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Rich Abrams

Vol 14: Curtains Up, It’s Time For Broadway!

By Journal

“Curtain up! Light the lights!”
“There’s no business like show business!”
“Another op’nin’, another show!

Can you tell we’re excited for Broadway’s return in New York City??

With 41 Broadway theatres and hundreds of off-Broadway and off-off Broadway houses, theatre is as much of the heart of New York City as the Statue of Liberty and thin crust pizza. We’re eagerly counting down the days until we can be sitting in the audience again with family and friends experiencing some of the best live theatre in the world!

The past few weeks shows have been announcing their returns to the Great White Way!
• Wicked, Hamilton, Aladdin, Six, and more will all be back in mid-September 2021!!
• Hadestown will be reopening September 2nd!
• A new play, Pass Over, will be beginning Broadway performances August 4th!!

What shows are you most excited to see with us this year? When submitting your new tour request, be sure to let us know!

Keep Smiling and make it a terrific day!

Your Friends,
Junior Tours

Vol 13: Kickoff the summer with a free chaperone and referral points

By Journal

The weather has turned warm, your Memorial Day weekend barbeque is just a few days away, and we finally have Covid under control. Who could ask for more right now!

The travel industry is making a quick rebound. Hotels, airlines, and attractions are ramping up for a big turnaround in the months ahead.  We strongly urge you to contact Junior Tours today if you are thinking of setting up a trip for your students in 2022. It’s risk free and time is running out to lock in today’s prices for next year’s tours. Also, June 15th is the last day to book a trip and have an extra free chaperone included with your tour package.

If you have ever traveled with Junior Tours, then you know firsthand how amazing the experience is for your students.  Visiting America’s greatest cities can inspire them to achieve incredible things.  At some point, you probably have had a friend or colleague ask you for the name of a reputable travel company. Hopefully, Junior Tours came to mind. We are a family-owned business and rely heavily on word of mouth to sustain us. To show our appreciation, we will reward you with additional JTRIP Loyalty points for anyone that mentions your name in their tour quote request. As a reminder, points can be used to redeem gift cards from Amazon or Starbucks, electronics like an X Box or Kindle or even airline tickets. Please be kind enough share your Junior Tours’ experiences with anyone who might be looking for a new tour company.

Thank you all for your continued support and hope everyone has an amazing Memorial Day Weekend!

Your Friends,
Junior Tours

Vol 12: All Good Things

By Journal

While we’re not quite at that champagne moment where we can celebrate victory, we sure are close!

Over the course of just the last week, we passed a few major milestones:

  • Reported Covid cases are down 25% and new cases are trending down in all 50 states.
  • TSA announced more people traveled this week than in any other week since the pandemic began.
  • The CDC updated their guidelines to allow fully vaccinated people to resume activities without wearing a mask or socially distancing.
  • Washington D.C. has reopened most of the museums and attractions.
  • Broadway announced that they will reopen to full capacity in September.

Junior Tours is proud to share that we hosted eight more school groups.  All were groups that had to reschedule their travel plans last spring.  They enjoyed touring around Washington D.C., New York City, Philadelphia and Baltimore.

There are only a few weeks left in the school year.  If you’re considering a trip in 2022, this is a great time to get started. Junior Tours is running a promotion where we will include one extra free chaperone beyond our normal comp policy.  Please click here to get a quote and sample itinerary.

Have a great day!

Your Friends at Junior Tours

Vol. 11: Something to Talk About

By Journal

Thank you to everyone who participated in our Teacher Appreciation Giveaway! We got an incredible response and love everyone’s great taste in movies. Congratulations to our winners, Derek Phipps of Richmond VA and Cynthia Cheatwood of Orange Park FL. Your Massage Envy giftcards are on the way!

This week, we wanted to share with you a little taste of what it’s like to be a Tour Guide.

Being a tour guide is a fun, exciting, yet tough job. In addition to keeping up with current city trends, knowing the streets & layout, and coordinating all on-tour logistics, a tour guide also needs to be armed with tons of facts and trivia about the city’s history and culture.

Here are some of our city tour guide facts to share with your students or spark the conversation at your next family cookout.

Chicago is home to the world’s first brownie.  It was created at Chicago’s Palmer House, when Bertha Palmer, wife of millionaire hotelier Potter Palmer, requested a new dessert to serve at the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition.

New York City is a great place to birdwatch! Off the 800 known North American bird species, 275 have made appearances in Central Park.

Philadelphia loves their pretzels! The average Philadelphian consumes 12 times more pretzels each year than the average American.

