The Group Leader's role
As you move through the tour planning process—from selecting your itinerary, to promoting your tour, to preparing your travellers for their time abroad—here's a look at a few key elements of your role as a Group Leader.
Choose your EF tour
Your Tour Consultant is your best resource to help you select a tour based on your group’s needs and interests, including which destinations rank the highest on your travel agenda and whether there are specific countries that will especially complement your curriculum. Your Tour Consultant will help determine which tour length, pace and price will be best for your group.
Select flexible travel options
If you are not travelling as a private group, you will need to select first-, second-, and third-choice tour itineraries. This allows us to combine you with other groups from around the country that are travelling at the same time as you. Additionally, we also ask for departure date flexibility.
Promote your tour and recruit travelers
The next step is to get travellers excited about travelling on your tour—be it online, in your school or in your community. Host parent information meeting for travellers and parents to let them know about this exciting opportunity and then set an enrollment deadline for your tour.
Supervise your group at all times on tour
The Group Leader (or a designated Chaperone) must accompany the group at all times, including during meals, sightseeing excursions and optional excursions on tour. For more information on the Group Leader's role in safety on tour, read our Safety Guidelines for Group Leaders article.
Travel on an Experiential Training Tour
Ensuring you are fully prepared to lead an EF tour is our commitment to your school community. Through our blended learning model, first-time Group Leaders have the opportunity to travel to places like Paris, Rome, Madrid, Barcelona or Berlin on an Experiential Training Tour to learn best practices from experienced Group Leaders and EF staff.
Prepare your group
We also ask that you prepare your travellers for their experience abroad. Make sure they understand that group travel requires flexibility and cooperation. Explain that accommodations and meals abroad might differ from what they are accustomed to at home. For tips on setting expectations for your travellers, please contact your Tour Consultant.
Maintain contact with your group
You are your travellers’ main connection to EF. Use your Group Leader website to easily manage and maintain email communication with your group. We also suggest holding regularly scheduled meetings throughout the tour-planning process where you can share information including final itineraries, payment deadlines, packing suggestions and more. Keep your travellers excited about your tour by having potluck lunches featuring food from the countries you’ll be visiting, or watch movies that take place in the cities you’ll be exploring.