Backpacking

Through Eastern Europe

December 13, 2017

Prepared for: Prepared by:

Penn State Alumni Megan Brideau
Association (PSAA) Kelsey Hamer
Alumni Travel Zach Love
Division Kysesen Maravich
Caitlin Schlosser
 Backpacking Through Western Europe 1

Introductions

Kelsey Hamer is a graduating senior at Penn State studying

Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management. Her main career
interest is in resorts and theme park destinations.

Megan Brideau is a hard-working junior studying Recreation,

Park, and Tourism Management at Penn State University. She is
looking forward to a future career in working in the recreation
and/or tourism industry.

Kysesen Maravich is a junior at Penn State earning a degree in

Hospitality Management while minoring in Recreation, Park, and
Tourism Management. She is working to pursue a career in resort
management.

Caitlin Schlosser is a junior at The Pennsylvania State University

majoring in Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management. She is
looking forward to a future in planning events for high-end
cosmetic or fashion brands.

Zach Love is a senior studying Recreation, Park, and Tourism

Management at Penn State. He is pursuing a career in ski resort
management or sports management.

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Table of Contents

Introductions ........................................................................................................................1

Executive Summary .............................................................................................................3

Program Description ............................................................................................................5

Destinations..........................................................................................................................6

Theme/Niche ......................................................................................................................10

Audience ............................................................................................................................11

Program Logistics ..............................................................................................................13

Marketing ...........................................................................................................................15

Risk Analysis .....................................................................................................................19

Program Evaluation ...........................................................................................................22

References ..........................................................................................................................23

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Executive Summary
Backpack Through Eastern Europe

This trip is designed for young Penn State alumni who are able bodied and eager to

travel Eastern Europe. Alumni will carry their belongings on their back as they travel

from destination to destination. The four destinations on our trip are Poland, Czech

Republic, Austria, and Budapest, Hungary. Since it may be difficult to carry many new

purchases throughout the journey, the main theme of our trip is photographic

tourism. Most young alumni have smart phones which are perfect for this occasion as

they are lightweight, but can still capture magnificent pictures and memories. In addition

to taking beautiful pictures, the goal of our trip is for young alumni to meet other young

alumni and experience the various cultures and see the beautiful architecture and

landscapes.

Penn State Recent Graduates and Young Alumni

Our trip is specifically designed to target recent Penn State graduates who are able-

bodied and interested in exploring the culture and sights of Poland, Czech Republic,

Austria, and Hungary. Today, college students and recent graduates make up the

majority of people traveling. These young alumni are the same people who enjoy

learning about different cultures and want to meet new people while traveling. Our trip is

perfect for this audience since our clients will have their Penn State ties in common to

bond over while exploring these wonderful destinations.

Marketing Strategy

Due to our target market being recent graduates and young alumni, we made social

media and convenience a priority. Since our target audience spends so much time on

social media already, we created an app to help those interested learn more and prepare

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for their trip. We also created a short one minute video to spark interest and attract young

alumni. In addition, we created a brochure for the Penn State Alumni Association to mail

out. Lastly, we created a flyer to hand out and post around campus and town during busy

weekends, such as graduation and football games.

Costs

The total cost of this trip is $2,300, which includes airfare to and from Europe, as

well as ground transportation to all destinations. Also built into this cost is lodging

accommodations and tours. The lodging accommodations will be 3-star minimal amenity

hotels in the region. Tours The tours built into the cost of this trip include entrance fees

into the museums and parks, the boat cruise and lunch at Punkva Caves, and the tour of

the ruin pubs. The only cost that is not included is meals, but it is recommended to

budget about $20-$40 per day for meals.

