Parents eager for their children to learn something meaningful during the summer holidays have created a demand for summer study tours in recent years.
There are numerous options to suit different budgets built around different themes, and including diverse value-added benefits.
This year Hong Thai Travel Services is emphasising character building in its 'summer fun camps'.
'The training our schools [traditionally] provide is very academically focused, with less attention given to character building,' said general manager Susanna Lau Mei-sze. 'We feel that the circumstances of a summer tour, where the children do not have their parents to offer ready assistance, provide a good opportunity to help them strengthen their character in terms of independence, discipline and interpersonal relationships.'
She said it was also important to manage the expectations of parents, so that they did not assume their children would return from a two-week tour speaking fluent English or showing other markedly improved abilities.
Hong Thai began running summer tours for children in 2004. This year, the company will offer more than 10 trips, including a 15-day tour to Disneyworld in Orlando in the United States, and a six-day summer camp in Hong Kong.
Other choices are soccer and golf training in England, kung fu, mathematics, table tennis, music, dance and military-style training in different mainland cities. Eco-tours and outward-bound training in Asia are also available.
