About WYSE Travel Confederation

The World Youth Student and Educational (WYSE) Travel Confederation is a global not-for-profit membership organisation dedicated to promoting and developing opportunities for young travellers and the youth, student and educational travel industry that serves them.

Our global community is the world’s most powerful and extensive network of youth and student travel professionals, consisting of more than 600 members from 120 countries. Members of WYSE Travel Confederation are leaders in the unique types of travel products and services that young people utilise, including:

  • Adventure Tour Operators
  • Au Pair Agencies
  • Cultural Exchange Programmes
  • Hop-on, Hop-off Buses
  • Language Schools and Agents
  • Student Insurance, Flights and Identity Cards
  • Universities, International Education, and Study Abroad Programmes
  • Volunteer and Work Abroad Programmes
  • Youth Hostels and Online Booking Engines
  • Youth and Student Travel Retailers

WYSE Travel Confederation and the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)

WYSE Travel Confederation is a long standing Affiliate Member of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

In recent years our cooperation has taken a variety of forms, one of the most notable being the joint production of the publication Youth Travel Matters – Understanding the Global Phenomenon of Youth Travel. This compendium of our combined research drew attention to the unique motivations of young travellers, and the compelling potential of this vibrant market segment.

WYSE Travel Confederation and UNWTO share the belief that there is great potential for governments and their economies to unlock the power of youth travel to significant mutual benefit. Whilst some have realised this opportunity, many could do more to factor youth travel into their long term tourism strategy. We look forward to developing and publishing a set of specific recommendations to help governments, official tourism organisations and business leaders take the next step.