“Bougie” isn’t the typical word used to describe G Adventures’ small-group, experience-driven trips, but the Toronto-based adventure tour operator has unveiled a new elevated collection that’s “a little bit fancy.”
Taking the stage last night during the Toronto stop of the Travel Your Heart Out Roadshow, national sales manager Erin Rogers summed up G Adventures’ newly launched National Geographic Signature itineraries as “exploration elevated.”
“For those of you who have been following the journey of G Adventures, we have been around since 1990 and we have grown up significantly since then. I actually started with G in 2005, way back then we were really all about that kind of guided backpacking experience and that’s where our humble beginnings came from,” she shared. “But we’re getting fancy. It’s part of the evolution of our relationship with National Geographic.”
Kathy Kean of Kean2Travel with Visit Portugal’s Inês Almeida Garrett
While the tours still focus on cultural immersion, authentic local connections and giving back to the community, they also offer things like after hours access to museums or private sunset dinners on the Great Wall of China.
“For this product line, it’s top service, so five-star accommodations. We’re keeping it local with these programs as well but we’re getting bougie, a little bit fancy but not too fancy,” she said, adding that the trips feature expert guides, private transportation and unique access to destinations.
To put it into perspective, the price point is $1,000-1,400 per day, on average.
Jacqueline Hider of Marlin Travel, G Adventures’ Nuppy Mistry and Michelle Owens of Marlin Travel
The first phase included destinations like the Stans, Cambodia, Vietnam, Morocco. Launching soon are trips to destinations like Nepal, Bhutan, Turkey and Ireland. There will also be a third phase coming in August to places like Kenya, Rwanda, Ecuador, Australia and New Zealand.
“Our team is always innovating new ways to see the world and we’re really excited to announce that Canada is coming too. We have a brand new National Geographic Signature Canada itinerary that’s going to launch in April. It is going between Edmonton and Calgary visiting Jasper, Lake Louise and Banff, and we have a strong indigenous theme in this itinerary,” Rogers noted.
Prize winner Laurraine Payne of Rainy Day Travel Services with ProColombia’s Juan Sebastian Sanchez Chica
Agents in attendance raised $2,400 for Planeterra, G Adventures’ non profit foundation, and had a chance at winning prizes from an on-brand G purple Samsonite suitcase to treats from Peace by Chocolate. There were also three major prize giveaways with event sponsors Essential Costa Rica, Visit Portugal and ProColombia.
Laurraine Payne of Rainy Day Travel Services won the eight-day Colombia Caribbean Express tour. Diane Adamo of Envoyage took home the seven day Highlights of Portugal trip prize. And Jacqueline Hider of Marlin Travel won the Costa Rica: Monteverde to La Fortuna trip giveaway. The other event sponsor was PromPeru.
G Adventures’ Nuppy Mistry (l) and David Green (r) with prize winner Diane Adamo of Envoyage and Visit Portugal’s Inês Almeida Garrett
Meanwhile, David Green, managing director for G Adventures, highlighted how advisors can earn a spot at GX Colombia in the fall simply by selling G Adventures trips to their clients through the Change Makers incentive.
“GX has become our annual event and it’s where we bring our whole community together. There’s only one company that I’m aware of in the whole world that would be stupid enough to do that, and of course, that’s G Adventures. We bring together all our staff from around the world, our travel agents, we bring travellers that go on our trips, we bring our suppliers and there’s 700 people expected in Cambodia this year,” he noted. “The more you sell, the more chances you have to go there. I thoroughly recommend that you go, even if you have to pay your own way to go there, once you are there, you will have the time of your life.”
Nuppy Mistry of G Adventures with winner Jacqueline Hider of Marlin Travel and Jazmin Jimenez of Essential Costa Rica/VoX International Inc.
During the evening, Nuppy Mistry, GPS – global purpose specialist Ontario, also highlighted G’s commitment to community tourism and its impact on local communities, as well as the transformative power of travel.
“Travel really does make us happier for longer — 85% of people said that travel contributes to long term happiness,” he said. “More than 60% of travellers now choose trips based on experiences VS famous sites. People want to go to a destination and meet the people, eat the food, and feel like they had an impression on the destination and that the destination had an impression on them… travel is a unique way to find that sense of self and find that sense of wonder and discovery for what’s out there and it really helps us understand and get a different perspective on how we perceive ourselves and also the bigger world out there.”
Following stops in Victoria, Vancouver and Toronto, the Travel Your Heart Out Roadshow now heads to Halifax, Calgary and Montreal.
