Developing meaningful travel programs for alumni, members, donors, lifelong learners, and mission-driven audiences requires specialized expertise, trusted partnerships, and thoughtful program design. ETC provides the professional community, industry insights, and practical resources to help you create educational travel experiences that are operationally strong, culturally meaningful, and aligned with your institution’s mission.
Travel planners within the ETC community are the professionals responsible for developing and managing educational and affinity travel programs on behalf of universities, museums, alumni associations, conservation organizations, cultural institutions, and nonprofit organizations. Their work sits at the intersection of program design, institutional stewardship, donor and alumni engagement, and partnership development.
Unlike traditional leisure travel, these programs are often mission-driven and audience-specific – designed for alumni, members, donors, lifelong learners, or highly engaged communities seeking intellectually meaningful and culturally grounded experiences. Travel planners must navigate complex institutional considerations including insurance requirements, faculty or study leader coordination, traveler expectations, operational logistics, and long-term relationship management with trusted operators and destinations.
ETC provides a dedicated professional community where planners can exchange best practices, discuss emerging challenges, discover new destinations and partners, benchmark their programs against peers, and strengthen the specialized skills required to lead successful educational travel programs.
Build Trusted Partnerships: Connect with experienced tour operators, destinations, hotels, and industry partners who understand the operational and educational priorities of affinity and institutional travel programs.
Strengthen & Grow Your Program: Learn from peers and industry experts about traveler engagement, program positioning, budgeting, recruitment strategies, and approaches for building sustainable long-term travel programs.
Learn from a Community of Peers: Exchange ideas, itineraries, operational insights, and best practices with a collaborative network of travel planners facing many of the same opportunities and challenges.
Navigate Risk & Institutional Complexity: Stay informed on evolving considerations related to traveler safety, insurance expectations, institutional compliance, and crisis management in an increasingly complex global environment.
Interactive virtual learning sessions focused on practical skills, operational training, and professional development for educational and affinity travel professionals.
In-person, facilitated half-day learning and discussion gatherings designed for deeper peer exchange, strategic conversations, and collaborative problem-solving.
Informal, member-led virtual gatherings organized around shared interests, regions, roles, or emerging topics within the educational travel community.
Facilitated virtual conversations focused on a specific issue, trend, challenge, or emerging topic affecting the educational and affinity travel sector.
Whether you are launching a new program, recently took on travel responsibilities at your institution, or are pursuing your Educational Travel Planner Certification, Jumpstart is your gateway. Build true confidence and competence through virtual training, an intensive in-person pre-conference seminar, and year-long direct 1-on-1 mentorship from seasoned peers.
“To a person who’s a first-time attendee, I say become a real ETC junkie. Go to all the sessions. Get up and get to the early breakfast because you’ll learn a lot there and you’ll meet folks. Visit the marketplace. Make sure you get around and introduce yourself to
the vendors and to all the programs that are there.
The more you get involved, it’s like anything else in life the more you will take away.”
Jean Anne Hattler
Director of Alumni Travel Program – Duquesne University