Latitude Group Travel was formed with the thought that something was missing in the way that Educational Tours were being delivered. With a passion for education and the desire to make a real difference, Dennis and Jenny Murphy formed Latitude Group Travel.
They believed that service is essential. Understanding that teachers are so incredibly busy, Dennis and Jenny wanted to take as much of the burden of organising school tours away from the teacher. They wanted to do as much of the organising work as possible so that the teacher could get on with teaching and their other responsibilities.
Latitude Group Travel, today, provides exceptional and unique tours that take the worry away from busy teachers and reassures the parents that their children are receiving real educational value.
THEIR MISSION IS TO ENSURE
- Tours delivered to students have real learning outcomes.
- Tours are so bespoke that each school has special tours, designed only for them and that these tours, then, are something of which the school can be exceptionally proud.
- Parents can be confident that the tour provides value for money for the exceptional experiences.
- Tours include activities that fill the whole tour and that there are no gaps to be filled, or extras to pay, when the school group is on tour.
- Tours are linked to the curriculum and have real educational outcomes.
- Included experiential learning activities mean that students learn by being engaged in a workshop, themed guided tour, Q & A sessions and more, all linked to what they are learning in class
- Our tours are safe.
- Tours are highly engaging, exciting and educational
THE ‘A’ TEAM
Latitude Group Travel is incredibly fortunate to have on board a team of passionate and dedicated staff , who live and breathe the company’s mission and vision.
The team is responsible for all of the bookings of tour elements, hotels, shows, tours, experiential learning activities and more, as well as developing our very special custom designed, curriculum linked itineraries. The team also liaises day to day with teachers to ensure that every part of the process occurs as it should and meets or exceeds the teachers’ expectations. The reason that the individuals in our team stay with Latitude Group Travel is their real belief in what we do and their desire to do it better and better every day!
DENNIS MURPHY – MANAGING DIRECTOR
A former high school teacher of Government, History and Economics, Dennis has nearly 30 years experience in the travel industry, much of it in student travel as a tour director, logistical specialist and negotiator. He has a strong background in all things American, as he is from Boston. Since starting Latitude Group Travel, he has conducted performing arts and history tours himself, just to keep his hand in as a tour director, which he loves. His experience on the road means that he can solve almost every issue that may arise and has the foresight to consider every eventuality. Dennis is responsible, overall, for procuring our tour directors, locating ideal accommodation and ensuring that all elements of the tours are in place. He reviews all itineraries to guarantee the most efficient route and that the finest tour is delivered for the best possible costing. Dennis is an excellent negotiator and is an expert in logistics. He is on call 24/7 when tours are away, to ensure that any issue that arises can be solved, often before the group is even aware! Dennis’s first contact with a client is frequently as the presenter of our information presentations to parents and students – but he has been involved with your tour long before that.
JENNY MURPHY – CEO
Jenny has spent much of her career founding and running long term businesses, first in HR Consulting and now as an educational program provider. She has travelled most of the globe, including Antarctica – which she considers to be life changing. She has lived in both England and the US, giving her an excellent knowledge of both countries and their history, and has strong expertise in Europe. Jenny is responsible for our corporate strategy and company direction. She oversees the development of our unique itineraries, curriculum evaluation and linkage and the overall investigation, development and approval of our unique experiential learning activities. Her strategic goals for the company include giving back to the education industry through a yet to be announced partnership with a well known foundation and the introduction and implementation of special 5 day educational programs that can be delivered in Australia. Jenny believes that Latitude Group Travel is more of an education provider than a tour operator and is working strategically towards the company being recognised as such, through the development of further special programs. Such is the focus on quality education at Latitude Group Travel, that everything we do is underpinned by the need to engender true educational learning outcomes, linked to the curriculum. This is the reason that our company includes so many experiential learning activities. Jenny also runs the accounting, legal and human resources functions and spends much of her time speaking with clients. She is also responsible for the marketing and development within our company and the development of and liaison with our corporate partnerships with teacher associations. Jenny is likely to be the first person you speak to if you are new to our services, tours and programs
BO CHRISTENSEN – SENIOR MANAGER, TOURS & PROGRAMS
Bo has worked for over 25 years in design, workplace strategy, online education, logistics and sustainability, with a keen eye for detail and quality. His work has taken him to Asia and South America. Born in Denmark, he likes things to be properly organised, managing complex processes with a strong eye for detail. Overseeing tours and programs, including the team that develops the unique itineraries and the Logistics Department that handle the operations and bookings, he helps the professional teams consistently deliver Latitude Group Travel’s industry leading tours and programs. Bo is also responsible for ensuring that major projects, such as the development and execution of our special 5 day programs delivered in Australia, the implementation and bedding down of new software systems and other company strategic goals are successfully integrated into the company’s operations. His specific interest in sustainability has led the company towards investigating how to minimise the impact on the environment of our group travellers. He expects to put into practise this vital program as one of his first major successes with the company and to bring to fruition a plan that is unique in the educational travel industry. All our clients will benefit significantly when working with us, knowing that their environmental impact will be nullified through this exciting addition to our policy of “do no harm”. Additionally – and maybe one of the most exciting things Bo brings to Latitude Group Travel – will soon be a number of sustainability based tours and programs, which will not only support the Cross Curriculum Priorities in addition to Geography, but will also teach all who take these tours more than they ever thought possible about this vital world issue. We are excited to welcome Bo to our highly skilled team.
TORI BROOKES – MARKETING AND DEVELOPMENT
Tori’s background includes qualifications gained in teaching and experience in a travel agency prior to taking some time to raise her children. In the last four years with Latitude Group Travel, Tori has taken responsibility for Operations and then moved into Marketing and Development when she wanted to restrict her hours a little more. She is capable of almost anything at all, but is currently responsible for where, when and how we exhibit at teacher conferences and is usually there herself, representing our company. In addition she is involved with our social media and, with Jenny, is responsible for much of Latitude Group Travel’s written marketing material. She liaises with our corporate partners and with our Service Learning Tours partner, GVI.