team sports and creative activities. 

The Xplore Group Travel team create tailor made programmes for young people from all over the world and are all looking forward to taking groups to Bredon in 2015! 

 

Movember Success!

As we near the end of 'Movember' we wanted to thank our Operations Manager for his sterling effort to raise awareness of testicular cancer, prostrate cancer and men's mental health by growing a moustache!  

Movember is a time when 'Mo Bros' take action by growing a moustache for the 30 days of November sparking conversation about mens health and raising funds for programmes across the world. 

For over 31 years our Training and Development Manager has tried without much success to grow a beard or moustache. Paul tells me that for years his baby face complexion has shaved (sorry) years off him!  Progress has been slow and at times a little worrying but it is definitely going well now for Paul and his new tash! 

Well done to Paul and all the Mo Bros across the world who have raised awareness and funds! The Movember Foundation has been supporting men in 21 countries since 2004! 

If you wish to find out move about Movember or donate to the cause please visit www.movember.com