Risk Analysis

To help ensure security while traveling, we encourage clients to purchase travel

insurance, and we have provided a link to purchase travel insurance with Penn State

Alumni centers partner, USI Affinity Travel Insurance Services, on our app and we will

send out more information by email once participants confirm the trip. On our app, we

have provided local police numbers as well as U.S. embassy locations and numbers for

each destination. We will try to stay as a group and always stay with at least one partner

to ensure safety and limit risk. We will provide some additional pointers for traveling

safely in each destination in our pre-trip meeting any informative emails, however, there

are no major risks to be concerned of.

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Program Description
Our program has been specifically designed for young alumni and recent graduates

who are bored and seeking an experiential adventure based around sightseeing and

cultural exploration. On our trip, participants will spend approximately two days in each

location: Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, and Hungary. The trip will begin in Krakow

and the first full day will be spent touring the Auschwitz Holocaust Memorial

Museum. In the evening

of the following day,

participants will travel to

the Czech

Republic. While there

participants will be going on a boat cruise to tour the Punkva Cave and eat lunch. On day

5, participants will drive to tour the Czech Bohemian National Park. The following

morning, participants will travel to Austria and have some free time upon arrival. The

next day, participants will

hike Tirolean

Mountain. On day 8,

participants will be going

to the Salzburg Museum

of Modern Art and then to Caf Europa before taking a bus to Budapest. In Budapest,

participants will visit Margit Island (Margitziget) to tour the Bodor musical fountain,

water tower, and a small zoo/game reserve called Vadaspark. On day 10, participants

will be going on a Ruins Bar Crawl to visit more than four bars that have been

established from ruins. And lastly, on day 11, participants will depart for home.

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Destinations
Destination: Poland
Pull Factors Known for great food, especially their pierogies
Relatively cheap European destination to visit eating at the
famous milk bars are cheap
They have public bikes to make transportation easier
Extremely rich history there are medieval castles, Auschwitz
Birkenau Camp, and museums
Plenty of mountain ranges The Tatras are perfect for skiing
in the winter and hiking in the summer
Poland enjoys partying and there are always activities
wedding receptions have been known to last up to 3 days,
leaving a party early or sneaking out is called leaving the
English way, and Polish host will insist you to eat and drink
more
Warsaw has a vibrant culture
Great hospitality from the locals you will be treated like a
family member
History WWII
Home of concentration camps
Governance/Travel Need a passport
Policies Visa not required for stays under 90 days
Poland is located within the Schengen area
Community Once you break the ice with the locals, you will become
Attitudes friends with the locals
Poles see themselves as friendly, welcoming people
It can be difficult to break the ice sometimes and some locals
may be unapproachable/reserved but after the ice has been
broken the Poles will treat you like you are their friends and
family

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Destination: Czech Republic

Pull Factors Prague is a great place to visit breweries Czech Republic is
home of the Pilsner style of beer
Abundant in castles and royal chateaus opportunities for
tourist to stay in these locations when they visit
Rich in history
Nation is well known for its love of hiking, there are over
24,000 miles of marked hiking trails including the Czech
Bohemian Switzerland National Park
Ability to explore deep caves and there are over 2,000 caves
14 of the caves are open all year for tourists to visit and some
are popular with Hollywood films. The most popular cave is
the Punkva Cave
For a country that is famous for beer and breweries, it has
Moravia (Czech wine country) that is filled with hundreds of
vineyards and little villages
History Moravian Karst myths and legends surrounding the caverns
Bohemian Switzerland first national park named after Swiss
artists who said it reminded them of home
Governance/Travel Need a passport
Policies Visa not required for stays under 90 days
Czech Republic is located within the Schengen area
Community Tourist seem to think that the locals in Prague tend to be ruder
Attitudes (Podeszwa, 2017) (Jerzy Kondracki, 2017) (Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, 2017) (Penn State Alumni Asssocation, 2017;
Travel Insrance Select, 2017) (10 Reasons to Visit the Czech
Republic, 2016) (Carter, 2017)

