NST, the UK’s largest educational tour operator, has unveiled a fresh new look and a bold proposition that promises to provide customer service on teachers’ terms.
The new look, featuring bold colours and the image of a swift, embodies NST’s commitment to being teachers’ ‘school trip wingman’ – responsive, agile and worldly-wise.
Teachers hugely value the opportunity to take learning outside of the classroom but research commissioned by NST showed that the qualities most valued in choosing a school trip provider were reliability, customer service and finding a tour that can meet parental budgets. With this clearly of importance, NST has announced new operational functionalities designed to enhance communication and responsiveness, including same day quotes, pre-booked face to face Microsoft Teams calls and super quick response levels. This new channel of communication aims to bring NST trip quoting and planning seamlessly in-line with a teacher’s working day.
“We constantly look to bring new tours to the market in line with curriculum needs or demand from schools, and we also give that consideration to our wider business practices too,” says Alison Sudbury, Chief Customer Officer for NST. “Our customers have told us that having the ability to contact us at any time of the day and to have flexibility in terms of tour packages was vital to their needs, so within our new branding, we have implemented a range of new measures showing our agility and speed to response.”
The move towards instant communication acknowledges the changing priorities of today’s generation of teachers, who are not only short on time but have grown up with an elevated level of technology and expect on-demand customer service that fits in with their schedule.
On average, teachers began planning their 2025 school trips 350 day ahead of the departure date, a number which has barely changed in the past 20 years*. With lead times like this, it’s clear that suppliers need to align with teacher’s pre-existing workstreams. And so, NST’s choice to align with schools’ and colleges’ communications channels sets a precedent in the market that should benefit all teachers with tight schedules.
Also top of teachers’ criteria for school tour operators was flexibility; the ability for itineraries to be changed to suit unique group requirements, be those needs curriculum-based or budgetary.
“The truth is that teachers often don’t want off-the-shelf experiences for their students, or they may need flexibility in the trip logistics and timings to help keep down costs,” said Alison. “That level of agility requires a commitment and attentiveness that we really pride ourselves on at NST. That’s why we’re so excited to share this reinvigorated vision of the brand, with a tagline (“We’re on it”) that echoes what we hear every day in our support centres, and the emblem of the swift representing our promise to swoop in and help when needed.”
NST’s new communication technology is in place from 25th April 2025. To find out more or to get a quote for your school trip, contact the NST team on [email protected] or head to www.nstgroup.co.uk.
