As its name promises, G Adventures takes travelers on memorable small-group adventure travel tours. But the tours are more than just action-packed getaways. The company was founded in 1990 by social entrepreneur Bruce Poon Tip, and its trips make lasting impressions on both the travelers who take them and the communities they visit.
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Responsible travel is the guiding force, and the company’s G for Good philosophy takes social, environmental, and ethical factors into consideration to ensure that its tours benefit the people and places they visit. That means ensuring that the company is acting responsibly in areas like animal and child welfare, climate concerns, and respect for local cultures. Creating a positive impact is also important, and tours feature Ripple Scores to show how much money stays in the local economy.
TourScoop Takeaways
- Destinations: More than 750 trips in 100 countries on all seven continents
- Tour Size Average: 10 to 12 people
- Tour Type: Small-group adventure tours
How to Book
Tours can be booked through a travel agent or through the G Adventures website.
Credibility Check
G Adventures has won a number of awards and honors over the years, including recognition as Escorted Touring Operator of the Year from the TTG Travel Awards and Best Escorted Tour Operator from the Irish Travel Industry.
Tour Destinations
G Adventures leads more than 750 trips in 100 countries on all seven continents, with Costa Rica, Peru, South Africa, and Thailand as some of the top-selling destinations.
Tour Types
G Adventures offers a surprisingly wide variety of tour types. The company’s Classic trips hit all the highlights of a destination while also offering opportunities for cultural exchange and spontaneous exploration. Eighteen-to-Thirtysomethings tours offer a faster pace designed for younger travelers, and there’s also an option for that age group that includes hostel stays.
Active tours add activities like hiking, biking, rafting, and camping into the mix. National Geographic Journeys take deeper dives into a destination, while Local Living tours include stays with a local host family for true immersion into daily life. Travelers can find opportunities for mindfulness, movement, and healthy eating on the company’s Wellness trips or observe wildlife around the world on a Jane Goodall Collection tour.
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G Adventures’ Family tours and its National Geographic Family Journeys offer adventure travel with a kid-friendly spin, and the new Geluxe Collection elevates adventure travel with higher-end lodging and dining options. Travelers can also explore destinations by water on sailing and expedition cruises.
Tour Guides
Each G Adventures tour is led by an expert, locally based “Chief Experience Officer” who offers insider insight and their own perspective of an area. Because they’re so familiar with the destination, they know the best times to visit popular sights, great places to eat, and exceptional ways to explore the destination. They’re supported around the clock by a local operations team.
What’s Included
Inclusions vary from trip to trip and tour style to tour style; each individual trip offers a detailed list of inclusions on the G Adventures website. Accommodations, some meals, a range of activities, and entrance fees are generally included.
What’s Not Included
Airfare to and from tour starting and ending points is not included, and most tours do not include airport transfers. Tips are also not included in the tour price.
Typical Travelers
Over its years of listening to its customers, G Adventures has found that its travelers want flexible itineraries, free time to explore on their own, smaller group sizes, locally based guides, and tours that offer safety and peace of mind.
With so many different tour types, the company sees a range of travelers, from families to young singles to active adventurers.
Communication
Travelers are assigned a Global Connection Officer (GCO) after booking a tour. The GCO sends all needed information to travelers including the detailed itinerary, info on transfers, what to pack, and emergency information. G Adventures also has a Travel Resources page and pre-departure information on its website.
Loyalty Program
G Adventures reports that it will be launching a VIP program soon.
Sustainability Efforts
G Adventures signed the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action in Tourism in November 2021 and has goals to halve its carbon footprint by 2030 and reach net zero by 2050. The company publicly reports its emissions each year and has dropped from 122,902 tons of carbon dioxide in 2019 to 49,088 tons in 2022.
In 2015, G Adventures invested in new, more efficient engines for its G Expedition ship—which is the largest single source of CO2 generated by the company—and replaced the generators in 2017. Those two moves reduced the ship’s CO2e footprint by about 15%.
The company continues to assess the size of vehicles used on its tours to ensure they best match the size of groups. Through a partnership with Planeterra, it plants a tree for every day a customer travels with the company in threatened forest areas or communities around the world in need of reforestation. G Adventures has also invested in restorative travel tech startup Reforest, which helps tourism companies and travelers reduce their carbon footprints.
Health and Safety Practices
G Adventures posts travel alerts and safety updates on its website. You can also find information about travel safety, travel health, and travel insurance on G Adventures’ Travel Resources page.
