Teenagers share touring experiences with Atas delegates

Globe-trotting teenagers have shared their experiences of long-haul tours, talking to agents about Contiki and Intrepid Travel holidays, to showcase how the sector caters to younger travellers and families.

 

The sessions at the conference of the Association of Touring and Adventure Suppliers (Atas) aimed to highlight consumers’ point of view about youth travel and family tours.

 

Eve Spencer talked about taking Contiki trips to New Zealand and southeast Asia during her gap year, then Archie Nixon and his family shared tales of their Intrepid tour to Borneo – which they had won in an Atas/Travel Weekly competition.

 

Archie (16) travelled with his brother Freddie (13) and parents Donna and Matt, of Stratford-upon-Avon agency 52 Degrees North Travel, a member of the Global Travel Group.

 

They saw orangutans, turtles and lizards, explored the jungle and swam in a waterfall.

 

“All the opportunities could be enjoyed as much by adults as the kids,” said Archie.

 

“There were loads of wildlife opportunities. I was brought up on Steve Backshall’s Deadly 60 TV show, so that was completely up my street.

 

“With this shared experience, we can have crazy ‘remember when’ conversations – like when we saw wild orangutans or the resident monitor lizard, John, at our swimming pool.”

 

Donna said one concern had been about Freddie’s fussy eating but being in a different environment with other kids and the guide eating local food encouraged her son to try new tastes.

 

Matt said they bonded with the other families on the trip as they were all there for a similar experience – and they appreciated the fact there were no squabbles about what to do each day as the itinerary had already been planned by Intrepid.

 

“The trip leader is the most important bit of the trip. Ronnie [our guide] was absolutely fantastic,” added Matt.

 

“He was knowledgeable, friendly, jovial and really good with the kids.”

 

A video montage shown to delegates revealed Donna had become quite emotional as she recalled the experiences during the trip.

 

“For the [boys] to say that it was the best experience…and the turtles were my bucket list...that probably just tipped me over the edge,” she told delegates.