A SPECIALIST travel organiser based in West Devon was a guest of honour at celebrations marking the 30th anniversary of the world?s largest provider of adult educational travel in London last week. Andrew Thompson, a former higher education history lecturer, runs Landscapes Travel in Tavistock and specialises in designing and leading tailor-made history and cultural tours across South West England. One of his main clients is Elderhostel, a not-for-profit organisation based in Boston USA. Offering more than 10,000 programmes a year to 200,000 older adults in 90 countries and working with partners as prestigious as Cambridge and Oxford colleges, Elderhostel is the world?s largest adult educational travel organisation. Elderhostel programmes are open to adults aged 55 and over and consist of lectures and guided excursions led by university lecturers and other experts. This year, Elderhostel are celebrating their 30th anniversary, which they have termed the Year of the Instructor, with a series of events across the world. On July 26 at the Mayfair Millennium Hotel in London, Andrew was one of three British guide-lecturers to receive a Year of the Instructor Award at a gala dinner attended by Elderhostel?s president and the chairman of the board. Andrew has led study programmes and history tours across the South West from Cornwall to prehistoric and medieval Wessex. In 2004 Elderhostel?s clients rated Landscapes Travel programmes joint first in their evaluations of individual guides and lecturers. Andrew said: ?Landscapes Travel is only five years old and it is wonderful to be recognised by such a well established and prestigious organisation as Elderhostel. ?I love travelling with people who want to explore an area in depth so they get to really see and understand the history and scenery. ?The next challenge, which I am just beginning, is to customise similar programmes and tours for English groups.?