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Destination: Austria
Pull Factors Salzburg is where the movie Sound of Music was filmed
Salzburg is a charming city with plenty of urban life that is
surrounded by mountains
Austria has a nice public transport system which makes it easy
to travel across the country the bus and train routes offer
relatively inexpensive and stress-free rides
It is a safe and small country easy to travel anywhere in the
country
People in Austria speak English well and that allows for easy
movement around the country
Vienna has been named the city with the best quality of life
eight times there are low crime rates, clean air, cheap rents,
and a rich culture
The Tirolean Mountains are great for hikers the Eagle
Walk is the most famous walk here and it takes people 248.5
miles
In the 19th century, Vienna was a powerhouse for art, music,
and culture Mozart was born in Austria and currently there is
the Salzburgs Museum of Modern Art (go-to contemporary art
gallery)
Austria is known for their sweet treats and coffee
Albach Mountains which are located in the Alps are great for
skiers because of how picture perfect the mountain is
Rich in history the Austrian Government acquired many
castles, gardens, and palaces that belonged to the ruling
emperors and turned them into public spaces and museums.
Flak towers are left over from the Nazi reign and are seen
around Vienna
Austria is located right in the heart of Europe
History Tyrol Tirolean Mountains own the country until Austria took
over in the early 1800s
Salzburg Sound of Music, Mozart, Wagner, and Straus
(museum of modern art)
Governance/Travel Austria is a federal republic state with a parliamentary
Policies democracy
Need a passport
Visa not required for stays under 90 days
Austria is located within the Schengen area
Community Austrians are seen as laid back and relaxed but there is some
Attitudes etiquette to keep in mind

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Destination: Budapest
Pull Factors One of the most historic sites Budapest is located right on
Danube, which has been home to humans since the Stone Age
The greatest sites to see are for free
Plenty of good food
Budapest is one of the cheapest spots in Europe right now
The Great Synagogue, the largest synagogue in Europe
Hungary is famous for its vineyards and wine tastings
Margit Island
Ruin pubs old cinemas and apartment buildings that have
been turned into cheap bars, extremely popular in Budapest
History Margitsziget (Margit Island) medieval religious center with
remaining architecture
Ruins (VII District) Jewish ghettos that are left over from
WWII
Governance/Travel Hungary has a republican government
Policies Need a passport
Visa not required for stays under 90 days
Hungary is located within the Schengen area
Community Accepting of tourist
Attitudes

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Theme/Niche
The overall niche market that this trip focused on is photographic tourism. Europe

has such unique architecture from being around for centuries and falling under various

rulers throughout history. Its vast history brings about cultural and architourism. Events

such as the holocaust throughout a majority of the destinations, going on tours in Poland

and going to the Jewish ghettos ruins in Budapest incorporates dark tourism as

well. Photographic tourism ties all these factors together to appeal to younger

generations who use social media as an outlet to express themselves. This will be a

perfect theme to market

to our target demographic

of recent college

graduates.

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Audience
The target demographic for this Alumni trip is recent college graduates of the

Pennsylvania State University. Currently, this age cohort are all identified as

Millennials. According to an article by Julie Peirano, 75% of millennials traveling are

either in college or just graduating from college (2017). Additionally, to that 88% of

millennials are traveling to learn explore new cultures and 67% of millennials want to

meet new people when traveling (Peirano, 2017). With this in mind a backpacking trip

focuses heavily on this demographic because it is the essence of exploring these countries

and spending a long period of time with strangers forces one to meet new friends. A

study done by Hospitality Net showed

that 75% of millennials wish to travel

abroad as well making them again a

great market for these destinations

(2016).

