“A cascade of surprises!” G Adventures treats travel advisors to ultimate Taylor Swift experience

Were they ready for it? You bet they were.

As a grateful Taylor Swift wiped away happy tears during her last night in Toronto, the second-to-last stop of her record-breaking Eras Tour, Canadian travel advisors were processing what can only be described as the ultimate night out in “Tay-ronto” with G Adventures.

Swift’s Thursday (Nov. 21) and Friday (Nov. 22) concerts at Toronto’s Rogers Centre, two of six sold-out shows that captivated the city this month, welcomed a group of excited travel pros who earned tickets to see the singer through G Adventures’ “You Belong with G Experience.” 

The adventure tour operator’s campaign, billed as the “biggest agent experience G Adventures has ever delivered,” kicked off Dec. 31, 2023, giving top-selling travel advisors from around the world an opportunity to earn “the hottest concert tickets of the decade.”

Travel advisors from different countries, driven to change people’s lives through travel, won spots at Swift’s concerts in Toronto, New Orleans and London (United Kingdom). Throughout the year, top performers for each month earned a ticket, based on cumulative sales, while wild cards were also issued.

Two last-minute tickets were also released, one week before the show G was attending. These were awarded through a silent auction, open to agents only, in support of Planeterra, G’s non-profit organization. 

A total of $8,500 was raised, with funds going directly to “G for Good” community projects in destinations that travellers visit on G tours. 

G welcomed ten Canadian agents at the Thursday show, while two additional agents who donated to Planeterra, as part of the silent auction, joined the U.S. crew on Friday.

More than a concert

The “You Belong with G Experience” started as a fun way to celebrate top supporters of G Adventures, but it evolved into something much more than that.

In Toronto, not only did agents attend Taylor Swift’s concert, but they were also surprised with a special VIP pre-show experience.

Agents were treated to an all-expenses paid trip to Toronto that included a welcome dinner (similar to what guests receive on a G tour), hotel accommodations, and an SUV limo ride to a mystery location (Melrose on Adelaide) for a “You Belong with G Experience” pre-party, which included a glitter and friendship bracelet making station, Swift-themed cocktails and a surprise performance by Taylor Swift drag impersonator Tay BoBo.

To further connect the community, the company invited its G Adventures’ internal winners to join for a pre-concert party, connecting advisors with G Adventures GCOs and Groups Specialists from as far away as South Africa and Australia.

The group then sashayed down “Taylor Swift Way” – a dedicated path, marked by street signs, that ran from Nathan Phillips Square to the Rogers Centre – to G Adventures’ executive suite at the stadium, compliments of company founder Bruce Poon Tip, who was also at the show (Bruce, reportedly, is a big Swiftie).

“It was a cascade of surprises!” said Quebec City-based Maude Mainguy of Passion Voyage, who won a spot for having the highest volume of G sales in February.

Impressively, Mainguy earned a second ticket for having the overall highest volume of sales, and was able to take a fellow agent with her (Winnipeg’s Lindsey Bell of Go Travel With Lindsey).

At the concert, the view from G’s executive suite “was amazing,” Mainguy told PAX.

“Bruce came down to talk with us and congratulate us. Everyone was so, so grateful for this incredible experience!” she said.

The highlight, she said, was the attention to detail that was put into making the event wonderful for travel advisors.

“G Adventures is so generous with us agents! Obviously, seeing Taylor Swift was exciting, but what made the whole thing unique and unforgettable was everything surrounding the event itself,” she said.

“Like a fever dream”

For Ola Ulewicz, owner of Barrie, ON-based Jet Lag Voyages, attending Taylor Swift’s show with G Adventures was “like a fever dream,” she said.

“The team, led by the incredible spirit of Erin Rogers [G’s national sales manager for Canada] put together the perfect, most Taylor-G Adventures event you could think of, with no detail spared,” Ulewicz told PAX. “Purple napkins and confetti, endless Taylor puns, friendship bracelets and glitter – I’m still finding glitter everywhere! – and those were just the little things.”

Ulewicz first learned that she was going to Taylor Swift’s Toronto show while at The Travel Agent Next Door’s conference in Jordan in June. The honour was announced by Bruce Poon Tip himself, who was at the conference as a keynote speaker.  

What Ulewicz loved most about Taylor Swift’s show in Toronto was being there “with such incredible people who share an equal love of Taylor and G.”

“The Eras Tour is as much about music as it is about the spirt of joy and friendship and shared experiences,” she said. “That is what G, at its core, is all about. So, the pairing couldn’t have been better.”

Meeting up with Bruce Poon Tip at the concert also “such a fun and memorable moment,” Ulewicz added.

“I think Bruce really is the biggest Swiftie of all time!” she said.

Hard to put into words

B.C-based travel advisor Shawna Irish of Flight Centre won a wild card entry, simply by telling G why she should go to the show

“It’s hard to put into words just how amazing the whole You Belong With G experience was,” Irish said. “How much detail and thought went into every little aspect, from the limo to the glitter station to the concert-approved purple and clear fanny pack. The G team really knows how to make you feel special and wow you at every corner.”

Irish said someone on her social media asked her if she was on some sort of Taylor Swift tour, “which is exactly what it felt like,” she said.

"This was more than just a concert, which was so amazing, and I felt incredibly honoured and grateful to get to experience this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It is something I will never forget.”

“Thank you, G Adventures, for such an unforgettable day and for reminding us that the best memories are made through shared experiences.

Was it all a dream?

G’s Erin Rogers, who accompanied the group, is still processing it all.

“I laughed, cried and sang my heart out. I'm still in the '...but was it all a dream?' stage of denial now that it's actually over,” Rogers told PAX.

When it came to planning an experience that agents would remember, “every decision made came with a 'What would Taylor do...?' line of thinking, bringing community, friendship, acceptance and support into light in every way possible,” Rogers said.

"Hosting travel advisor friends for the You Belong with G Experience at the Eras Tour was a personal dream come true for this Swiftie, but also a powerful reminder of what happens when community and happiness come together,” she said. “Through G Adventures, we have the privilege of creating spaces where people don’t just travel—they connect, they share, and they belong.”

“It was incredible to see that same spirit of adventure and togetherness come alive as we celebrated Taylor's amazing performance together with the relationships that make every journey unforgettable."

David Green, managing director of G Adventures Canada, echoed that sentiment.

"A huge thanks to Bruce Poon Tip, who had the vision to create a global incentive that would engage agents like never before," Green told PAX. "I also want to say a huge thanks to the biggest Swifty of all, Erin Rogers. Her brief was to create an awe-inspiring event, leading up to the main event, and she nailed it. 

"It’s now time for everyone to 'shake it off' as we get back down to business."

Destination Toronto expects Taylor Swift's concerts to generate some $282 million for the city. Swift has three more concerts left in Vancouver from Dec. 6-8.

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