Travel Your Heart Out: In Trying Times, G Adventures Reminds Us of What’s Important

Golly, G! You sure know how to throw a party.

G Adventures staff members are notoriously proud and passionate purveyors of purposeful products, and the Canadian travel advisors who sell them often become evangelistic after experiencing G’s human- and community-centric approach to seeing the world. (Some travel writers do too!)

When the two groups get together, it gets fun…and loud. It was hard to hear the presenters at times last night, as the annual G travel advisor roadshow made a stop in Toronto. There was constant shushing as speakers tried to make themselves heard, and the volume would drop for a moment, only to rise again seconds later.

But while it could have been seen as rudeness, it was mostly just the sound of joy, as advisors with vivid memories of shared G fam experiences reunited. I’ve been on three G fam trips myself now, and with each person I met that I had travelled with, fond recollections came flooding back.

G Adventures’ managing director for Canada David Green set the tone for the evening and struck a chord with beleaguered industry members when he suggested that all Canadian travel advisors should go on holiday for the months of February and March next year — “because every effing year something bad happens.”

But last night the focus was on ‘good,’ – more specifically the adventure operator’s ‘G for Good’ initiatives, including the Planeterra Foundation, Trees for Days and the Ripple Score, an independent measure of the impressive percentage of money spent on G trips that remains within the destinations visited.

“Community tourism is at the heart of our company,” said Anup “Nuppy” Mistry, who was named BDM of the Year, Escorted/Adventure Tours at the inaugural Canadian Travel Awards hosted by Travel Market Report Canada last fall.

“Some countries only get 5% of the income from their travel industry. We’re all about local, local, local and we help preserve traditions and cultures just by visiting,” Mistry said. The overall Ripple Score for G Adventures is 92% — making G tours an asset to a destination rather than a drain.

Taking a closer look at G for Good reveals that the arms-length Planeterra Foundation created by G Adventures founder Bruce Poon Tip created 1,200 jobs in the past year alone, and now employs more than 11,000 people around the world through its community tourism initiatives.

Trees for Days was launched by G Adventures less than three years ago. It commits to planting a tree for every day a G traveller is on a tour. To date, it has planted over 5.2 million trees around the world.

G Adventures National Sales Manager Erin Rogers took the stage to discuss the latest evolution in the company’s product, and the next steps in a more than decade-long partnership with National Geographic.

National Geographic Signature tours are a big step up in luxury from the early days of G 30 years ago, when budget-conscious young backpackers were the primary target. Signature tours are luxury experiences priced between $1,000 and $1,400 per person, per day. They offer elevated accommodations – 5-star in most destinations – and elevated experiences and enrichment too.

Every trip is joined by a National Geographic Expedition Expert — a leading authority in their field. Itineraries also feature Signature Moments led by local specialists, offering privileged, curated access to exceptional experiences.

National Geographics Signature tours are being introduced in three phases this year, with plenty of destinations to choose from. A new training module on Sherpa will help advisors get up to speed. Rogers, for one, is very excited about the new product. “Taking one of these tours will be like travelling through the pages of National Geographic,” she said.

Several G tourist board partners were in the house, including Portugal, Colombia, Peru and Costa Rica – all destinations that are enjoying significant growth from the Canadian market.

The theme of the evening was “Travel Your Heart Out,” which was well explained by Mistry. “What actually makes up happy when we travel,” he asked. Citing recent research, he said creating connections, travelling with purpose and the joys of slowing down are key goals of today’s G traveller. 

“Travel your heart out,” he said. “Give it all you’ve got!”