Given that millennials are so

inclined to want to make new friends

while traveling, inclusion does not seem to be an issue to be concerned with during this

trip. Another study shows that millennials are the most diverse, and thus inclusive,

generation to date (Frey, 2016). This makes them more inclined to look past differences

and befriend varying types of individuals regardless of cultural differences and

backgrounds. Millennials in this sense are the best market demographic to not have to

worry about inclusion and diversity. This demographic is also known as the technology

generation in the sense that they grew up with technology and use it in nearly every

setting in their life. This not only make its easy to market to them, but it also ensures

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that they can connect with their fellow

travelers and develop a friendship with

them before even leaving for Eastern

Europe. Over 70% of this generation uses

Facebook as a social media platform

making it easy for them to reach out and

become accustomed to their fellow

travelers (Consumer, 2014). Given this case, it would be wise to inform travelers in

advance who they will be traveling with so they can friend each other on these platforms.

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Program Logistics
Program Costs

Transportation - Air* $1,200

Transportation - Land $500

Accommodations $300

Tours $300

Total $2,300

Cost Analysis

The sum of the program cost is $2,300 which includes estimated air travel,

train/bus/car travel, accommodations and tour fees. Air travel is indicated by an asterisk

because the FAQ on Penn State Alumni Associations website indicates that frequent

flyer miles may be redeemed by the traveler to use during this trip, resulting in a

deduction of total cost. The cost of accommodations was decided by the average cost of a

3-star minimal amenity hotel in the region. The emphasis of this trip is on travel and

being uprooted, so booking a hotel or resort with an extreme number of amenities is

unnecessary.

The tours included in the cost of this trip include entrance fees into the museums

and parks, the boat cruise and lunch at Punkva Caves, and the tour of the ruin pubs. The

cost of meals was not included in the overall tour fee because of the excess independent

time given to the tour. The tour designers did not want to restrict travelers from their

ability to explore the area by making tight timelines and required meetings for group

meals. We encourage exploration and trying new places independently. We will always

have an option to eat somewhere in small groups if travelers do not wish to venture out

on their own.

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Daily Itinerary

Day 1 Air travel to Krakow

Day 2 AM - Tour Auschwitz Holocaust Memorial Museum

PM - Tour Auschwitz Holocaust Memorial Museum

Day 3 AM - Independent morning in Poland

PM - Travel to Czech Republic

Day 4 AM - Punkva Cave Tour

PM - Independent Evening

Day 5 AM - Drive to park

PM - Czech Bohemian National Park

Day 6 AM - Drive to Austria

PM - Independent Evening

Day 7 AM - Hike Tirolean Mountain

PM - Independent Time

Day 8 AM - Salzburgs Museum of Modern Art

PM - Bus Ride to Budapest

Day 9 AM - Independent Morning

PM - Explore Margit Island

Day 10 AM - Independent Morning

PM - Ruins Bar Crawl

Day 11 Departure

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Marketing
In terms of marketing our Alumni trip to our

target audience we made social media and convenience

a priority. The age group we are targeting spends most

of their free time on social media platforms on their

phones making that the ideal avenue to attract potential

participants for our Alumni Travel program.

With this in mind, we created an app. The home

screen of the app conveniently displays links to

informational pages (About Us) containing the contact

information for Alumni Travel along with the mission

and background for the program. Under websites, we

have provided links for both the Alumni Travel website

for Penn State and the Insurance website we partner

with in order to for participants to have all of their

information in one place. We also added attentional

pages with photos of the countries we plan on visiting,

access to the Penn State Alumni Facebook and Twitter,

a map of the areas, and even a link to the easily

shareable video we created for the trip.

Our Backpacking Across Eastern Europe video,

is a short one minute video to peak the interest of our

audience. It is short enough to keep the audiences

attention and long enough to share a persuasive

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message attracting recent Penn State Alumni to participate in a trip to the beautiful

countries of Eastern Europe. Because the video is brief, it also makes it very easy to share

over different social media platforms. With this in mind, we are thinking of implementing

a sharing contest in order to increase interest in and knowledge of the trip. Through this

contest, the person with the most shares/likes/comments on the video could receive a

small discount for the trip or another prize incentive.

Along with social media, we plan to utilize the reach of the Penn State Alumni

Association. We created a brochure for the association to send out with their usual

mailing documents with information about the trip and where to get more information.

