Did you know that student motorcoach tourism is a $31-billion-a-year industry? According to a new study by the American Bus Association Foundation, student tourism in the United States represents 30 percent of all motorcoach tourism, with 89.4 million passenger trips annually.
The economic impact analysis released in February shows that student motorcoach travel supports 302,300 jobs in the U.S., including 36,570 jobs in the motorcoach industry. The report for the ABA Foundation, conducted by John Dunham & Associates, defined a student tour as a planned or pre-arranged trip to a school for field trips, tours and team transportation of children age 18 and younger. Passenger trip tourism estimations include charter, tour and sightseeing operations yet exclude scheduled service and commuter operations.
ABA Foundation survey data claimed that student tourism by motorcoach is one of the most cost-effective ways for schoolchildren to visit key historical and cultural sites that may have otherwise been out of reach. According to data from nearly 500 motorcoach and tour operating companies, student tours purchased within a group travel experience were discounted 25 percent on average, when compared to retail tour prices.
JDA relied on additional data from government and private sources to examine the economic impacts that student tourism has on the motorcoach travel and tourism sector, including motorcoach operators and tour companies, hotels and motels, eating and drinking places, retailers and various types of entertainment providers..
Earlier this year, Dan Drexler, the Minnesota division administrator for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, gave tips to student transporters on how to select a safe charter operator for school trips. Drexler advised Minnesota Association for Pupil Transportation (MAPT) conference attendees to check a motorcoach company’s safety performance scores and its operating authority and insurance requirements before considering price and convenience. Drexler also addressed how to create safer itineraries and the type of records to request from the charter company.
“There are school bands or choirs that don’t use school buses but motorcoaches to make the long haul to events, so the presentation was to help schools and school districts choose how to evaluate motorcoach companies,” said MAPT President Keith Paulson.
