On Tuesday afternoon, TRAVELHotNews.com sat down with the CEO and founder of G Adventures, Bruce Poon Tip, to discuss some of the company’s new initiatives. G Adventures’s latest big news is their partnership with the Discovery Channel with a new series of trips – Discovery Adventures.
Poon Tip says this is “one of the biggest ventures [the Discovery Channel has made] outside of television, outside their company.” Focus studies have shown that a natural extension of the brand is travel; the new partnership will capitalize on the loyal Discovery Channel watcher’s desire to get involved in the brand.
Discovery Adventures-branded trips will feature the learning and science elements that viewers associate with the Discovery Channel, with adventure trips designed by G Adventures linking to the content on the station. G Adventures’s expedition ship, the M/S Expedition, will also feature a Discovery Channel-branded lecture hall and lounge featuring Discovery Channel programming.
“It’s our job [as a partner] to capture the essence of that brand. We’re going to be doing that by including elements of learning and science, which Discovery is known for, as well as featuring the on-air talent [in future trips].”
Discovery Adventures’ featured destinations include Latin America (Peru, the Amazon, Ecuador, the Galapagos Islands, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico/Yucatan Peninsula, Costa Rica), Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Zambia, Victoria Falls, Egypt, Morocco) and Asia (India and China). Tours will focus on the educational aspects of each destination.
A new microsite for Discovery Adventures will launch on July 30, 2009 and will feature trip details and booking capabilities; information will also be available at gadventures.com.
Agents – an opportunity to sell niche product
Poon Tip says it’s important the travel industry knows that this product is designed for them to sell. Discovery Adventures “is giving agents the ability to extend their product offering to get the touch and feel of the Discovery Channel brand as well…a good opportunity for travel agents who want to get into the niche market and utilize that Discovery Channel brand.”
Discovery Adventures. Currently in development, the Discovery Adventures trips will enable travellers to experience the culture and adventure of the destinations featured in Discovery Channel programming. The trips, says Poon Tip, will offer softer adventure activities than what G Adventures currently offers.
G Adventures is developing a distribution program for its preferred trade partners, involving joint marketing, promotion and training designed to bring Discovery Adventures to market as a new adventure travel option for retail travel distribution.
G Adventures’s new look
First look at the new logo, at G Adventures headquarters in Toronto
Around the middle of June, a brand new G Adventures logo will be unveiled, as well as a reworked website that offers more interactive, user-friendly content and features. The tour operator will be marking its 20th year of operations in 2010 and is gearing up for the celebrations next year as well.
Right now the company is in the middle of its product development phase; Poon Tip noted that 150 new tours will be coming out for the upcoming 2010 season.
How G Adventures is faring
Poon Tip said that his company is very healthy in 2009, with first quarter 2009 being “our biggest quarter ever – up 48 per cent. In the second quarter we’re going to do higher than that. We had a lot of new partnerships that came to fruition and brought in a lot of new business for us.”
The new M/S Expedition ship was launched in April 2009 and was “one of the biggest undertakings we’ve ever done,” in total an $18 million project. The ship is moving up to the Arctic for its first season and will return in November to Antarctica, where 80 per cent of sailings for its inaugural 2009 season are sold out, confirmed Poon Tip.