Educators and tour operators agree that taking school/educational groups on nighttime excursions in nature (whether as a standalone event or as part of a longer trip) could have some substantial added values – participants can have fun, experience nature by night, learn to take personal responsibility and adjust to the realities of the wilderness at night  – to name  a few.

However, nighttime excursions have to also be carefully planned and managed, as normal day time risks can be much compounded in the dark and specific dark hours risks could also be encountered (tripping, getting lost, encountering wild animals – just to name a few).

With that in mind, some countries develop special risk management procedures and regulations regarding youth nighttime excursions and without meeting these , it is not possible to obtain a permit for the night excursion. Some disallow night trips excursions in certain terrains altogether.

For example, in Israel the Ministry of Education requires the following:

1. Sufficient moonlight on night of the trip – dark, stormy nights are not recommended or suitable.
2. Terrain must be well trailed, clearly marked, and not be too demanding for the students. Walking in ravines or on cliffs, is entirely disallowed in darkness.
3. Tour guides must have a preliminary coordination meeting with teachers and chaperons – prior to the night of embarkment.
4. Tour guide/s must take a preliminary walk in the proposed trail during daytime and mark to themselves the potential obstacles and pitfalls.
5. Finally, each participant is to have a personal light/torch during the entire walk.

Earlier this month, an Israeli court was deliberating on a law suit filed by a eighth grade student who took a night excursion back in November 2010 with his Jerusalem-based school group
(“Dibros Moshe, Talmud Torah” school, from Jerusalem) in the desert in the Masada area, went astray, and fell from a cliff, breaking few of his ribs and a vertebrae in his back. The court ruled awarded 400,000 ILS (Approximately 110,000$ US) as compensation to the student, finding several major breaches in policy that should not have happened all:

• The school did not ask for a specific night walk permit from the proper echelons
• The tour guide of the group did not bother to take a preliminary day walk to assess potential risks on the trail. Though hundreds of groups use this very popular route- this is not enough.
• The school decided to set out on a rather dark night, in spite of the warning against it.
• Several route signs were missing, yet the guide did not stop the group from continuing to hilly areas that were not supposed to be part of the trip.
• Finally, tour staff and professional guides only met first at the time of the night excursion, not having reached the proper level of coordination required.

Furthermore, due to the severe consequences, the judge has forbidden the Israeli Ministry of Education to allow night walks at this area at all, deeming the terrain as “too hazardous for school groups”. Both the dispatching school and the Israeli Ministry of Education were found liable in this case, and therefore, will jointly pay compensation to the student.

Nighttime excursions are one of many possible risks in youth tourism. This is why EBI Consulting Group has set out to develop a new ISO standard on Managing Risk/Incidents for Youth on Organized School Trips.

As part of our ongoing efforts to spread best learnings about risk management, we are soliciting your input and suggestions. If you have examples of similar experiences, please do not hesitate to contact us.

As well, EBI has developed tools to help increase the level of preparedness for organizations – Please take our free Risk Management Self-Assessment Tool.

Please contact EBI Group Inc. for further guidance on this topic and how to arrange for proper procedures before you set out with your group.