G Adventures ends 2024 on an all-time high

G Adventures ends 2024 on an all-time high

An end of year message from Bruce Poon Tip.

What a year it’s been. As we say goodbye to 2024 and look forward to 2025, G Adventures’ 35th anniversary year, there’s a lot to be grateful for. It’s been an incredible 12 months for us, with record company growth, award wins from all over the world, our second GX summit, our biggest product launches in history, three million trees grown and nurtured since the launch of our Trees for Days programme, which has benefitted over 100,000 local community members, and once-in-a-lifetime agent incentives, including sending over 75 agents to see Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in London and Toronto being just a few of the headlines. But on top of all this, we’ve continued to do what G Adventures does best – deliver transformative experiences to our travellers around the world, while helping to change the lives of local people in the destinations we visit.

The business has continued to go from strength to strength, with us closing the year with double digit growth once again, jet-propelled by an incredibly strong past quarter, including the best Cyber Sale period ever, which saw a 42% increase in global sales. Hats off to our team in the United Kingdom and Ireland, who saw an impressive 35% increase in Cyber Sales compared to 2023.

Back in 2021, as we navigated our way out of the pandemic, G Adventures closed a capital investment from Certares to position us for accelerated growth. We developed an aggressive recovery strategy, which included hefty investments in our technology infrastructure. I’m excited to report that this work, combined with strong business performance over the past 12 months, which saw us over perform and hit 2027 targets, has allowed us to come to a buy-out agreement with Certares.

Certares has been a fantastic partner, from whom we have learnt a great deal, and has been an invaluable support in a turbulent time and we thank them for their flexibility and guidance. As we look to 2025, we’re in an incredibly strong position as we continue to scale and explore new opportunities to support our journey to becoming a billion US dollar company. It’s a very exciting time at G Adventures, with a number of innovative new projects ready to roll in the coming months – watch this space.

People often ask me what makes G Adventures so special. Our recent GX Summit in India, sums it up perfectly. It’s about community. It’s about changing lives. It’s about always looking at how we can do things differently and continuing to be more than just a travel company. And, it’s about having a hell of a good time as we do it. This year, over 500 members of our community, including travellers, agents,suppliers, media and staff, came together in India to celebrate the power of tourism when done right. We saw some big names step up on stage, including Lonely Planet founder, Tony Wheeler and Shivya Nath, founder of Climate Conscious Travel. We visited the local communities we work with, including the inspirational women at Sheroes Hangout and the wonderful youths who run the Salaam Baalak Street tours in Delhi, a project that’s close to my heart as I’ve seen the impact of the project has had during our 15 year partnership as they work to tackle homelessness in India.

As the world’s first Global Community Tourism Summit, GX is about bringing people together to share learnings, to create friendships, to be inspired and to celebrate the power we all have to change the face of tourism for the better. Oh, and we also partied like it was 1999, with an epic surprise Holi festival and a truly once-in-a-lifetime Pink Party at Jaipur’s Pink City. There are still people at G Adventures trying to get the pink paint out of their hair. Planning for GX Jordan in 2025 is already underway, and it’s going to be bigger and better than ever. If you want in on the fun, you can find out more here.

Innovation has been at the heart of our work over the past twelve months. I salute the product team, who launched not one, but two new travel styles this year in response to consumer demand, ensuring that G Adventures continues to lead the way in the experience economy. Our new Geluxe Collection, which offers upgraded active adventures, married with one-of-a-kind accommodations and community experiences, shot up the ranks, earning its spot as our fastest growing travel style. Solo-ish Adventures joined in October, and is our first venture into solo-only trips. Combined with Just You, part of our sister company, G Touring, we are now the largest operator of solo travel experiences.

And the product innovation doesn’t stop there. As we look to 2025, we have over 200 new trips – our biggest product launch in G Adventures’ history – with a 50% increase in departures next year. We’ll be taking travellers to new destinations, including Pakistan and the Balkans as well as lesser-visited regions of destinations including Japan and South Africa, while helping to bring the power of tourism to local communities who have been unable to benefit previously.

Needless to say, it’s been a powerful year for G Adventures, and I’m incredibly proud of everyone in our community who have come together to make all of the above possible. I can’t wait for 2025 – this old dog still has a few tricks up his sleeve.

However you and your loved ones celebrate the holidays, I wish you peace.

Bruce