The big keep getting bigger. The largest educational travel company in the U.S., WorldStrides has acquired Boston-based Explorica. Explorica is consider one of North America’s premier student travel companies, providing predominantly international travel programs for over 35,000 U.S. and Canadian middle and high school students each year. The company also produces domestic student trips for Canadian students through its Keating-Explorica brand.
Explorica is now part of WorldStrides
Founded in 2000 by Olle Olsson and a team of seasoned student travel pros, the company has provided authentic and interactive educational travel programs for students. The company specializes in connecting teachers and students to new cultures and languages in more than 55 countries around the globe. The firm’s online tools and personalized service enables teachers to customize travel-study programs that enhance what they teach in the classroom.
“We are extremely excited about the people, programs and resources that this acquisition brings to WorldStrides,” said Jim Hall, President and CEO of WorldStrides. “We have known and admired Explorica since the company’s founding, and their programs provide a perfect complement to WorldStrides.” He added, “With the addition of Explorica, we now have more than 1,300 global employees operating out of 45 offices on six continents, allowing us to continue to set new standards in experiential education for students of all ages.”
Olle Olsson, founder and Chairman of Explorica added, “Joining WorldStrides presents an ideal opportunity for Explorica to continue our mission of providing students and teachers with the highest quality educational travel programs at affordable prices. The collective resources of our companies are unmatched in our industry, and I could not be more excited for our employees and customers.” Olsson and the management team and employees will continue with WorldStrides following the acquisition.
