BRUCE POON TIP
How how he turned a social enterprise, G Adventures into a global empire.
Founding G Adventures in 1990, Bruce Poon Tip set off to build a business that was as much a social enterprise as it was a firm. Now it has grown into the world’s largest small-group travel company. Amid the turmoil in the industry, he talks about the importance of responsible travel and how we can find compassion in the changing global landscape.
Afew months before publishing his first book Looptail, Bruce Poon Tip found himself sitting next to Selena Gomez and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ frontman Anthony Kiedis, waiting to meet the Dalai Lama. The experience, he says, was surreal. “I’m not a Buddhist, but when I met him it was such an enlightening, emotional moment for me,” he recalls. “I gave him the manuscript and said, ‘If you could say anything about my book, even a blurb, it would mean a lot to me. The message in the book is all about your message of compassion and how it’s transformed my company’.” As it turns out, the Dalai Lama liked his book so much so that he penned a foreword, praising Poon Tip for “[understanding] that human dignity, freedom and genuine wellbeing are more important than the mere accumulation of wealth”.
The self-described “aggressive entrepreneur” says he’s always had an ambitious spirit. “I had three businesses before I turned 16,” he says. He realised later on that much of this drive came from his parents who emigrated from the Caribbean with him and his six siblings. “When you’re an immigrant to any country and you know that your parents sacrificed so much to give you the gift of opportunity ... you want to make sure you take advantage of every opportunity that you have.”
A DRIVE TO SUCCEED
Launching his adventure travel company G Adventures when he was just 22 years old, Poon Tip admits his passion for business is a little intense. “I’ve thought about my drive and how unnatural it is sometimes. There’s this internal fifth gear because you’re constantly trying to show your parents they made the right decision.”
It was a backpacking trip across Asia that kickstarted the idea behind G Adventures. Living on $10 a day, Poon Tip was amazed at the disconnect he witnessed between mainstream
tourism and the local community. “I saw air-conditioned coaches, compound resorts, the travel industry was becoming more all-inclusive. I thought it was counter-intuitive to what it should be.” he says. “Here I was living day-to-day, right in the heat and smells of Asia, and I thought the people who were on those trips were not really seeing what Asia was – they were being shown a very sanitised, Western version of it,” he says. It was here that Poon Tip’s entrepreneurial drive kicked in, his ‘eureka moment’.
Founding G Adventures in 1990, Poon Tip set off to build a business that was as much a social enterprise as it was a travel company. It has since grown into the world’s largest small-group adventure travel company, employing 2,500 people, with offices in 28 locations and operations in 100 countries. Its tours range from National Geographic Journeys that take you on safaris across Africa, to Wellness tours with
Clockwise from left: Founder of G Adventures, Bruce Poon Tip: Pictured here in Ecuador in the Amazon, he prides himself on creating a dialogue with other communities and getting in touch with other cultures on a human level.
G Adventures has a Jane Goodall Collection of wildlife-focused tours.
rejuvenating activities and healthy food experiences in Asia. Over the years, Poon Tip has travelled to hundreds of places. But there is one pivotal travel memory he holds on to.
“I was crossing the border from China into Tibet ... and when I entered Tibet, my life changed, my connection to business changed,” he recalls. “Tibet amazed me; here was this country that was still so spiritual ... governed by faith and emotion.” He took this experience directly into his business. “I went to a business school that taught you business is cold, black and white and unemotional ... everything that I thought of came together when I realised how passion could be an intricate part of the business model, and social enterprise, the whole community tourism model we wanted to embark on.”
Local connections and responsible tourism have always been at the centre of G Adventures’ tours. Poon Tip is proud to offer experiences for a variety of travellers, ranging from European rail journeys to expeditions to Antarctica. While all offer something different, the focus on poverty alleviation, local connections and cultural immersions is the common thread that runs through every trip. “It’s smaller groups getting a dialogue with local communities – getting in touch with other cultures on a human level, not being a spectator paying to see people from a distance,” he says.
Turning to the current global crisis amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Poon Tip says extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. “In 30 years of working in travel and tourism ... there have been very few times that I can remember ever feeling things as being outside our control,” he says. “This is one of those times.”
Setting up emergency meetings to react to the changing landscape of the pandemic, Poon Tip says they are making decisions as quickly as they can. “It has been unbelievable to watch our teams come together and do anything and everything needed to get through this.”
“THE FASTEST PATH TO PEACE IS IF PEOPLE GET TO KNOW HOW OTHERS LIVE.” BRUCE POON TIP
Amidst all the chaos and uncertainty, Poon Tip says it’s important we hold on to compassion. “Meeting other cultures and understanding how other people live gives you a better understanding of where you are,” he says. “I think the fastest path to peace is if people get to know how others live and learn there’s beautiful people in every country. We need compassion and not allow ignorance to create division.”