A Wild Life with Bruce Poon Tip

Bruce Poon Tip, the visionary founder of G Adventures, has transformed the way people travel, inspiring a new generation of adventurous globetrotters. With a passion for authentic experiences and sustainable tourism, Poon Tip has created a global travel company that goes beyond mere sightseeing.

He believes in the power of travel to connect people, foster cultural understanding, and leave a positive impact on local communities. Poon Tip’s innovative approach to travel has earned him recognition as a pioneer in the industry, and his commitment to responsible tourism has set a new standard for ethical travel companies worldwide.

In addition to his ground-breaking work with G Adventures, Bruce Poon Tip has also taken on the role of executive producer for the critically acclaimed series, “The Last Tourist.” This gripping documentary explores the life of a seasoned traveller as he embarks on a final journey around the world. Poon Tip’s involvement in the project showcases his deep understanding of the travel industry and his ability to capture the essence of wanderlust onscreen.

Through “The Last Tourist,” Poon Tip offers viewers a thought-provoking reflection on the transformative power of travel and the importance of cherishing our planet’s diverse cultures and environments. As both a trailblazing entrepreneur and a creative force behind this captivating series, Bruce Poon Tip continues to inspire and redefine the boundaries of travel storytelling.

Where Wild Things Roam caught up with Bruce at the screening of The Last Tourist and had a chat about the wild and wonderful life he leads. This is what he had to say.

How did you start off working in travel?

After studying business, I realised that the only things I loved were travel and music. So I was either going to start a record label or a travel company. It turned out I  was passionate about showing people the world and what a transformational experience travel can be because it changed my own life.

What would you say are your biggest achievements with G Adventures so far?

First and foremost, we’re most proud of the fact that G Adventures has become a global brand, as a business, and as a business case study. That’s what we’re most proud of. We created something that has a positive impact, and it has a purpose-driven message. Second to that is the work that we’ve done with our 100 community projects together with our non-profit partner, Planeterra, and our 20 years of defining community tourism.

What would you like to achieve with G Adventures in the future?

One goal would be to have more demographics of travellers. G Adventures caters to a very specific demographic, but what we want to do is have more people share the purpose-driven kind of travel that we’ve created as the pioneers of community tourism.

What has been your greatest challenge with G Adventures?

My personal, greatest challenge would be leadership. I’ve always known that when my leadership, growth and development stops, the company stalls. So my own journey has probably been my own personal challenge; to be able to go from starting a company with everyone in the room to running a company with employees in 100 countries.

That kind of leadership journey has been my personal challenge over the years and that’s been the most difficult, I have to say. There have been financial challenges, there’s been SARS, Tsunamis and COVID, and there’s been all kinds of other challenges but the single thread throughout the 33 years of our existence has been my own personal journey.

The documentary film The Last Tourist has just been released, why do you think it is an important story to tell?

We have an amazing opportunity coming out of COVID to look at how we’ve done everything in tourism because travel came to a complete grinding halt. We, as an industry, had the opportunity to look at everything, and it highlighted all the things we were doing before COVID that weren’t so great.

The Last Tourist is a message of hope for what travel can be. But in order for us to achieve that, we have to face some sometimes difficult realities and address what we become in the travel industry.

It’s not for everybody. That is, it’s not going to change everybody in the travel industry, but we can have a sustainable and meaningful impact if we embrace a few changes on how we can do things better.

Where have you seen over-tourism has had the biggest negative effect?

Most people would probably want me to say Venice or the Pyramids of Egypt, or something. But I actually don’t believe that overtourism has highlighted that. I believe our biggest issue is how to evaluate tourism because people are pushing into more remote areas and going into more fragile communities. It has lasting cultural and social impacts on these communities. I think that’s equally, if not the bigger problem for tourism.

What country do you think is ahead of the rest for sustainable tourism practices?

Costa Rica and New Zealand, as well as smaller countries such as Botswana and Belize are doing some great work. Another example is a country like Ecuador, which has been great at protecting the Galapagos Islands with the restrictions they’ve placed to access the Amazon regions within Ecuador. They’ve done an excellent job – not necessarily intentionally – but they have done a great job.

What can travellers do to be better and have a less harmful and more meaningful impact?

People travel to learn something or to rejuvenate themselves, but traditionally there are a lot of people that just want to go hard and drink and eat as much as they want. You should be able to get all of that. But you should do it in a responsible way and local communities should be taken into consideration, no matter which decision you make. Either way you can get what you want out of travel, so you can go luxury or you can go with a backpack. There’s no kind of restrictions to it, but as long as communities are involved in the dialogue.

Is there any frontier you have not roamed? And where would you like to explore?

Trans Siberian I really want to do. But I’ve been sanctioned by Russia, and as far as I know, it’s a lifetime ban. Outside of that, I’d have to say West Africa – it’s a place I haven’t spent enough time in.

Do you think space travel is a good thing or have we done enough to damage our own planet?

Space travel is great. I mean we should always be pushing boundaries in every way. It has nothing to do with destroying the planet now and finding another frontier. The world should always be moving forward and pushing on boundaries, with exploration at the heart. There’s a natural curiosity to always want to go further and I don’t think at this stage it equates to tourism.

Describe your ideal travel experience

There are two travel experiences that are ideal for me. The first is travelling to a beautiful international city and just exploring. For example Barcelona, Tokyo, Hanoi or Melbourne where you can spend days getting lost with food, wine and culture in different communities within the city.  The other is the collision of education, wildlife, remoteness, just stark beauty – when all those things come together in a destination. Places like the Galapagos Islands, Mongolia or Tibet.