AAI Edutourz : Helping Students Who Wish to Travel Abroad For Experiential Learning
Travel is the best education one can have. The education tourism industry in India is fledgeling and the market in the sector is ripe for disruption by players who can not only make educational tourism an attractive offering for customers but also sustaining it in the long run.
It is no doubt then, that a lot of players are starting up in the educational tourism and travel space. AAI Edutourz, a startup serving the needs of students who wish to travel abroad for experiential learning is aiming to take the market head on and disrupt it.
Founded by Sundeep Luthra, who pursued his postgrad studies at Bristol Business School, the idea was conceived by him after he started looking after the logistics of students travelling from different countries to Bristol Business School as part of summer exchange camps in the college. Post that, Sundeep travelled extensively, studying the educational travel space and the opportunities in the sector in detail. Returning to India, he validated his idea by surveying 117 schools in a span of 5 months. The extensive research and analysis proved to him that the business model was viable and that the idea of his startup would work in a market like India. Later joined by his elder brother Amit Jyot who was already working in the Service Industry with Corporates at a very senior designation. He liked the idea and they both joined hands together and thus the journey started and today they are here still raring to go all out to improvise and invent newer and innovative ways to make the students ‘The Global Citizens’.
As per Sundeep and Amit– “The world is the biggest classroom and travelling in itself, is a big learning process for anyone. Travelling abroad, without the supervision of parents makes one more independent.”
Further, they add that- “Learning starts immediately when the student enters the airport. Right from getting the boarding pass issued to locating the seat in the aeroplane to ordering food to the air hostess is all a new learning for anyone. Spending in foreign currency and managing yourself is also great experiential learning for the students.”
AAI Edutourz also offers a homestay programme, where the visiting students can live with the families of the locals, which gives them a home-like environment in an alien country. Living and having food with the people in a specific country acquaints students with the lifestyle and food habits of these people. Further, their own university stay programme ensures that the students get to share ideas, cultures, and understand the importance of cross-cultural dialogue.
AAI Edutourz has a team of professionals who work tirelessly and ensure that the brand name stays on top of market trends with each passing day. They have successfully done tours to countries like UK, US, Canada and parts of Europe, having helped 9,000+ students travel abroad without any hesitation or fear.
As for the business model, AAI reaches out to the administrators of various higher-education institutions and pitch them the importance of making their students look at things with a global perspective. Once on-boarded, the programme is rolled for students where they deposit a small enrolment fee along with their passports. After procuring the VISA and other documents, the students have to deposit the balance amount of the trip into AAI’s account. Though the market is fairly crowded with some older players constantly pushing for growth, Sundeep believes his startup understands the market better than the rest.
Moving forward, AAI Edutourz is also looking to push further into digital and bring all the stakeholders of this industry onto a digital platform, where schools, colleges and universities can connect directly with each other, hence eliminating the middle man. In the next few months, AAI Edutourz is also looking to raise external funding in order to grow its digital efforts in a more systematic and sustainable manner.
The Indian educational tourism space is heating up, and with the huge influx of students who are opting to travel abroad, startups like AAI will continue to grow exponentially in the years to come. Especially, since now that smaller; tier-II and III cities are now hopping onto the bandwagon, it is poised for growth.
