As I reflect on the past month, I can’t help but feel a sense of overwhelming gratitude.

As an industry, we are a sum of our parts, and everywhere I look people are working harder than ever to bring us back better.

It’s working – we are seeing success – despite us all wearing more hats and juggling more plates than ever before.

DG and the team at the Outdoor Adventure Show in Calgary

At G Adventures, we have been on the road! As headline sponsors of the Outdoor Adventure Show in Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto, I was able to spend quality face time speaking with travellers, which is always a blessing.

We love hearing feedback from their past trips and excitement for upcoming trips. We were humbled by the number of past travellers who came by our booth to say “thanks” for giving them a life-changing trip.

My gratitude also goes out to the agents who came to visit us at the show – well done to those who attended as exhibitors – it was a great success.

Chatting to customers also gives us insight into what’s hot, so we can share this information with our agency partners.

Currently, we’re seeing pent-up demand for Peru seeing it is open again, so I encourage you to reach out to customers who have shown an interest, as many people weren’t aware it has reopened.

North Africa is hot property with Egypt, Jordan and Morocco still benefiting from a post-pandemic spike in popularity.

I’m pleased to say Europe remains the number one destination for summer vacations this year; great news for agents as the booking window is shorter. If you want to offer something unique, please check out our Local Living and Sailing travel styles in Europe, as that’s what people were excited to learn about at shows.

Overall, the biggest trend we are seeing is for ‘bucket list’ destinations, with people willing to pay more. We’re seeing increased bookings for our ‘National Geographic Journeys with G Adventures’ trips, which give travellers adventure ‘with a softer landing’ as we call it.

In terms of bucket list experiences, it’s hard to go past Antarctica. Our little red ship, the G Expedition has completed her first post-pandemic season with a higher proportion of Canadian travellers than in previous years.

A reminder that Expedition is on sale now for the 2023 / 2024 Antarctica season, with early bird offers for 2024 / 2025 – so get your customers booked before it sells out. Trust me, I’ve been on the G Expedition and it really is a life-changing experience.

Looking ahead, agents will be pleased to hear we have recruited 20 new team members in our inside sales team (or as we call it, the Boombox) over the past couple of months, with more to come.

We are busier than we’ve ever been before, so thanks to all our agent friends for their patience as we recruit, and train, our growing team.

With summer on the horizon, trips are booking up, so don’t miss the opportunity for your customers to apply their $350 lifetime deposit to their next trip.

So, my final thought for the month in the spirit of gratitude is that people can make your day worse or better. You can do the same.

I know it’s busy, but be grateful for how busy we are, and let’s do our best to make someone’s day, every day. Travel is a privilege and not a right, and it’s down to all of us to play our part in making the world a better place.

#ProudtobeG

DG

G Adventures’ Managing Director David Green’s monthly column, ‘G in 3’ is a 3-minute read running exclusively in Travelweek Daily in 2023. To check out David’s February column, click here. 

DG in Antarctica