New Orleans, known for Jazz and…Opera? The first opera in America, Sylvain by Ernest Gretry, was performed in the city in 1796.

Washington D.C. is home to the “Highest Court in the Land.” It’s a basketball court on the top floor of the United States Supreme Court Building.

Atlanta has over 55 streets with “Peachtree” in their name and it’s possible that NONE are named for an actual peach tree.  Historians suggest they’re named after the Native American village of “Standing Pitch Tree” and the pronunciation corrupted over the years.

Orlando is home to the world’s largest McDonalds. Measuring in at a whopping 19,000 square feet, it’s definitely supersized!

Toronto is nicknamed “Hollywood North.” The 3rd largest film production venue in North America, 25% of Hollywood movies are filmed there.

Montreal is home to the world’s first hockey game! It took place in 1875 at the Victoria Skating Rink and, unsurprisingly, ended in a fight.

Do you have any favorite fun facts your past tour guides have shared with you? Post them in on our Journal page so everyone can enjoy!

And when you’re ready to get a jump on your 2022 trip, you can always contact us at info@juniortours.com or 1-800-631-2241.

We’d love to hear from you!

Have a fantastic week and stay tuned for Volume 12 of the JT Journal.

Your friends,

Junior Tours

Vol. 10: Teacher Appreciation Sweepstakes

By Journal

Happy National Teacher Appreciation Week!

This week, the JT Journal is all about YOU! The Fantastic Teachers and Educators of the World!

In honor of your special week, we are giving away two $100 gift certificates to Massage Envy. To enter into our giveaway, we ask that you visit our new blog here and tell us your favorite movie about teachers or schools.  Repeats are welcome and sharing your favorite movie along with a quote from the movie will double your chances!  To kick off the giveaway, we have posted our favorite, Dead Poet’s Society, “No Matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world.”

Two lucky winners will be randomly selected on Friday May 7th and notified via email of their winnings.

We wish you all the best week and we can’t wait to see all your favorite movies!

Keep on Smiling!

Your Friends at Junior Tours

Vol. 9: Earn An Extra Free Chaperone on Your 2022 Tour

By Journal

Happy Wednesday Junior Tours Friends and Family!

We have missed you and are excited to see you and your student’s smiling faces again.  As a reminder, you can earn ONE EXTRA FREE CHAPERONE if we pencil you in a tour for 2021-2021 school year before June 15th, 2021.  Best of all, there’s no risk.  You can cancel the trip for any reason before you send us the first deposit at no cost.

We have amazing packages to New York City, Washington D.C., Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Atlanta, New Orleans, Williamsburg and more.   Click here request a quote today and we’ll email you an itinerary and proposal for an all-inclusive tour package.  If you are interested, just tell us your travel dates and we will send you promotional materials to share with your group.  No deposits are due until October 1st.

Getting started now will also provide you and your students with:

  • Current value 2021 prices for 2022 tours
  • Priority on school calendar ahead of other trips and school activities
  • Maximum time to save money and fundraise over the summer
  • Priority bookings with your favorite hotels, tour guides, restaurants and shows

The best memories are shared ones with your peer’s and friends. By CLICKING HERE we can start building your new memories with an extra free chaperone on your upcoming trip of a lifetime.

See you soon!

Your Friends,

Junior Tours

Vol 8: Travel Scholarships, Grants and Fundraising

By Journal

Greetings!

As travel begins to regain momentum, many people are still recovering financially from the impacts of COVID.   We’d like to remind you of some ways you can help students afford to travel who otherwise may have difficulties.

For decades, Junior Tours has been an active member of the Student Youth Travel Association and its philanthropic sister organization, the SYTA Youth Foundation.  SYF’s mission is to enrich lives by providing grants and scholarships to students in need so they can participate in amazing travel experiences.

The two biggest programs that SYF sponsors are:

  • Road Scholarship: Educators can submit an application for any student who is need. Around 100 grants of up to $1,000 each are awarded annually based on the following criteria: need, student achievement, initiative, service/community citizenship and connection to area of interest.  Click Here to learn more.
  • World is A Classroom Essay Contest: Students can write a personal essay describing how travel has impacted their life. Awards up to $1,500 are given to the top 5 essays as judged by a panel of volunteers.

In addition to the grants and scholarships offered by SYF, did you know that Junior Tours can give your students FREE scratch cards to help fundraise?   After sending in your first deposit, we can send you scratch cards upon request so your students can offset their final balance through easy to collect donations.  Each card is worth approximately $200 if each box is scratched and collected.  Click Here to learn more.

