Part
01
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Part
01
US School Groups Traveling to Washington, D.C.
In order to determine the number of U.S. student groups that have traveled to Washington, D.C. with schools in the past three years, information was first gathered pertaining to total tourists to Washington, D.C. The most recently published reports by Destination D.C. are from 2014, 2015, and 2016, and thus will be used in this report, as well as the estimated values for 2017. These reports, however, did not break down what percentage of tourists to D.C. were student travelers, and in turn, no information from these reports was present on what percentage of student travelers were traveling specifically with school organizations. As a result, further research was conducted to find other previously compiled reports regarding student traveler statistics.
Two industry-type reports from 2003 and 2014 both stated the same statistic regarding student travelers: around one-fifth (20%) of all tourists are student travelers, and in coming years, it is expected that student travelers will make up around 25% of all tourists. The report from 2014 further stated that in the 1990s, student travelers made up around 15% of all global tourists, and this percentage proceeded to grow to 20% in the 2000s. Consequently, since student tourism has seen a steady growth rate every decade, the statistic stating that 25% of tourists are student travelers, was used to calculate what percentage of tourists to Washington, D.C. were student travelers over the past three years (2014 – 2016, and estimated for 2017).
To further break down what percentage of student travelers to Washington, D.C. were traveling with school-organized programs, two reports regarding educational group travel in the U.S. were used. Both of these reports were compiled based on the same sets of data — which was gathered between August 2013 and November 2015 — and focused on how many teachers in the U.S. plan class trips. A total of 1,432 U.S. teachers were included in this study, 30% of which reported organizing school trips; Washington, D.C. was reported to be the most preferred destination by teachers when planning class trips. Because this was the most recently available report pertaining to student-group travels, this information was used to calculate how many U.S. student groups traveled to Washington, D.C. with school-organized programs over the past three years.
2014
According to Destination D.C., in 2014, a total of 20.2 million visitors of all types on a global scale came to Washington, D.C. Of these visitors, 18.3 million of them were domestic visitors already from the United States. According to the reports from 2003 and 2014, it is estimated that 25% of all tourists are student travelers. Based on this, it can be calculated that around 4.575 million tourists to Washington, D.C. in 2014 were student travelers.
[18,300,000 domestic visitors to D.C. in 2014] * [25% students] = 4,575,000 students traveled to Washington, D.C. in 2014
Between 2013 and 2015, an average of 30% of U.S. teachers organized domestic school trips. Due to the lack of information that explicitly stated how many schools organized trips to Washington, D.C., this information is used to calculate what percentage of the trips to Washington, D.C. were organized by schools in the U.S. By understanding that about 4.575 million U.S. students traveled to Washington, D.C. in 2014, and around 30% of teachers organize school trips, then we can assume that about 30% of the students that traveled to D.C. were on class trips. With respect to this, the calculation below estimates that approximately 1.3725 million students traveled to Washington, D.C. through school-organized programs in 2014.
[4,575,000 student travelers to D.C. in 2014] * [30% organized by schools] = 1,372,500 students traveled with schools to Washington, D.C. in 2014
2015
Destination D.C. calculated that, in 2015, there were a total of 21.3 million visitors to Washington, D.C. of all types on a global scale. Of these visitors, 19.3 million were domestic travelers. By again estimating that student travelers make up about 25% of all tourists, it can again be calculated that approximately 4.825 million visitors to Washington, D.C. in 2015 were student travelers.
[19.3 million domestic visitors to D.C. in 2015] * [25% students] = 4,825,000 students traveled to Washington, D.C. in 2015
Once again using the fact that 30% of teachers organized class trips between 2013 and 2015, the number of student travelers that went to Washington, D.C. in 2015 with schools can be calculated. Since about 4.825 million of the travelers to D.C. in 2015 were students, and 30% of these students likely traveled on class trips, then it can be estimated that around
[4,825,000 student travelers to D.C. in 2015] * [30% organized by schools] = 1,447,500 students traveled with schools to Washington, D.C. in 2015
Based on the calculated data from 2014, there was about a 5.46% increase in student travelers to Washington, D.C. with school-organized programs between 2014 and 2015.
[1,447,500 student travelers to D.C. with schools in 2015] — [1,372,500 student travelers to D.C. with schools in 2014] = 75,000 increase in student travelers to D.C. with schools between 2014 and 2015
[75,000 student increase in 2015] / [1,372,500 student travelers with schools in 2014] = [0.0546] * [100%] = 5.46% increase in student travelers with schools between 2014 and 2015
2016
In 2016, Destination D.C. calculated that there were a total of 22.0 million visitors on a global scale to Washington, D.C. Of these visitors, 20.0 million were domestic travelers. Assuming that 25% of tourists are student travelers, then around 5 million of all tourists to D.C. in 2016 were students.
