Australian travellers aren’t just looking for a beach and cocktail during their holidays, they’re keen to get involved in more community building activities, according to G Adventures.
Speaking to KarryOn, the tour operator’s Managing Director of Australia and New Zealand Belinda Ward said Aussies are big fans of the company’s Planeterra projects, which sees travellers experience first-hand how their tourism dollar is impacting the lives of locals.
For example, in Tanzania we run a Planeterra project which funds clean cookstoves for a Masai village.
Belinda explains that these stoves are important because they reduce the need for women to forage for firewood, but also have fantastic health benefits for women and children, who no longer have to put up with smoke in their houses.
Read on for more of our chat with Belinda.
What type of Australians are likely to book a G Adventures holiday?
We have a very broad range of destinations and itineraries, covering seven different travel styles so this appeals to a very wide audience.
Something that binds them together though is a willingness to have true, authentic experiences, meet the local people and really get under the skin of a country.
This could be through one of our ‘Local Living’ tours, where travellers effectively ‘live like a local’ in Italy, Mongolia or the Amazon Jungle, staying with a family or community and taking part in daily activities such as cooking, horse riding or cleansing ceremonies.
Or it could be through an Active tour, where they are testing their limits by hiking the Inca Trail or climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.
And which destinations are ‘hot’ sellers right now?
While there are the perennial favourites of Vietnam, Thailand, Peru, India, we are seeing a boom in a few ‘lesser travelled’ countries over the past few months – Iceland, Japan, Colombia.
Do you foresee any new destinations taking off in the coming years?
I believe that we’re going to see a resurgence to countries that have had a tough time over the past months due to politics or natural disasters, namely Egypt, Nepal and Kenya.
G Adventures has always set itself apart with an environmentally and culturally friendly attitude – is this still the case?
Giving back is fundamental to everything that we do at G Adventures, and always has been.
We pride ourselves on sustainable travel, which is reflected in every facet of the business.
There is a statistic from the United Nations that reports that for every $100 spent by a traveller in a developing community in an all-inclusive resort, only $5 of that actually benefits the local community.
This is why at G Adventures we stay in small, locally owned and run accommodation, use public transport where possible, and eat at locally owned restaurants – to ensure that the money is distributed among the local people in the countries we visit.
We believe that by travelling in a more sustainable way, you can have an amazing holiday, but at the same time, contribute to building and strengthening local communities.
G Adventures also set up a non-profit organization, The Planeterra Foundation, in 2003 as a way for travellers and staff to give back to the communities that our tours visit.
Currently there are over 35 projects globally where Planeterra is working with local communities to provide opportunities and empowerment for local people.
Why is it so important for G Adventures to give back to the destinations they visit?
At G Adventures we want everyone to be able to experience the joy of travel.
This means that we need to travel sustainably, looking after the countries and communities that we visit so that they are still around for future travellers. It’s also about creating happiness and community for the locals we visit, which is one of our core values.
We’re also very aware that we are guests into these countries, and we should be leaving them in the same, or better, position than we arrived.
Are you finding Australians are keen on giving back to the communities when they travel?
Absolutely! Our Aussie travellers love having Planeterra projects included in their itineraries so they can see first-hand how their tourism dollar is impacting the lives of local people.
For example, in Tanzania we run a Planeterra project which funds clean cookstoves for a Masai village.
These stoves are so important because they reduce the need for women to forage for firewood, but also have fantastic health benefits for women and children, who no longer have to put up with smoke in their houses.
On many of our Tanzania tours, our travellers visit one of these Masai villages, where they not only get to meet the local tribe, but also see the effects that their tourist dollar has in the field.
For many, this is a life changing experience. And there are many other examples of Planeterra projects integrated into tour itineraries.
Would you say that’s one of the reasons your brand is so popular here?
Yes, the beauty of G Adventures is that just by travelling, you’re helping make the world a little more perfect.
The work that Planeterra does really resonates with both travel agents and travellers in Australia.
