What Project Exploration LLC does

Project Exploration LLC is a family-owned private company founded in 1977 by Jim Palmer and headquartered in Gilbert, Arizona. The company provides curriculum-aligned educational field trips for K-12 students across the Southwestern United States, with offerings including in-state day trips (8-24 hours) and overnight trips (36-65 hours) to destinations in Arizona, California, and New Mexico. Their technology footprint is intentionally lean: a website-based booking and payment system, email communications, and YouTube-hosted virtual trip preview videos, with no proprietary software platform.

The company's go-to-market is sales-led and relationship-driven, targeting Arizona K-12 public schools and school districts (including QCUSD, MPS, COCSD), with parents and families as a secondary customer segment. Revenue is generated primarily through per-participant fees for students and chaperones on turnkey field trips that bundle transportation, instruction, venue access, and meal coordination. Ancillary revenue streams include pass-through credit card processing fees (2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction) and trip insurance referral commissions from partner Travelex Insurance Services. The business does not publicly disclose base trip pricing; promotional January Deals offer $5-$15 per student savings for early bookings, indicating use of yield management to drive off-peak demand.

Field trips are staffed by background-checked Field Trip Instructors with Level One Fingerprint Clearance Cards, who deliver curriculum-aligned instruction and transform buses into "moving classrooms." Project Exploration serves hundreds of Arizona schools and districts, supported by an ecosystem of long-standing vendor partnerships including Windstar Lines (transportation), Malt Shop in San Diego (over 25 years), and a network of pizza and restaurant partners. The sister company Wild Thing Critter Bus extends the company's on-campus programming, creating a complementary service surface for schools that cannot travel. The company is privately held with no institutional investors, no funding rounds, and no parent company.

Name

Project Exploration LLC

Legal name

Project Exploration LLC

Website

https://projectexploration.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1977

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Project Exploration LLC, founded in 1977, provides curriculum-aligned educational field trips and virtual trip experiences for K-12 students across the Southwestern United States. The family-owned Gilbert, Arizona-based company serves hundreds of Arizona schools and districts with turnkey day and overnight field trips.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Educational Travel Services

NAICS

Tour Operators (561520), Educational Services (611), Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Land (48711)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

School Group & Curriculum-Led Trips (THAKAGAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Student & Youth Educational Tours (THAKAGAA), Educational & Student Multi-Day Tour Operators (THAKADAJ), STEM/Academic Competition & Enrichment Travel (THAKAGAG), Virtual Field Trips & Experiential Learning Environments (Museums, Geography, History) (EDAFAJAG)

Keywords

• Educational field trips
• K-12 student travel
• Overnight school trips
• Virtual field trips
• Curriculum-aligned programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Gilbert

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Field Trip Services: Project Exploration generates revenue by organizing and executing educational field trips for K-12 schools. They charge per participant (student and chaperone rates) for comprehensive trip services including transportation, instruction, venue access, and meal coordination.
2. Payment Processing Fees: Credit card payments on the website incur a processing fee of 2.9% plus 30 cents per transaction, which is passed on to customers.
3. Trip Insurance: Company partners with Travelex Insurance Services to offer trip insurance plans, earning referral/commission revenue.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Project Exploration LLC organizes and executes curriculum-aligned educational field trips for K-12 students across Arizona, California, and New Mexico, including day trips (8-24 hours) and overnight trips (36-65 hours) that bundle transportation, instruction, venue access, and meal coordination. The company also produces virtual field trip preview videos on YouTube and partners with Travelex to offer trip insurance. Services are sold per participant, with instructors who hold Level One Fingerprint Clearance Cards and run on-bus educational programming aligned to state curriculum standards.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Day Field Trips In-state, mostly Arizona field trips ranging from 8 to 24 hours in length, designed to align with state curriculum standards and delivered as turnkey packages including transportation, instruction, venue access, and meal coordination for K-12 students.
• Overnight Field Trips Multi-day field trips ranging from 36 to 65 hours in length to Arizona, California, and New Mexico destinations (including San Diego, Los Angeles, and other southwestern locations), providing bundled transportation, hotel accommodations, meals, venue access, and on-bus instruction for K-12 students.
• Virtual Field Trips Curriculum-aligned virtual field trip video content hosted on YouTube, providing previews of Project Exploration's most popular trips and 'How To' videos for trip preparation, available free online.
• Grad Nite / Senior Class Trips High school senior celebratory overnight trips to theme parks (Disney and Universal Studios) with organized park access, supervised evening festivities, transportation, meals, and chaperone oversight.
• Trip Insurance Plans Optional trip insurance plans offered to field trip participants through a referral partnership with Travelex Insurance Services, available in tiers (Travel Basic, Travel Select, Travel Med Go, Ultimate, and Advantage).
• Wild Thing Critter Bus (Sister Program) On-campus field trip program operated as a sister company bringing a zoo experience directly to Arizona schools, sharing the same mission of enhancing the educational lives of young students while instilling appreciation for the natural world.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 47 years of safe, educational field trip planning with thousands of field trips organized

