Background

The World Youth Student & Educational Travel Confederation is built on 100+ combined years of experience of the Federation of International Youth Travel Organisations (FIYTO) and the International Student Travel Confederation (ISTC).

Established in 1950, FIYTO worked to promote educational, cultural, and social travel among young people. Over the years, FIYTO experienced significant growth in its membership and its members' turnover of travellers, tickets, and overnights.

ISTC was founded in 1949. While ISTC evolved over time to meet the changing demands of successive generations of young travellers, the founding purpose of the organisation to increase international understanding through the promotion of travel and exchange opportunities among students and young people, remained constant.

In March 2004, FIYTO and ISTC began discussions to evaluate the potential for restructuring the organisations to form a stronger, united representative force for the student and youth travel industry.

In late 2005/early 2006, the governing bodies of FIYTO, ISTC and their respective sector associations (ALTO, GWEA, IAEWEP, IAPA, IASIS, ISIC, SATA & ISSA) provided a clear mandate for the creation of a new, united organisation to represent the international education, student and youth travel community. The relevant motions can be reviewed in the document "Proposal for the Creation of a New United Global Organisation to Represent Student & Youth Travel and International Education" (PDF).