G Adventures’ inaugural purpose-led global agent Summit was hailed a huge success, and it’s happening again next year.
Following the success of the inaugural Change Makers Summit in Peru this May, G Adventures has announced it is carrying the incentive forward to a new location in 2020.
The Change Makers Challenge incentivises agents to focus on ‘changing people’s lives through travel’, and invites travel agents worldwide to reconnect with why they love selling travel in the process.
Sound like Travel to change the world? It’s our embodiment of it in action right there and we think it’s brilliant.
What’s the challenge?
Travel agents have always been at the forefront of helping people realise their travel wishlists and dreams by creating amazing, personalised trips that are unforgettable and often, life-changing – for all the right reasons.
With the advent of booking online travel around two decades ago, many prophets of doom said that travel agents were a thing of the past and would be history in no time.
Turns out, nothing could be further from the truth as booking travel has since become only more confusing and complex and often needs an expert to help craft a trip that is both great value and truly tailored to the widely varying whims and desires of an individual.
Travel agents as part of today’s travel landscape, have never been more relevant.
In recent years, responsible and sustainable travel has become more popular which is fantastic. The challenge now is sifting through the growing amount of often negligible responsible travel options and supply chains (let’s call that greenwashing) while educating people with different, credible ways to travel with purpose.
The shift in travellers consciousness has happened so fast, that the travel industry is sprinting quickly to catch up with the consumer demand.
What’s the solution?
To get more travel agents to expand their outlook while celebrating the agents already doing great work in the responsible travel space, G Adventures this year launched their first global incentive for a chance to join fellow changemakers for a week in Peru this May.
And they’re doing it all again in 2020, only bigger and better this time.
In 2020, more than 150 ‘Change Makers’ from the UK & Ireland, Central Europe, South Africa, Canada, the United States and Australia & New Zealand will be brought together, including members of G Adventures’ team of global purpose specialists from around the world.
Similar to the 2019 event, the summit will comprise of a week-long trip where agents see firsthand the positive impact community tourism has for local people, as well as destination highlights to help build their product knowledge.
At the end of the trip, agents will have a full-day, immersive G Adventures experience and be treated to a closing party event to remember.
How can agents get involved?
There are three ways agents can earn their spot at the Change Makers Summit in 2020.
- All agents will automatically receive one entry per ‘life changed’ (traveller booked)
- There will also be wildcard opportunities to get involved throughout 2019
- The ‘Social Good’ category rewards agents who tell a story about how they have done work that gives back to their community or the travel community at large
David Green, vice president, G Adventures, says the company’s purpose as an organisation is to change lives through travel.
“We change the lives of our travellers when they choose to explore the world with us and, as a social enterprise, we change the lives of local people in the destinations to which we travel. We can’t wait to show our agents the power they have to make a difference,”
“Our first Change Makers Summit was a huge success and the feedback from our agency partners was that seeing firsthand how community tourism can change the world was a truly life-changing experience. I’m thrilled to be able to bring more agents into our world, to experience the culture of our company and to help them understand why we do what we do.”
David Green, vice president, G Adventures
Matty Drummond, Director of Sales for G Adventures Australia and New Zealand, believes that one of the reasons Change Makers was so successful in this market was due to its uniqueness.
“This incentive really was the first of its kind, moving beyond just “sales” and instead of looking at lives changed by the impact of travel. The enthusiasm and positive response that we’ve had from Aussie and Kiwi agents – both during the incentive period as well as at the summit itself – has been overwhelming, and further proves that travel agents are passionate about being a purpose-driven community, which truly can be a force for good.”
The 2020 Change Makers Challenge application process is now live and runs until January 31, 2020.
The initiative will culminate with the Change Makers Summit which will be hosted in a mystery location to be announced in April 2020.
Travel agents can visit www.gadventures.com/changemakers or speak to their regional global purpose specialist for more information.
What will the positive impact be?
Given the success of the inaugural initiative this year, the G Adventures Summit has already got heads turning in the travel industry.
It’s a positive step towards prioritising a win-win for every party involved in the travel process and one that’s needed more than ever.
Founded in 1990 by social entrepreneur Bruce Poon Tip (read his story), G Adventures is a small group adventure travel operator offering more than 700 tours in 100 countries, on all seven continents.
G Adventures’ award-winning trips support local communities, giving travellers meaningful experiences with people, cultures, landscapes and wildlife while offering them the freedom and flexibility to explore on their own.
G Adventures’ responsible approach to travel is demonstrated through its ‘G for Good’ social impact initiatives, which include travel guidelines for children, wildlife and Indigenous people, community-based social enterprise projects travellers can experience on trip, and its industry-leading ‘Ripple Score’ assessment which measures how many traveller dollars stay in the local economy.
For more information visit www.gadventures.com
How can you travel to change the world?
Congratulations! By reading this post and taking some of these insights on board, you’ve already made a difference.
Now you can easily create your impact by sharing your new-found knowledge with other friends who you think would also be interested.
Ultimately, responsible travel comes down to common sense – stay curious, keep yourself up-to-date with the challenges at hand and make yourself accountable for your actions on your travels.