ACIS Tour Managers – Part of What Makes an Exceptional Educational Journey

At ACIS, we pride ourselves on providing exceptional educational travel experiences.

In order to make those experiences possible, we rely on a phenomenal team of professionals including our world-class tour managers. How do we measure the quality of our tour managers? One way is the feedback they receive from the students and teachers with whom they interface. We recently received so much positive feedback about one of our tour managers that we felt we couldn’t help but publicize how loved she is.

Dimitra Neonakis has been an ACIS tour manager since 1996. She was born in Athens, Greece before her family moved to New York while she was in elementary school. She stayed in New York through college before she moved back across the pond to England where she completed her masters degree in translation and interpreting. She has been back in her native Greece for the last 20 years where she lives with her husband and twin daughters. When she’s not guiding ACIS tours, she works as an English teacher, translator and painter. To follow her as she makes her way across the Mediterranean, follow her on Instagram.

Dimitra guides tours in Italy and Greece. Michelle Shupp, an educator from Mechanicsburg, PA, has been traveling with ACIS in that area of the world since 2003. She recently returned from a trip to Italy and Greece, and upon her return, she and her students had nothing but overwhelming praise for Dimitra and the effect she had on their experience:

“When I work with Dimitra, I know that I have a partner who takes the trip’s quality, content, and safety as seriously as I do. I don’t know of many tour managers who would Skype with the teacher ahead of the trip to make sure we have all the details nailed down. Everything she does is to make the best possible experience for the kids. She takes care of me, too, which, admittedly, is no small feat!”

-Michelle Shupp, ACIS Group Leader, High School Latin Teacher

“I can honestly say, that the trip wouldn’t have been as amazing without Dimitra. She kept us on time, on track, and mentally engaged, in addition to being the glue that held us all together. She is so passionate about Italy and Greece, and it showed through her lively and thoughtful discussion of the architecture and culture of the areas through which we traveled. She is kind and tough, fun-spirited and intelligent. The trip wouldn’t have been the same without her.”

-Ally Fea, High School Student

“She was the best tour guide I have ever had, and I have had a lot of tour guides when I have traveled. She made everything more fun, exciting and by the end she was a part of our family. I also felt like she could connect to teens more than other people and it felt very nice to be able to trust someone who we barely knew. I can’t wait to see her again!”

-Paige Westra, High School Student

“Dimitra was an amazing tour manager. Of course she knew about the history and facts about all the sights and places we went to see, but she shared them in an intriguing way. She also was more personal than just history. She was able to get to know us, and we were able to get to know her. I think that if we would have had any other tour manager, our trip would have been completely different.”

-Peyton Jackson, High School Student