I’ve been invited to co-host a study abroad program in Japan under the direction of Dr. JongHwa Lee, a South Korean transplant who is also very familiar with the Japanese terrain as his wife is from there. He began the paperwork in 2018 to have a 3 week trip to Tokyo approved/offered to students from a mid-sized university in Texas.

Now approved, I need suggestions on a travel agency/group travel experts that can assist in a trip for 15-20ish young adults (aka college students who’ll also earn credit hours for separate course work he’ll cover before the trip). Oh, and did I mention the approved time frame is during the 2020 🇯🇵Olympics. 😯

Does anyone have suggestions on who can help us navigate this opportunity? Our budget ‘collectively’ will be pretty generous. We are still fundraising and won’t know final until sign up is offered in fall, but we know supply and demand will mean we can expect to pay more than normally high Tokyo prices. Hostels are also an option we expect to consider.

TIA for suggestions!

Trippy

The lead host is pretty insistent that we land in Tokyo. Today I (again) suggested perhaps near Tokyo but not in Tokyo, or focus on Tokyo next year and explore other less crowded choices. I intentionally didn’t mention a total budget because a) I don’t want dollar signs in other’s eyes on the budget only b) (as mentioned) we are still fundraising and have not solicited for student participation yet as we are still working on an itinerary. That said, I would hope we’ll have about $300 per person per day to spend with lunches on their own. Lee did state staying in Yokohama or Chiba instead would be acceptable. It’s a work in process. If there are other universities or educational institutes we can partner with, he would appreciate those suggestions as well. Again, TIA for your suggestions.

Since on my last trip to Japan, which was six comfortable weeks, my per day costs for all accommodation, food and transport averaged 175 USD, I would agree that is "pretty generous". In fact, it seems ridiculously high for a study abroad program. I am also wondering what study is going to be involved, since you appear to be working a person rather than an institution.

That’s an excellent idea! Thanks, I’ll bring that up at our next meeting.

More info on program: up to 10 undergrad, up to 10 grad, GPA of 2.5+ are general prerequisites. In spring students will do most of the “book” work including 3-6 readings on the topic of tourism and cultural communication. I’m reading A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid now. Students usually put in more than the required hours of work/study to earn the six credit hours available. During travel students will be required to keep journals and regularly post both photos and observations on an e-book about their experiences.

Dr. Lee, focuses on theory as well as being a more conscientious tourist. Examples include focus on ecotourism, voluntourism, and he will include the topic of how some tourists take advantage of other cultures/communities by bringing bad self-entitlement behavior on their travels. I was in the tourism industry for over two decades as a DMO representative. Teaching is my second career and I’m a professor of public speaking and photography. I tend to focus on skills that will help ‘get the job’ once graduated. I think our combined styles compliment each other for the benefit of the students. I have further described our goals and university program at the beginning of this thread.

As far as $300, that is a bit high as I did not take into account airfare cost when I calculated per day cost here. However, as many have mentioned $175 may not even buy a capsule hotel room in Tokyo 2020 due to demand. My own research and comments here and on other forums have convinced me that we need to focus outside Tokyo next summer.

As always, TIA to those here to help. Likewise, if you’re just here to disrupt, I don’t think these forums were created with the intention of supporting cyber bullying rhetoric.

Thanks for the information. However, sounds like a boondoggle to me, but also absolutely no reason it has to be Japan. Do people still get GPAs as low as 2.5?

And no one is "bullying" you, sheesh.

Lol...oh never mind. I’ll be over at Reddit. Redditors actually read the thread and offer thoughtful and useful advice along with witty humor. Here there just seems to be (im)posters with too much time on their hands. Fan of Fodor podcast and other products, but this forum was a waste of my time.
- Later