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Explorica Reports Record Growth As International Destinations Prove Most Popular; Record Number of Student Travelers Expected To Take Flight This Summer

Posted on: Wednesday, 21 June 2006, 15:00 CDT

On the first day of summer, Explorica, a leading educational travel company offering high-quality, low-cost travel programs worldwide, today announced that the company is reporting record growth, as evidenced by the overwhelming number of student travelers expected this summer. Despite soaring fuel prices and a weak U.S. dollar, international teacher-led tours continue to gain in popularity along with students traveling abroad.

"We have also seen more than a three-fold increase in demand for our Summer Academy international programs which combine traditional touring with education," said Olle A. Olsson, Explorica Founder and President. "Students, teachers and parents are all seeing the values of these enriching programs - international travel is literally the way to go."

According to the Travel Industry Association of America, airlines are also more vigorously pursuing international markets and are adding capacity, while gas prices continue to hurt domestic travel. And with a recent Senate Resolution naming 2006 the "Year of Study Abroad", there has been an increased focus on initiatives, such as Explorica, to promote and expand study abroad opportunities.

The most popular destinations this year includes Costa Rica, Italy and European combination tours which feature stops in multiple countries. Tour operators, like Explorica, are typically not affected by currency fluctuations. They have the advantage of offering cost-effective packages by having a worldwide presence, setting prices in advance and negotiating rates which would be unavailable to individual travelers. Explorica's hallmark is to combine the best of traditional student travel with top new technology to improve every aspect of the travel encounter - from researching, planning, and booking, to paying and actually taking the trip.

Through its unique online approach, all relevant information is available on its Web site, www.explorica.com, which also includes convenient and automated sign-up and extensive travel details.

About Explorica

With offices in Boston, San Diego and Toronto, Explorica's educational travel company is built for the 21st century. Launched in August 2000, Explorica is transforming the multi-million-dollar market for teacher-led student educational travel. The company's newest offering, Summer Academy, shows its deep understanding of the industry with a detailed vision of technological innovation that leverages the efficiencies and opportunities of the Internet. Explorica's primary differentiator is its inventive use of technology applied to every aspect of the travel experience. Cutting-edge technology is used as a medium for most interactions, thus reducing overhead and errors, and enhancing the travel experience with online, personalized web-based TourCenters(TM).

Explorica's management team has over 150 combined years of practice in the educational travel business. Since its inception, Explorica has produced more than $100 million in revenues, and has served thousands of students, parents and teachers from the US and Canada. Destinations include: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, England, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Scotland, Switzerland, Turkey, and Wales. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Explorica has offices in Canada and Europe.

For more information, visit www.explorica.com or www.summer-academy.com.

Source: Business Wire

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