G Adventures thanks travel advisors, will return to Jordan & Egypt “the minute it's safe"

G Adventures had a simple message for Toronto's travel agent community this week: thank you. 

The tour operator brought its annual Travel Your Heart Out Roadshow to the Storeys Building on Thursday night (March 6), drawing about 160 agents, trade media and G staff for an evening of destination showcases, product news and a few surprises.

Tourism board partners from Costa Rica, Portugal, Colombia and Peru each had their own booth, and guests were handed passports to collect stamps from every station. 

A fully stamped passport earned an entry into a prize draw, with raffle ticket sales also raising money for Planeterra, G Adventures' non-profit arm. 

A photo booth, poutine station and passed bites kept the energy up throughout the night. The Toronto stop is part of a growing cross-country tour that launched last week in Victoria and Vancouver.

Speaking to PAX, David Green, VP customer and sales operations and managing director Canada at G Adventures, said the event was above all an act of gratitude toward the travel agent community, and noted the tour is expanding to meet demand. 

"The whole event is really an agent appreciation event. At the heart of what we're doing is just taking the opportunity on a cold night in March to bring out our travel agent community and just say thank you for all their support," he said.

“It's growing every year. That's why we're adding more cities now, so that we can get in front of more people.” Victoria and Montreal are new stops this year.  

The room included longtime G Adventures sellers and agents newer to the product. 

On the destination front, Green pointed to Peru as the company's top seller in Canada, with Costa Rica and Morocco also ranking among the strongest performers. 

He acknowledged the impact of regional instability on Jordan and Egypt, two destinations that had been gaining significant momentum for G Adventures. 

This week, due to flight disruptions across the Middle East and elevated travel warnings, which can impact traveller insurance coverage, the company decided to suspend operations in Jordan, Egypt and Oman from March 3 up to and including March 22, 2026. 

"Sadly, Jordan and Egypt were two of our fastest growing destinations, and obviously we're gonna see what happens there,” Green said. The minute it's safe to do so, G Adventures will be one of the first companies back in those destinations and giving much needed support to the local communities.”

Purpose-driven travel

Nuppy Mistry, a business development manager, delivered a presentation that looked at G Adventures' community tourism initiatives and the philosophy behind them. 

Mistry highlighted the company's Ripple Score, a third-party-verified measure showing that 92 per cent of dollars spent on a G Adventures trip stay in the destination. 

He also touched on Planeterra-supported enterprises, animal welfare and child welfare policies, plastic partnerships, and a trees program that plants a native tree for every day a traveller is on tour across 17 communities worldwide.

Juan Sebastian Sanchez, tourism specialist with the ProColombia Canada Office, also took the floor to make the case for Colombia as a destination that has evolved significantly in recent years.

Sanchez walked agents through the country's six tourism regions — from the Caribbean coast and the Pacific to the coffee-growing Western Andes, the capital region around Bogota, the Colombian Massif and the Amazon — each with its own identity, landscapes and cultural offer.

Sanchez noted that Colombia won 14 World Travel Awards last year and that Canada has become the fourth-highest booking market for the destination in 2026, with direct flights available from Toronto and Montreal to Bogota, Cartagena and Medellin. 

He described a destination increasingly defined by experiential travel, community tourism and gastronomy alongside its natural assets.

Exploration elevated

G Adventures’ national sales manager Erin Rogers followed with an overview of G Adventures' expanding National Geographic partnership, now marking its 10th year. 

She introduced the National Geographic Signature collection — the company's most premium travel style to date — featuring five-star accommodations, private transportation, National Geographic expedition leaders and behind-the-scenes access to sites closed to the general public.

Current itineraries span Cambodia, Costa Rica, Morocco, Portugal and Vietnam. 

A Canada itinerary travelling between Edmonton and Calgary, with stops in Jasper, Lake Louise and Banff, is set to launch in April.

"We all understand now that luxury isn't all about the thread count. It's about the experience," Rogers said.

Mistry closed out the presentations with a look at why travel makes people happy — and what G Adventures is doing about it. 

Drawing on research that 85 per cent of people say travel contributes to long-term happiness and that more than 60 per cent now choose trips based on experiences over famous sites, Mistry argued that the most meaningful travel is rooted in connection, presence and a slower pace.

"The happiest travel in 2025 won't be about doing more but about feeling more connection, more presence, more wonder. It's about travelling in a way that fills your life, not just your passport,” he said. 

“We're on a mission to make 2026 the happiest year ever.”

The Travel Your Heart Out Roadshow continues with upcoming stops in Halifax, Calgary and Montreal.

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