G Adventures says its National Geographic Signature collection has become its most successful launch to date, with bookings accelerating in recent months.
The high-end collection currently has 67 trips across 48 destinations, with more than 500 departures available to UK travellers.
Speaking at the GX World Community Tourism Summit in Cambodia last week, G Adventures founder Bruce Poon Tip said sales of the luxury collection in June, July, August were ‘record-setting’ following a slow start at the beginning of this year.
Bruce told Indulge: “Our trips don’t start till January 2027, so no one’s buying trips at the start of the year, especially with the Iran war, where it’s causing people to hesitate,” he said.
Since then, the response has exceeded his expectations, he said, particularly because G Adventures has never previously operated such high-end tours.
“It’s been a shock to me. I didn’t know the G Adventures brand could get that high. We’ve never gone to that level of luxury,” he said.
The average Signature trip costs around US$1,000 per night, or approximately £750.
The collection combines premium accommodation with access to National Geographic experts, explorers, researchers and local communities. National Geographic brings its expertise, educational content and history of exploration, while G Adventures brings its community tourism model and experience delivering small-group trips.
Bruce said the collection remains a small part of G Adventures’ overall global business, accounting for less than 10% of August’s global business. Signature is performing well primarily in the older end of the market – attracting mainly couples – although Bruce said the collection is also appealing to travellers in their 30s and 40s.
G Adventures has a separate National Geographic Family Journeys product for families and offers Solo-ish tours for people travelling alone.
Bruce said customers were particularly interested in travelling with National Geographic, who have a strong brand image and legacy of exploration. “People are booking for the experts; all National Geographic trips have National Geographic explorers on the trips. Lecturing and learning. So it’s those people that are interested in that level of learning when they’re travelling, and that participation in culture, and so that’s what’s very different.”
The collection has attracted support from UK agents including Trailfinders, which Bruce described as a ‘huge supporter’ of the Signature collection. “Their market is hungry for this programme,” he said. They see this as something they’ve never had before. This level of the brand connection, as well as the level of service for their customers. Because they have very high-end customers.”
The Central Asian ‘stans’ are currently the best-selling Signature destinations, according to Bruce, while a Palau (a lesser known country in Oceania) itinerary inherited from National Geographic sold out in record time.
G Adventures has continued to add new itineraries in phases, with 17 added in April and another 30 added this month.
For agents, Bruce said Signature should be viewed as an aspirational product, both for existing G Adventures customers moving up from its Journeys range and for travellers who would normally book independently.
“It’s almost double the price of Journeys, but people see it as more of an aspirational kind of travel,” he said. “It’s so curated, it’s so special how the programmes are run.”
“People who would normally travel another way, maybe independently even, see the value in something like a National Geographic Signature,” he said. Agents should focus on what makes the collection different rather than simply selling it as a more expensive version of a G Adventures trip, he added.
“Selling it for what it is, is really important,” he said. “But also the history that it brings to the programmes that no one else can, which is 140 years of National Geographic exploration and discovery.”
The company said the collection is fully live for UK agents to book, supported by its dedicated UK agency sales team, sales collateral and commission structures.
