Student Educational Travel Company Announces Birth Of A Nation: Vimy Ridge 90th Anniversary Celebration Tour

Explorica Announces Historic Vimy Ridge 90th Anniversary Celebration Tour; 365-day countdown starts on Sunday, April 9th

TORONTO, ON (PRWEB) April 8, 2006 -- In commemoration of the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, Explorica - a leading student educational travel company offering high-quality, low-cost travel programs worldwide - announces a special tour which will remember Canada’s soldiers with the world’s greatest leaders during the official celebration in Vimy, France. The 365-day countdown to the trip begins Sunday, April 9, 2006, the battle’s anniversary.

“We are proud to be part of this historic event and know our students will learn first hand the importance of Vimy Ridge to Canada’s history,” said Olle A. Olsson, Explorica’s Founder and President. “This is a perfect example of the kinds of experiences we provide our travellers. It is our goal to enrich their lives by offering unique opportunities to learn about a region’s culture, it’s people and environment.”

The Explorica travellers will be part of a national contingent that will see one Canadian student in attendance at a special ceremony to represent each one of the Canadian soldiers that died at Vimy Ridge – which equates to 3600 student travellers from across Canada. The Government of Canada is currently restoring the Canadian National Vimy Monument in France with restoration work expected to be complete by the end of 2006. At the celebration, the Canadian government will rededicate the Memorial.

Dignitaries that are expected to participate in the event are Queen Elizabeth II, the Prime Ministers of Canada and England and the President of France.

David Robinson, a history teacher from Port Perry, Ontario and Explorica’s Vimy Ridge Anniversary Event Coordinator, along with the Durham Remembers Group, are working in collaboration with Veterans Affairs Canada to coordinate this historic event.

Explorica has already doubled its initial goal and has 700 grade 10 students from the Durham region registered. The tour will retrace the path travelled by the valiant Canadian youth in World War I and also include visits to England and Belgium.

“We are thrilled by the interest we’ve seen in the trip so far and hope others join us,“ said Robinson. “This trip has been my dream for the past year and am thrilled for the opportunity to work with Veterans Affairs Canada to have our students be part of history.” In the past, Robinson led over 200 students and 50 adults on an Explorica tour to Hong Kong (the largest civilian tour group ever in China) to commemorate the Canadian Veterans who died there in 1941.

The Battle of Vimy Ridge created the first true sense of Canadian unity. Forces from each of the provinces joined together and did what other Allied forces during the First World War had failed to do, storming the ridge and conquering a long-held German stronghold.

The tours run from 7-9 days, and start at $1,951. For more information, visit www.returntovimyridge.ca.

About Explorica

With offices in Toronto, Boston, and San Diego, Explorica’s educational travel company is built for the 21st century. Launched in August 2000, Explorica is transforming the multimillion-dollar market for teacher-led student educational travel. Explorica’s primary differentiator is its inventive use of technology applied to every aspect of the travel experience. Cutting-edge technology is used as a medium for most interactions, thus reducing overhead and errors and enhancing the travel experience with online, personalized web-based TourCentres™. For more information, visit www.explorica.ca.

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