TTG Toolkit Good business
Travelling for a better world
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For the world’s largest adventure specialist, changing lives through tourism is at the core of the business. G Adventures’ founder Bruce Poon Tip tells Pippa Jacks how his brand inspires customers to want to make a difference, and why the future is bright for agents who encourage their clients to do likewise
hen drought hit East Africa in August 2011, adventure specialist G Adventures was able
to raise $25,000 in just six hours by appealing to its community of customers.
When Haiti was struck by an
earthquake in January 2010, the company’s employees filled an Air Canada cargo plane with food and supplies – despite never having operated in Haiti. But it is the recently established G
Adventures 20/20 Vision Centre in Cambodia, which offers ophthalmologic screening and simple cataract surgery, of which the company’s founder is particularly proud. “Giving someone their eyesight back is the greatest gift of all,” Bruce Poon Tip tells me. “When you witness
a mother see her child or the first time, it's incredibly gratifying.” While other adventure tour
operators have tended to support existing social projects, Poon Tip set up a separate, not-for-profit foundation called Planeterra in 2003. The foundation uses customer and trade partner contributions to not only donate to good causes, but also to establish its own projects where it sees need, such as the Vision Centre, and a successful women’s weaving cooperative in Peru. With the number of global tourists tipped to reach 1.6 billion per year by 2020, Poon Tip sees tourism’s ability to conserve and improve the places we visit as essential to the survival of the industry. “And tourism is the second largest source of foreign exchange for the world’s poorest 40 countries –
meaning it has an incredible power to change people’s lives for the better,” he insists.
The Vision 20/20 Centre can treat 6,000 Cambodians per year 30
05.04.2012
Brand identity Since starting up G Adventures in Canada in 1990, the charismatic businessman – twice named Canada’s Entrepreneur of the Year – has invested an incredible amount of time and energy in embedding certain core values within the business, and engaging his employees and customers with them. And at G Adventures, the often-cited “triple bottom line” of a responsible business (people, planet and profit) has been expanded to include two further Ps: passion and purpose. Brand engagement is not the only secret of G Adventures’ success. By offering unique product through Planeterra – like a visit to the weaving cooperative in Peru, and guided tours by street children in Delhi – the operator stands out in the crowded adventure sector. Its holistic approach to training and supporting its tour guides enables G Adventures to ensure greater quality control. Together, these factors have helped G Adventures achieve a 95% satisfaction rate, a 60% repeat business rate, and rapid growth to become the largest adventure operator
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