Just a couple months into 2025, business is booming for G Adventures. Not only was January the strongest month the tour operator has ever had, but the brand has seen significant increases in its guest numbers and product offerings as well.
In fact, after announcing its first trips to Pakistan earlier this month, G Adventures is adding to its roster yet again, launching more than 100 new itineraries at the end of February. With the expansion, the company is aiming to visit less-traveled countries and regions, as well as build on the success of both core products and new trip types. Highlights include five new destinations for its Solo-ish product line (the Galapagos Islands; mainland Ecuador; Sicily, Italy; Cambodia; and Uzbekistan), as well as two new Ghana itineraries, a Togo trip and a Benin itinerary as part of a focus on West Africa.
The company is also leaning into winter products as more clients embrace off-season travel, adding trips to Finland, Alaska, Japan and Italy along with new Christmas market tours in Europe. Combine those additions with the relaunch of its classic Indonesia itineraries, new Local Living trips, expansion into the eastern part of Turkey and 30 new trips for the 18-to-Thirtysomethings Collection, and you get a small sampling of the company’s diverse and ongoing product development pipeline.
We sat down with Steve Lima, vice president of growth for USA and South America at G Adventures, to learn what’s driving the brand’s growth.
G Adventures kicked off 2025 with a bang — can you tell us more about the company’s recent sales success?
January was the strongest month we’ve ever had, company-wide, since 1990. For the U.S. in January, we beat our goal by almost 15%. We actually had a sales rep in New York who, in his one region, did $1 million, which is a first.
We have grown our passenger numbers by more than 20%, which is phenomenal.
But what’s incredible is our passenger growth. Numbers can always be inflated because prices go up on trips. Our Costa Rica trip five years ago was $1,100; now it’s $1,400. But the best indicator is how many passengers we are putting in these destinations. And we have grown our passenger numbers by more than 20%, which is phenomenal.
Steve Lima, vice president of growth for USA and South America at G Adventures
Credit: 2025 G AdventuresAnd how about all the new products that the company has been introducing?
We launched 200 brand-new trips. It’s like drinking from a fire hose — it’s almost too much. We have something like 800 trips now, and we’re launching another 100 products on top of that, which is just insane.
How have the new Pakistan trips been received?
Pakistan’s doing really well. I think people are always looking for something new, and adventure travelers are a bit more intrepid. Pakistan’s not necessarily seen as an active destination … but we’re getting some good pickup on trips like this from travel agents with clients who are looking for new hikes and new active adventures.
How does G Adventures determine those new destinations to break into, or where to expand an existing product portfolio?
We looked at destinations on a different type of scale, based on how much inventory we have and trending insight — if people want to travel to these destinations, based on searches. We also look at feedback from consortia and travel agents, and then we start to sketch a list of destinations we want to focus on. Places like Jordan, which has been hit by some of the things going on with its neighbors, though it’s definitely growing. We’re bringing about 450 people to Jordan this year for our GX Summit, celebrating our 35th anniversary.
What other destinations and trip types are performing well right now?
For year-over-year passenger growth, Morocco is up 69%, Ecuador is up 82%, Japan is up 36%, Jordan is up 245% — it’s ridiculous. We have 18 trips, and somewhere in the range of 1,000 departures, to Jordan.
G just launched its first trips to Pakistan.
Credit: 2025 G AdventuresKenya tends to be successful for us; we do a ton of family adventures there. In Ecuador, we have land- and ship-based trips. Those are great destinations for family adventures, and that’s something we’ve really seen pick up through [our partnership with] National Geographic. And a lot of that [business] comes to us through travel agents, because people are checking out a safari or chartering a ship with us for a week in the Galapagos, maybe instead of booking a cruise or an all-inclusive.
The other [offering] that’s been really interesting is Geluxe, which launched a year or so ago. It’s a combination of luxury and active travel, and that has been the fastest-growing travel style, even faster than some of our classic options. I think travel agents were waiting for a more luxury-based adventure partner, and they’ve seen that with us now. With Geluxe, you’re looking at anywhere from $5,000 to $8,000 per person. So, agents are more inclined to book those trips because they’re going to be able to make more commission. We’re also giving agents special promotions through G-Normous [which offers cash, prizes and other agent incentives through April 30], so that’s getting them extra commission, too.