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Our final marketing tactic involves

utilizing the popular busy weekends around

Penn State Campus and in downtown state

college. We created a flyer to pass out and put

up on popular football weekends and

graduation weekends in order to spark Alumni

interest while they are visiting their alma

mater.

These flyers could also be passed out or

hung up outside of popular senior classes on

campus and given to different major professors

to have in class. For example, most RPTM students would consider participating in a trip

like we are presenting and providing students with the information while they are still in

school can give PSU alumni a jump on other programs that offer after graduation travel.

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Risk Analysis
Poland: United States has good relations with

the Poland government making it fairly easy to travel

there as an American citizen. In regards to safety,

U.S. citizens are encouraged to avoid all public

demonstrations concerning political and economic

issues. Like most counties, Polands highest crime

activity occurs within major cities. With this in mind,

it is recommended for all travelers to follow these

tips:

1. Keep track of personal items in public areas

2. Hide items in vehicles

3. Use only licensed taxis and legitimate banks for

money exchange

4. Travel in a group

Czech Republic: Czech Republic has a low crime rate generally and has no major

political discord with the United States. It is important for Americans to continue to

avoid public demonstrations as in Poland because of the increased risk of violence.

Pickpocketing and overcharging are the most common crimes and visitors are encouraged

to keep track of belongings and check/keep all receipts. It is important for Americans to

know that pedestrian traffic violations (like jaywalking) are highly enforced and unlike in

America, in Czech Republic streetcars have the right of way over pedestrians at

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crosswalks. Another important safety issue to note is the frequency of date rape type

drugs at bars or clubs that could lead to sexual

assault.

Austria: Because of the increase in

European terrorists attacks, Americans should

take caution in traveling to areas like Austria with

open borders to other Schengen area countries.

U.S. citizens should continue to avoid public

demonstrations and be aware of pickpockets.

Hungary: Hungary is generally a safe

place for Americans to visit, but they should

actively avoid demonstrations and be aware of

pickpocketing. It is also important to note that in

recent years, extreme ethnic nationalists groups

have increased in Hungary and have advocated for

the increased intolerance of certain persons

(including Jews, Roma, and LGBT).

Crisis Management Plan:

a. Make sure everyone in your travelling group has a partner to keep track of

and travel with, so no one is alone

b. Be sure there is a clear meeting place that everyone is aware of in case

someone is separated from the group

c. Make sure everyone has the contact information of everyone else in the

group.

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d. Provide Embassy and emergency numbers to each traveler (APP)

e. Pre-trip meeting explaining the legal jurisdiction of host countries

f. Actively monitor weather and political environment of host countries

g. Encourage participants research of host countries policies, laws, culture,

and customs

Travel Insurance

We strongly encourage our participants to purchase travel insurance for any alumni

travel trip. Any last-minute family emergencies or other issues could force cancellation of

the trip and travel companys policies do not cover the entirety of the money spent.

Depending on the insurance plan purchased, our company partners could cover the

remainder of the money. The Penn State Alumni Center partners with USI Affinity

Travel Insurance Services (TIS) and will send out an email with information once the

participant confirms attendance on the trip. This travel insurance is not mandatory to

participant on the trip, it is just not recommended to forgo gaining insurance. It is also

possible to purchase individual travel insurance if the participants should wish to.

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Program Evaluation
The goal of this trip is to get recent graduates and young alumni together to meet new

people and tour Eastern Europe. A successful trip means that we have all slots filled for

the trip and participants have made new friends, seen beautiful and historical sights,

learned many new things about each destination, and are satisfied with the money that

they have spent. It also means that participants found everything interesting and

worthwhile, with little to no stress with travel plans or any other issues.

To receive feedback and evaluate the success of the trip, we will send out a survey

will the following questions:

1. Did you find it easy to plan and prepare for the trip? Did you find the app and

other resources that were provided in advance to the trip to be helpful?

