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People to People: "Ambassadors" or Tourists?

Not Everyone's Happy with People to People Trips

By Lisa Wade McCormick
ConsumerAffairs.com

November 20, 2006

People to People International An Investigative Report by Lisa Wade McCormick • Introduction • P2P: Ambassadors or Tourists? • P2P CEO "Mortified" • Parents Object to Student Lists • Not Everyone's Happy with People to People Trips • Fast Facts About People to People International • Update 12/06: It Happens Again • Deceased Cat Invited to be Student Ambassador --- News about P2P • Feds Asked to Probe Student's Death on People to People Tour • Student 'Ambassador' Dies Neglected & Alone • People to People Invites Dead Girl ... Again • People to People Executive Sentenced to Prison • People to People "Clarifies" Its Invitation Policy • Student Travel Service Still Misleading Parents • Student Travel Service Agrees To Modify Marketing --- • Consumer Complaints • Consumer Compliments

Nearly 100 percent of students who go on a People To People Student Ambassador trip say they'd recommend the program, according to Mary Eisenhower, the organization's president. She says her organization surveys students at the end of their educational trips overseas.

"And 95 percent say 'Yes, they'd recommend' them to their friends," Eisenhower says. "I've seen these programs work. And they work beautifully."

The Iowa Attorney General's Office criticized the organization's marketing tactics earlier this year, saying they misled parents into believing their children were specially chosen for the Student Ambassador trips abroad.

That action came after an Iowa mother -- whose infant son died in 1993 -- received a letter from the organization last year, stating her child was named for a Student Ambassador trip abroad.

Eisenhower says she was "mortified" when she learned about the letter going to a parent who lost a child. She apologized for that action, calling it "human error."

Her organization also donated $25,000 to charity in honor of the boy who died. And she says People To People recently changed the wording of its marketing letter.

Iowa officials, however, never questioned the merits of the Student Ambassador trips.

ConsumerAffairs.com has received one complaint about the Student Ambassador trips since September.

Christy E. of Arlington, Texas, says the organization misrepresented the experience her 17-year-old daughter would have on a 20-day trip to Europe.

"People To People acted like they (the kids) were representatives of America, and there was a lot of emphasis on the way they acted," Christy says. "But when they got over there, most of the things they did were touristy things that anybody could do. We were disappointed because the places listed on the travel itinerary were replaced with not so well-known destinations at the last minute because of 'scheduling issues.'"

Christy says her daughter, for example:
• Didn't meet members of Parliament, as promised;
• Was only in Dublin long enough to check into a motel and grab two meals;
• Went to Waterford, but didn't go to the Waterford museum.

"They did tell us things could change once the kids got to Europe," Christy says. "But these were big things. If you say you're going to London and you'll get to go to Parliament -- and then the closest you get to Parliament is seeing it from the London Eye (the big Ferris wheel) -- that's misleading."

Christy also had concerns with the group leader on the trip. "She was new and I was not happy with the work they were supposed to do to get ready for this trip."

Her daughter, she says, also lost 12 pounds on the trip. "That's because the food was bad. And for the first two months after she got back, every time I'd make potatoes, she said couldn't eat them because that's all she ate on the trip."

Would she recommend the Student Ambassador program?

"As parent, no, I wouldn't," Christy says. "It's not worth the money. I bet I could find a good travel agency that could book a 20-day trip to Europe like this, and it would be a lot less expensive (she paid $4800), and they would get me hooked up with people who lived there.

"I've been contacted four times by People To People to come and recommend the program to other parents," she adds. "And I've declined all four times. I've also asked to be taken off their list."

What about her daughter?

"While she said she would love to go back to the UK, she would never want to go with a People To People group again," Christy says.

"She's been contacted ten times by People To People to sign up for another trip, and twice to write recommendations for them. She's declined on both and we finally had to request they take us off their contact list to stop the calls and emails."

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