G Adventures
|
G Adventures The Great Adventures People | |
Formerly called | Gap Adventures |
|---|---|
| Tour Operator | |
| Industry | Tourism |
| Founded | 1990 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Canada |
Key people | Bruce Poon Tip, Founder and CEO |
| Products | Small group Adventure Travel |
Number of employees | 1,500 |
| Website | www.gadventures.com |
G Adventures (Formerly Gap Adventures) is the largest small group adventure travel company in the world and offers socially and environmentally sensitive travel. The company is based in Toronto, Canada, but now also has offices throughout the world. They employ over 1,350 staff worldwide, with over 100,000 customers travelling with them annually.
Holiday destinations cover every continent, including the Arctic and Antarctic regions, with G Adventures using their own ice-strengthened ship, the MS Expedition. According to TourRadar, G Adventures offer 686 different tours in 134 countries.[1]
History
Bruce Poon Tip founded Gap Adventures in 1990 after returning from a backpacking tour of Asia.[2] The company was originally named Gap Adventures - Gap being an acronym for "Great Adventure People". Gap's first tour visited Ecuador in February 1991 with six clients.
In 2008, Gap Adventures was sued by American clothing company, Gap Inc., over the name. G Adventures was required to change its name by the U.S. District court that deemed the brand was an infringement on GAP Inc. clothing.[3] The ruling stated that the name and brand Gap Adventures caused legitimate confusion and dilution of the brand for the clothing company and their khakis. Therefore G Adventures was required to change its name by October 1, 2011.[4] Bruce Poon Tip decided to rebrand the company with the belief that the company culture was the true brand for G Adventures, which provided the competitive advantage that his company required to be successful.[5]
Human resources
Staff turnover annually is 5% at G Adventures, whereas in the travel industry it is typically around 35%.[6]
In 2010, the company moved HR tasks to the finance department and created two departments, one focusing on raising company morale and the other one dedicated to recruiting and talent management.[7]
Partnership with MIF/IDB
In 2013, G Adventures entered into a $1.3 million partnership with the Multilateral Investment Fund, a member of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB/MIF). IDB/MIF is the leading source of development funding for Latin America and the Caribbean. G Adventures is the only privately owned travel company to receive such a grant and will be building five new long-term, sustainable tourism projects over the next 3 years in Latin America.[8]
See also
- Ecotourism
- Intrepid Travel
- Goway Travel
References
- ↑ "G Adventures Reviews and Tours". Retrieved 2015-06-29.
- ↑ "About Us - G Adventures". Retrieved 2015-06-29.
- ↑ "Gap Adventures changes name to G Adventures". Retrieved 2015-06-29.
- ↑ Kunopaski, Terrilyn. "GAP Adventure Loses in Trademark Suit from The Gap, Inc.". Travel Hot News. Retrieved Sep 28, 2011.
- ↑ Pachner, Joanna. "The Gospel According to Bruce". Rogers Publishing Ltd. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
- ↑ Pachner, Joanna. "The Gospel According to Bruce". ProfitGuide Magazine. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
- ↑ Henneman, Todd. "Is HR at It's Breaking Point". Workforce. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
- ↑ Stanleigh, Sean (April 4, 2013). "Tourism Program for Latin America". Globe and Mail. Retrieved 14 May 2013.