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Windstar LinescoreOthersPrimary charter bus transportation provider used for field trips. During busy travel days, other reputable bus companies in the valley are also utilized.
• Travelex Insurance ServicesminorGTM or Marketing PartnerInsurance partner providing trip insurance options including Travel Basic, Travel Select, Travel Med Go, Ultimate, and Advantage plans for field trip participants.
• Peter Piper Pizza, Pizza Hut, R&R Pizza, Dominos, Papa JohnsminorOthersFood partners providing meals during field trips. Accommodations available for various dietary restrictions including gluten allergies, lactose allergies, vegetarian, and vegan options.
• SubwayminorOthersSandwich partner providing meal options with accommodations for gluten allergies and vegetarian/vegan diets.
• Malt Shop (San Diego)minorOthersDesignated food partner in San Diego for over 25 years, owned and operated by Jeff and Farris. Provides pancake breakfast buffet, breakfast burritos, and bonfire dinner buffet with extensive dietary accommodations.
• Denny'sminorOthersRestaurant partner providing value menu options for field trip meals. Participants with dietary restrictions can order off the regular menu.
• The Wild Thing Critter BuscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSister company that is an on-campus field trip program bringing the zoo directly to Arizona schools. Shares the same mission of enhancing educational lives of young students while instilling appreciation for the natural world.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• ACIS (American Council for International Studies): ACIS organizes student educational tours with curriculum integration for middle and high schools — directly comparable in target customer, educational framing, and packaged-tour delivery.
• All About Tours: All About Tours provides student and school-group travel, including overnight and senior-class trips — a direct competitor in the same Southwest-adjacent school trip segment.
• Educational Tours Inc. (ETI): ETI specializes in student educational tours for schools, offering chaperoned trips with curriculum ties — closely matching Project Exploration's school-group focus and trip-coordination services.
• WorldStrides: WorldStrides (parent of Explorica) operates K-12 educational travel programs including domestic field trips and overnight excursions, directly comparable in customer segment and curriculum-aligned offering.
• StudentCity: StudentCity organizes high school senior class trips to destinations like Disney and Universal — directly overlapping with Project Exploration's Grad Nite senior-trip offering.
• Explorica: Explorica (now part of WorldStrides) packages educational student tours with teacher-led itineraries, aligning closely with Project Exploration's turnkey, teacher-friendly trip planning model.
• EF Educational Tours: EF Educational Tours organizes curriculum-linked, multi-day educational tours for K-12 students worldwide — the closest large-scale analog to Project Exploration's curriculum-aligned K-12 field trip model.

Broad incumbents

• Universal Studios Youth Programs: Universal's youth programs host school groups and senior trips, serving as a venue for Project Exploration's overnight offerings rather than competing on the trip-planning layer.
• Disney Youth Programs: Disney's youth group programs serve as a destination partner for school field trips and senior Grad Nite events — overlapping with Project Exploration's theme park offerings rather than competing for the planning layer.

Emerging players

• Witte Travel: Witte Travel operates student group tours with educational themes including science and history — comparable niche overlap with Project Exploration's curriculum-tied student trip catalog.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCHMbcbWvbY5vGMdixtj7yjA
• Facebookfacebook.com/pages/Project-Exploration/10150131595965125
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/project-exploration-llc
• Instagraminstagram.com/projectexaz

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Project Exploration LLC