Articles from Green Light Group Tours about student group travel, destinations, planning, and life on the road.
As a director, you know a tradition of travel is important to your program. It helps with recruiting and retention and gives your students something to look forward to. Normally this means simple in-state trips and the occasional out-of-state trip.
Read articleThe school year is rapidly coming to a close, and you may have just returned from a Spring trip. As a result, you may be thinking of where you should go next Spring and how you can help even more students be a part of it.
Read articleLet’s face it: your band has baggage. Not the emotional drama kind (though a couple of band parents probably have that too) we’re talking about literally transporting all the stuff you’ll need when traveling by plane.
Read articleFor many group leaders and directors, organizing a trip is a meaningful tradition—a chance to showcase your students’ talent, bond as a group, and create lifelong memories. But when it comes time to start working on logistics, a critical question arises: Should I plan this trip myself, or work with a professional group travel company?
Read articleThanksgiving gets most people thinking about turkey, but for band directors, it can get them thinking of something else: The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Maybe you’ve marched in it. Maybe you’ve only seen it on TV.
Read article“Group Leaders Travel FREE!” Ever heard that one before? Well, it’s true. It’s an actual tradition in student group travel for the group leader to travel free of cost. After all, they’re using their nights and weekends to take their students on a transformative travel experience...
Read articleBefore you know it, you and your students will be on your way to an exciting destination- one that you’ve all dreamed about for months. Good thing you launched the trip when you did. Wait. When did you launch this trip?
Read articleThe big spring trip is on the horizon and whether it’s your first time or thousandth time leading one, there’s always a lot to consider. But what do you really need to focus on to make your spring trip a success? We’ve broken it all down in our spring trip survival guide!
Read articleIf you’ve ever thought about taking your group on a trip, you’ve probably imagined epic performances, your students making core memories, and the pride of representing your school in a new place.
Read articleBranson, Missouri doesn’t have tropical beaches. It doesn’t have breathtaking skyscrapers and it's not home to a beloved cartoon mouse. Then why do student bands flock to this humble midwest destination every year?
Read articleWe’ve taken a lot of bands to Disney over the years and here’s the truth: it really is the happiest place on Earth! But here’s the other thing about Disney: you want to be prepared.
Read articleOvernight student trips can be magical and create life-long memories for your students. Something on the top of every overnight student trip to-do list though is: creating a rooming list. This article will share some advice on how to take that potentially daunting task and make it go as smoothly as possible.
Read articleHere at Green Light we’ve seen groups with 300 members get only 45 people to sign up for their end of the year trip. Conversely, we’ve seen groups with 30 members somehow get 80 passengers to sign up. Weird, right?
Read articleChannel your inner Shakespeare when planning your next band trip. As Shakespeare once wrote, “all the world’s a stage.” For performance groups, that idiom can become literal!
Read articleChoosing a great destination for your performance group is a huge part of planning a successful trip. It has to be exciting enough for students to want to go but also have enriching performance opportunities to help them grow as musicians. With all that in mind, here are our top 3 destinations for performance groups for 2023.
Read articleFull service tour operators should be able to make organizing a great band trip easy - including the payment for that trip. Tour companies should provide ways to accept individual online payment for each band member. However, there’s often the question: “What about fundraising and booster money?"
Read articleIsn’t it great when you can look forward to something? As a director you have the opportunity to facilitate that for your students when you create a tradition of travel in your program. In the same way they know they’ll eat turkey on Thanksgiving, they could know their sophomore year will be when they take a trip to New York City.
Read articleYour dance team deserves a special treat! Why not take your student group on a trip where they can learn, perform, AND have fun at the same time? FLORIDA Dance is UNIVERSAL! is...
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