World Challenge Expeditions

World Challenge is a for-profit UK provider of overseas adventure travel programs targeted at schools. The company was founded when a young army captain took a team of soldiers on a training mission to the snow-capped Hindu Kush mountain range in Pakistan in 1985. He realised that the personal development and camaraderie learned there would shape the team for years to come. World Challenge was later born from this experience in 1988, which created the school expedition industry.

The company operates in North America, Australia, Middle East, South East Asia and Europe. As a brand within the Travelopia Holdings Limited group, World Challenge is owned by KKR.[1]

Carbon Negative Trips

World Challenge are the world's first climate positive (carbon negative) student travel company and pride themselves on providing sustainable travel. They also produce an impact report every year which calculates their impact on the environment, students, local communities and projects plus much more.

Impact Report 2022

Student-Led Expeditions of 1 to 4 weeks

Depending on the experience selected, the students are in charge of picking the destination and activities from curated lists. They also take it in turns to lead the trip and manage the budget, to empower and develop them outside of the classroom.

Earning It

World Challenge encourages the students to raise as much of their expedition fees as possible, giving guidance and ideas along the way.[2]

Journeys 1 to 2 weeks

A newer offering from World Challenge is the Journey product focussing on global citizenship and cultural literacy. Aside from being shorter the focus is more on community engagement and some rest and relaxation activities. Students have an opportunity to live and work in a local community as well as take a look around the destination they are in. The groups are led by local guides with leaders and teachers adding to the trip supervision.

Sports & Curriculum Tours

World Challenge Australasia now offer sport and curriculum tours, covering subjects like Art, History and Geography, as well as sports like cricket, rugby and netball.

The tours combine the subject or sport into a World Challenge style trip overseas including R&R time and adventurous activities.

Incidents

In July 2017 a student at the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe, died while white-water rafting on a World Challenge trip to Ecuador. The company then suspended all white water rafting activity while an investigation took place.[3][4]

In September 2019 a student with Type 1 diabetes died after becoming ill on a World Challenge trip to Vietnam. A coroner's inquest in the students home country of Australia heard that World Challenge staff and teachers from the student's school failed to recognise the seriousness of his condition and opportunities were missed for appropriate care to be provided.[5]

References
  1. "Tax Strategy". Travelopia. Archived from the original on 2019-04-11.
  2. "Fundraising". World Challenge UK. Archived from the original on 2018-12-30.
  3. "'Lessons drawn' from pupil's Ecuador death". BBC News. August 14, 2017.
  4. Karim, Fariha (August 11, 2017). "Matthew Hitchman death: Coroner had criticised adventure firm World Challenge before schoolboy died rafting". The Times.
  5. Tran, Danny (November 13, 2022). "When Lachlan Cook died after a school trip, the 'world stopped' for his family. They are still fighting for answers". ABC News. Australia.
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