[20,000,000 domestic visitors to D.C. in 2016] * [25% students] = 5,000,000 students traveled to Washington, D.C. in 2016
By further assuming that about 30% of student travelers are from school-organized trips, then it can be estimated that about 1.5 million students traveled to Washington, D.C. in 2016 through school-organized programs.
[5,000,000 student travelers to D.C. in 2016] * [30% organized by schools] = 1,500,000 students traveled with schools to Washington, D.C. in 2016
Between 2015 and 2016, this represents a growth of 52,500 students traveling to Washington, D.C. with schools, or 3.63%.
[1,500,000 student travelers to D.C. with schools in 2016] — [1,447,500 student travelers to D.C. with schools in 2015] = 52,500 increase in student travelers to D.C. with schools between 2015 and 2016
[52,500 student increase in 2016] / [1,447,500 student travelers with schools in 2015] = [0.0363] * [100%] = 3.63% increase in student travelers with schools between 2015 and 2016
2017 Estimate
Destination D.C. will not be releasing their report on visitors to Washington, D.C. in 2017 until Fall 2018. However, within their 2016 report, they did state that they are expecting total visitors (global and domestic) to increase by 2% to 3% every year. As a result, the 2016 report calculates that in 2017, at least 22.6 million visitors will have visited D.C. in 2017.
In 2014, approximately 90.59% of visitors to Washington, D.C. were domestic travelers. In 2015, this percentage remained stable, with 90.61% of tourists to D.C. being domestic travelers. In 2016, this percentage rose by 0.3% to 90.91% of all travelers to Washington, D.C. being domestic travelers.
[18,300,000 domestic visitors in 2014] / [20,200,000 total visitors in 2014] = [0.9059] * [100%] = 90.59% of visitors to Washington, D.C. in 2014 were domestic tourists
[19,300,000 domestic visitors in 2015] / [21,300,000 total visitors in 2015] = [0.9061] * [100%] = 90.61% of visitors to Washington, D.C. in 2015 were domestic tourists
[20,000,000 domestic visitors in 2016] / [22,000,000 total visitors in 2016] = [0.9091] * [100%] = 90.91% of visitors to Washington, D.C. in 2016 were domestic tourists
From these calculations, it is visible that the percentage of travelers to Washington, D.C. that are domestic travelers remains relatively stable, around 91%. As a result, this percentage can be used to calculate that, with an estimated 22.6 million total travelers to D.C. in 2017, about 20.566 million would have been domestic tourists.
[22,600,000 estimated total travelers to D.C. in 2017] * [91% domestic] = 20,566,000 estimated domestic travelers to D.C. in 2017
Furthermore, by again assuming that 25% of tourists are students and 30% of students traveled with schools, then of the 20.566 million domestic travelers to D.C. in 2017, approximately 5.1415 million of these tourists were students, about 1,542,450 of the students were traveling with school-organized programs.
[20,566,000 estimated domestic travelers to D.C. in 2017] * [25% students] = 5,141,500 estimated students traveled to Washington, D.C. in 2017
[5,141,500 estimated students in 2017] * [30% organized by schools] = 1,542,450 estimated students traveled with schools to Washington, D.C. in 2017
If this trend holds true, then between 2016 and 2017, there will have been an increase of about 2.83% in U.S. student travelers with schools to Washington, D.C.
[1,542,450 estimated student travelers to D.C. with schools in 2017] — [1,500,000 student travelers to D.C. with schools in 2016] = 42,450 increase in student travelers to Washington, D.C. with schools in 2017
[42,450 student increase in 2017] / [1,500,000 student travelers with schools in 2016] = [0.0283] * [100%] = 2.83% increase in student travelers with schools between 2016 and 2017
Group Sizes and Trip Duration
The reports that gathered information from schools between 2013 and 2015 also included information on average trip duration and the number of students that attended these trips. The average duration of multi-day trips of U.S. students from public and private schools was about 3.8 days. Although not specific to class trips to Washington, D.C., because these reports stated that Washington, D.C. was the most popular destination and continued to provide average numbers, this information is included below:
Conclusion
Due to the lack of reports that explicitly stated how many U.S. students traveled to Washington, D.C. over the past three years with school-organized programs, the information had to be gathered and calculated across multiple sources. Destination D.C. provided information on total tourists to Washington, D.C. in 2014, 2015, and 2016, as well as estimates for coming years. Sources from 2003 and 2014 both estimated that students make up around 25% of all tourists, and information gathered from teachers and educational institutions between 2013 and 2015 showed that, of student travelers, approximately 30% are traveling on school-organized trips. Through simply manipulation of this information, the number of students that traveled to Washington, D.C. was able to be calculated, in addition to an estimate for 2017. From these calculations, it can be seen that the number of student travelers to D.C. with schools increases between 4% and 5% every year, even though Destination D.C. calculates increases of only 2% to 3% on a yearly basis.