Membership

Who is 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 the youth, student and educational travel industry. It is the world’s most powerful network of youth and student travel professionals, connecting key industry players with decision makers and government officials.

What does WYSE do?

We are committed to understanding the ever-changing characteristics, motivations, and needs of young travellers. By gathering, analysing and sharing important market intelligence with members, academics and government decision-makers, satisfying the unique fast-changing needs of the youth market is at the forefront of our activities.

We work with our members, sector associations, tourism authorities and partners around the globe to:

  • Deliver essential trade conferences: World Youth and Student Travel Conference (WYSTC), STAY WYSE Conference, WYSE Exchange AustraliaWork Experience Travel Market (WETM-IAC)
  • Promote the personal, social, economic and cultural benefits of youth travel and international education by working in partnership with governments and tourism boards worldwide
  • Support the development and success of student and youth travel specialists, and the critical role they play in this unique industry
  • Provide trading, networking and knowledge-sharing platforms
  • Produce and distribute research and market intelligence to identify the unique needs and trends of today’s independent travellers
  • Provide best practice guidelines on products and policies. Represent our members at industry events worldwide
  • Provide specialist sector support.

Why join WYSE?

Youth travel (18-35) is the bedrock of traditional tourism. The global youth travel industry is now estimated to represent more than 284 million international trips a year and has grown faster than global travel overall. By 2020, young travellers will take 320 million international trips. UNWTO and WYSE Travel Confederation are convinced that youth travel has moved far beyond its original status as a specialised travel niche to become an important element of the travel mix in any tourism destination.

We are the only global not-for-profit membership organisation dedicated to supporting this unique market, which generated an estimated USD 280 billion in 2015. Membership with WYSE Travel Confederation can help position your organisation at the very heart of the global industry and promote your programmes at a local and an international level.

Be part of a global trusted youth travel community: WYSE members operate following the WYSE Code of Conduct and the WYSE mark is increasingly valued and recognised. Joining will raise your profile in the industry.

Stay up-to-date with latest developments in youth travel: we do in-depth research so you don’t have to. Members can access unique reports on topics such as the Millennial Traveller for free and are welcome to commission reports on specific topics.

Increase knowledge and skills: we offer free webinars on a variety of hot topics to help you do business better. We have expert in-house knowledge and know great travel industry experts that we can invite to share expertise with you. We are open to your ideas and input too. We believe learning from your peers is most effective.

Help drive the global youth travel policy agenda: we provide industry leadership through ‘one voice’ advocacy and representation. Just like you the youth travel sector should be a focal point of every destination’s economic and tourism strategies.

Make connections with the right partners: we support you through our conferences, our website, representation at travel trade events and other networking opportunities. You can always contact us for introductions and we love sharing your news. Members get considerable discounts to attend events such as WYSTC, WETM, STAY WYSE, WYSE Exchange or ITB where you can make new contacts and grow your business.

Why join WYSE now?

The youth travel sector is a growing and fast-changing industry. Old models of selling tourism are dying quickly. WYSE membership will put you in a community of front-runners and influencers. It is simply a wise thing to do.