2. Did you have success in meeting new people and making new friends on the trip?

3. Did you find the activities at each location to be worthwhile? Was there anything

that stood out as the best activity? Were there any activities that you did not

enjoy and think should be changed for future trips?

4. How satisfied are you with the trip? Did you feel that your money was put to

good use and that the trip was worth the cost?

5. Did you have any difficulties or issues while on the trip? If so, please explain.

6. If you were to do the trip again, what improvements would you suggest?

Determine what success means for this program

Determine how to measure the indicators of success (i.e. number of participants,

satisfaction? Others?)

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References

10 Reasons to Visit the Czech Republic. (2016, February 7). Retrieved from The

Wandering Wanderlusters: https://thewanderingwanderluster.com/10-reasons-to-

visit-the-czech-republic/

Austrian Etiquette. (2017). Retrieved from Austria: https://www.austria.info/in/service-

and-facts/people-traditions/austrian-etiquette

Budapestflow. (2017). History of Ruin Bars in Budapest. Retrieved from Budapestflo:

https://budapestflow.com/history-ruin-bars-budapest/

Bureau of Consular Affairs. (2017). Travel.State.Gov. Retrieved from U.S. Department

of State: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel.html

Carter, F. (2017). Czech Republic. Retrieved from Britannica:

https://www.britannica.com/place/Czech-Republic

Consumer. (2014, February 26). Millennials: Technology = Social Connection. Retrieved

from Nielsen: http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2014/millennials-

technology-social-connection.html

Facts About Hungary. (2017). Retrieved from Budapest:

http://www.budapest.com/city_guide/general_information/history.en.html

Frey, W. (2016, June 28). Diversity Defines the Millennial Generation. Retrieved from

Brookings: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2016/06/28/diversity-

defines-the-millennial-generation/

History. (2017). Retrieved from Budapest:

http://www.budapest.com/city_guide/general_information/history.en.html

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Hospitality Net. (2016, May 10). Millenial Travel Trends: A Look at the Largest

Generations' Habits. Retrieved from hospitalitynet:

https://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4075929.html

Jackson, K. (2017, June 13). 10 Reasons You Should Visit Austria at Least Once.

Retrieved from The Culture Trip:

https://theculturetrip.com/europe/austria/articles/10-reasons-why-you-should-

visit-austria-at-least-once/

Jerzy Kondracki, A. D. (2017, 11 16). Poland. Retrieved from Britannica:

https://www.britannica.com/place/Poland

Ministry of Foreign Affairs. (2017). Foreign Policy. Retrieved from Ministry of Foreign

Affairs Republic of Poland: http://www.msz.gov.pl/en/foreign_policy/

Peirano, J. (2017, November 8). What Millennial Travelers Actually Do on Vacation.

Retrieved from Culture Cheat Sheet:

https://www.cheatsheet.com/culture/activities-millennial-travelers-would-rather-

do-than-party.html/?a=viewall

Penn STate Alumni Association. (2017). General FAQs. Retrieved from Alumni:

https://directory.alumni.psu.edu/s/1218/alumni/index.aspx?sid=1218&gid=4&pgi

d=2476

Penn State Alumni Asssocation. (2017). Travel with the Penn State Family. Retrieved

from Alumni:

https://directory.alumni.psu.edu/s/1218/16/interior.aspx?sid=1218&gid=4&pgid=

3332

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Podeszwa, M. (2017, March 10). 10 Reasons You Should Visit Poland. Retrieved from

The Culture Trip: https://theculturetrip.com/europe/poland/articles/10-reasons-

you-should-visit-poland/

Strutner, S. (2015, March 31). 13 Reasons You Need To Visit Budapest ASAP. Retrieved

from Huffington Post: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/budapest-

travel_us_5515bd95e4b02dc8de1d574e

Travel Insrance Select. (2017). Retrieved from Travel Insurance:

https://select.travelinsure.com/?pcode=32179

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