Overseas Adventure Travel

Last updated
Overseas Adventure Travel
Type Private
Industry Travel and tourism
Founded1978 (1978)
Headquarters
Boston, MA
,
United States
Key people
Alan and Harriet Lewis,
owners
Parent Grand Circle Corporation
Website oattravel.com

Overseas Adventure Travel (O.A.T.) is part of the family of travel companies owned by Boston-based Grand Circle Corporation, offering group tourism to Africa, the Arctic, [1] Asia, Central and South America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. [2] O.A.T. has small groups with a maximum of 16 travelers on land trips and 25 travelers on trips with a ship portion. O.A.T. has also been recognized for leadership in tourism and in philanthropy. [3]

Contents

History

In 1978, former high school teacher Judi Wineland established O.A.T. [4] After she went to Africa, she became the first woman to launch and operate an adventure travel company. [5] In 1993, O.A.T. was acquired by the Grand Circle Corporation, [6] owned by Alan and Harriet Lewis. [7] Grand Circle Corporation also includes Grand Circle Cruise Line and Grand Circle Travel. [1]

Awards

Travel + Leisure gave O.A.T. a Global Vision Award for philanthropy and a leadership award in 2013. [8] Its readers also named O.A.T. as one of the world's best tour operators and safari outfitters. [9] USA Today named O.A.T. among the top 10 best educational tour companies in its Readers’ Choice Awards in 2019. [2]

Cultural engagement

O.A.T. itineraries focus on "cultural immersion and spending time making connections to local people and their culture.” [10] Their tour guides, called "Trip Experience Leaders", are English-speaking residents of the country. [11]

Solo travel

Forty-seven percent of O.A.T. travelers are solo travelers. [1] There is a free single supplement on all O.A.T. land trips. [12] Travel + Leisure named O.A.T. as one of the "Best Companies for Traveling Solo” [12] and Travel Channel named O.A.T. the "Top Tour for Budget-Conscious Travelers.” [11] In 2019, O.A.T. started to include women-only departures to meet the growing trend of solo female travelers. [13]

Philanthropy

Through the company's Grand Circle Foundation, which consists of the Lewis Family Foundation, millions of dollars have been pledged toward education and preservation since 1992. [8] In 2007, Harriet Lewis founded a program called Next Generation Leaders, that gives internships to students from Boston at the Grand Circle office. [7] In 2012, O.A.T. pledged $600,000 to benefit WBUR, which was the largest donation in the station's history. [3]


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References

  1. 1 2 3 D’Ambrosio, Richard (June 28, 2019), "Don't Overlook Female Baby Boomers for Solo Travel", Travel Market Report, archived from the original on July 10, 2019, retrieved February 20, 2020
  2. 1 2 "Best Educational Tour Companies", USA Today , 2019, archived from the original on February 12, 2020, retrieved February 20, 2020
  3. 1 2 "Overseas Adventure Travel pledges largest corporate challenge gift in station history", WBUR-FM , March 30, 2015, archived from the original on September 5, 2015, retrieved February 21, 2020
  4. ↑ "The Women Who Travel Power List", Condé Nast Traveler , March 8, 2019, archived from the original on December 16, 2019, retrieved February 20, 2020
  5. ↑ Christine, Theresa (March 8, 2019), "Women In Travel: Meet Judi Wineland, A Pioneer In Women's Adventure Travel", Forbes , archived from the original on June 7, 2019, retrieved February 20, 2020
  6. ↑ "Boomers drive growth in Grand Circle's Overseas Adventure Travel division", Boston Business Journal , June 10, 2008, archived from the original on June 12, 2008, retrieved February 21, 2020
  7. 1 2 MacQuarrie, Brian (August 30, 2019), "Starting at 99 cents At Boston summer internship, students build confidence for transition to college", Boston Globe , archived from the original on September 14, 2019, retrieved February 21, 2020
  8. 1 2 Kelso, Stirling (October 14, 2014), "Global Vision Awards 2013", Travel + Leisure , archived from the original on February 21, 2020, retrieved February 20, 2020
  9. ↑ "World's best 2001: Top Tour Operators", Travel + Leisure , February 24, 2010, archived from the original on February 21, 2020, retrieved February 21, 2020
  10. ↑ Villa-Clarke, Angelina (November 26, 2019), "Where In The World? Travel Trends For 2020 - Part 2", Forbes , archived from the original on November 28, 2019, retrieved February 21, 2020
  11. 1 2 Conners, Valerie, "6 Sensational Tours for Solo Travelers", Travel Channel , archived from the original on September 1, 2017, retrieved February 20, 2020
  12. 1 2 Farley, Amy (October 21, 2013), "Best Companies for Traveling Solo", Travel + Leisure , archived from the original on February 21, 2020, retrieved February 21, 2020
  13. ↑ Christoff, Janeen (October 18, 2019), "Overseas Adventure Travel Adds Women-Only Departures Due to High Demand", Travel Pulse, archived from the original on July 10, 2019, retrieved February 21, 2020
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