TORONTO — G Adventures celebrated its 1,000th tour departure last week with no fewer than 11 trips departing on the milestone date.
The company is also seeing its shortest booking window since the pandemic started. Travellers are now booking their G Adventures trips an average of four months prior to departure. That’s on a par with pre-COVID lead times.
G Adventures is currently offering 20% off its popular Classic program of bucket list adventures, and says it has plenty of inventory for those looking to book their long-awaited adventure.
G Adventures has safely and successfully operated tours since September 2020, more departures than any other operator since the onset of the global pandemic, says David Green, managing director for G Adventures in Canada.
Tours support employment and boost the local economies in countries dependent on tourism including Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco Peru and Turkey.
“We’re back running trips in more than 20 countries and are experienced in all the new protocols required for travel as the world reopens. The shortened booking window proves Canadian travellers are trusting us to get them back out into the world sooner rather than later,” says Green.
Green adds that the federal government’s advisory against all non-essential travel outside Canada is still in place, however that’s not stopping Canadian travellers from booking tours.
“We’re seeing a real desire for people wanting to take those once-in-a-lifetime bucket list adventures, so we’re delighted to be able to offer a healthy 20 per cent discount to help people achieve their long-awaited travel goals. Canadians are hungry to reconnect with the world, and we’re ready to help them achieve that,” says Green.
Classic tours on sale for 20% off, available to book until Nov. 1, 2021, for travel before Oct. 31, 2022, include: the 14-day Ultimate Italy, from Rome to Venice (now priced from $3,229 per person, down from $3,799; the 8-day Machu Picchu Adventure (now $1,383, down from $1,729); and the 11-day Backroads of Japan (now $3,759, down from $4,699).
In August 2021 G Adventures introduced Vaccinated Tours and Travel-Ready programs. On Vaccinated Tours, all travellers and CEOs (chief experience officers) must have received a full COVID-19 vaccination with the final dose administered at least 14 days prior to day one of the tour. On Travel-Ready tours, all travellers and CEOs must have either received a full COVID-19 vaccination, or have a negative PCR test within 96 hours prior to day one of their tour’s departure. An icon will be featured next to each trip on the website to indicate which category of tour the departure falls under.
All trips booked benefit from G Adventures’ Book with Confidence policy, which lets travellers cancel or rebook their tour up to 14 days before their departure at no extra cost.