Our 2023 “spring season” is now officially over, and it’s time to look back on how everything went. While we were all relieved by the official end of COVID protocols, we were underprepared for the surge in bookings, as old and new clients alike rushed to plan trips. We ran 51 programs for ~2400 students in more than 15 different locations. While we were excited to resume normal business operations, ramping back up to full capacity was challenging. Not only were we understaffed, but we hadn’t run many of our flagship programs since 2019. Most of the venues that we had previously worked with were either no longer in business, or were similarly underprepared for the surge in bookings.
We immediately responded by hiring both more administrative staff and more instructors, bringing the total up to 35 staff. We extended our pre-season training to 6 days, and spent more time covering facilitation, compared to previous training sessions. We hired a new “CAS program coordinator,” whose role is to enhance our ability to deliver quality culture and service learning activities, as well as to work with our clients to integrate experiential education programming into school curricula.
The next step was to send staff to some of the more remote locations to rebuild those programs from the ground up. While changes to those programs were inevitable, we were generally pleased with the results, as we discovered new venues and new activities in almost all locations. Our Inner Mongolia program, in particular, has been completely redesigned, and thanks to a still-new high-speed train line, it’s now a very practical and cost-effective option for schools in North China.
Some of the other “firsts” from this spring:
- Service learning activity in the sunken courtyards of Shaanxi
- A program built around sailing instruction in Qingdao
- Rugged backpacking expeditions in Jiangsu
- Day Programs in Shenzhen
- River dolphin conservation activity in Anhui
- A new “Wild Great Wall” hike near Beijing
- Ocean water sports in Tianjin
Looking ahead to the fall, we’re very excited about re-introducing our Qinhuangdao (Hebei) programs, new outdoor bases in Huizhou (Guangdong), and some new service learning activities in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Meanwhile, our HR Director, Jacob, has been working to fill out our fall team with more foreign staff to re-introduce an international perspective to our approach to programs. We’ve upgraded our online registration portal, and our management staff have been trying to refine our protocols for communicating with school administrators.
I would like to once again conclude this post by thanking our amazing staff for their tirelessness and dedication. I would also like to thank all of our clients – old and new – for continuing to work with us. We look forward to working with you again in the 2023-2024 academic year.