While we are talking about free things, we want to remind you that we are currently running a promotion offering one additional free chaperone on your next tour.  To be eligible, you simply have to book a tour by June 15th and make the first deposit by October 1st.    It’s that easy.  Request a quote today to get started.

Have a great week!

Your Friends at Junior Tours

Vol 7: JTRIP – Let Us Reward You!

By Journal

We appreciate all of you that have been following along with our weekly Newsletter- The JT Journal. This week, we want to focus on our rewards program: Junior Tours Reward & Incentive Program- JTRIP!  

There are many easy ways to earn points that can be redeemed for fantastic prizes, including gift cards, apparel, electronics and free airline tickets. Program registration is automatic once you request your first quote from Junior Tours. After that, it’s easy to start accumulating points quickly by completing one of the actions below!

200 points

  • Submit Room List 6 weeks Prior to departure
  • Submit Final Payment on time
  • Complete a Post Trip Survey

250 points

  • Refer a new person to Junior Tours

500 points

  • Request a quote – welcome to Junior Tours!
  • Book a tour for travel
  • If your referral books a tour with Junior Tours
  • Send us photos of your students while on tour

2000 points

  • Bring 5+ travelers above contract minimum

5000 points

  • Upon completion of travel
  • Upon completion of your referral’s travel

Throughout the year we also run special events where you can earn additional JTRIP Points. To kick off the spring of 2021, we’re running one now: Email Us a story of any fun or creative things you have done in your virtual classrooms to engage with your students and we will immediately issue you 500 points.

If you’re ready to start planning you’re a trip with your students in 2022- please email us or call 1-800-631-2241 to get started.  We will include one extra free chaperone if you book your tour by June 15th and make your first deposit by Oct.1st. We would love to hear from you!

Stay tuned for Volume 8 of the JT Journal where we will share more information about grants and scholarships available to students in need through the SYTA Youth Foundation.

Your Friends,

Junior Tours

Vol. 6: Promotion: Extra Free Chaperone on Your Next Tour

By Journal

Hello!
Spring has arrived and now is the best time to plan ahead for next year’s trip with Junior Tours.  Why plan now you might ask?   Because we will include 1 extra free chaperone with your package if you book a tour before June 15th.

In addition to locking in an extra FREE CHAPERONE, starting early will also give you the following benefits:

  • LOWEST PRICES: Take advantage of 2021 prices for travel in 2022
  • SAVE THE DATE: Get priority on school calendar ahead of other trips and school activities
  • MORE TIME TO SAVE: Give students maximum time to save money and fundraise
  • MAKE YOUR REQUESTS: Let us know your favorite hotel, guide or Broadway show

Step 1: Request a Tour Quote

Click Here and fill out the form. We’ll send you a customized tour quote and itinerary based on the trip you want to take.

Step 2: Review Proposal and Give Us Your Travel Dates

We can make any adjustments to the tour package you suggest.  Once we have an good outline, we just need your travel dates to get started to book your group and lock in an extra free chaperone.

Step 3:  We’ll send you materials to promote your trip.

It’s that simple!  You can collect deposits in the fall.   If there’s not enough interest next year, you can cancel the trip and you owe us nothing.

The best memories are shared ones. Bring an extra free chaperone with you on this trip of a lifetime!

Next up in Vol. 7 of our Wednesday JT Journal we will share the latest updates regarding travel.

Have a great week!

Your Friends at Junior Tours

Vol. 5: Recap March 18-23 Amazing Tour of Washington D.C.

By Journal

Hello Friends,
Like many of you, we have missed travel too!  Last week was a special moment for us.  After nearly a year without group travel, Junior Tours hosted its first school back to Washington D.C….and it was a huge success!

53 students and parents from Nampa, Idaho had an absolutely fantastic time exploring our nation’s capital. They even took day trips to Gettysburg to see the battlefields and to Baltimore to stop by the National Aquarium.  Their days were fulfilled with excitement and memorable experiences.

We are thrilled to share with your some these unforgettable moments captured by the group.  CLICK HERE to access their google photos.

With attractive pricing and momentum building for group travel, now is a great time to gather information about planning next year’s trip. CLICK HERE to request a quote and sample itinerary to get started.

Next up in Vol. 6 of our Wednesday JT Journal we will introduce our ‘Book Early & Save Promotion’ for one extra free chaperone included with your next tour package.

Have a great week!

Your Friends at Junior Tours

P.S.  Check out the 5 star review on our Google page from the group leader: