Happy World Tourism Day!

I’m writing this month’s column from Agra, India, as our second annual GX Summit kicks off.

This week, we’re welcoming more than 400 guests from across our worldwide community – our agency partners, suppliers, G Adventures’ team members, Planeterra donors, and press and content creators in a celebration of community tourism for World Tourism Day, today, September 27.

Once we’ve finished travelling, I can’t wait to be inspired by our lineup of speakers and panellists at the World Community Tourism Summit who are all thought leaders on this important topic. 

We’re all here ready to be inspired. Inspired by ‘incredible India’ as a destination for travellers as we explore its rich history and culture, and of course to enjoy the cuisine. We’re here to be inspired by how community tourism can make a real difference in the lives of both local people and travellers. We are excited to have Incredible India onboard as our headline sponsor as they too have recognized the powerful impact community tourism can have in the economic development of destinations. 

Last week, we announced four new community tourism enterprises in India that our guests will be experiencing this week. They are textile workshop Anoothi, the Pink City Rickshaw Company, Sheroes Hangout Cafe, which supports the female survivors of acid attacks, and arts and crafts centre, Sunder Rang. We can’t wait to introduce these to our travellers on our trips following GX. These projects are part of our Project 300 initiative, which will see G Adventures and Planeterra bring an extra 200 enterprises into the tourism supply chain above the 100 already in operation.

These projects are inspiring as they will empower even more local communities in India via tourism. I’m excited to experience them myself, and for our guests to have a firsthand experience with all four as we move through Delhi, Agra and Jaipur. 

Where I always take the most inspiration from however, is the agents and other fellow attendees who lend their time to travel with us and support our mission of changing lives through travel. 

It’s an honour and a privilege to be able to host such an incredible group of people who are hungry to share ideas and build connections. Bringing our community together each year for GX has fast become a highlight of my calendar year, and I can’t wait to see the results translate into powerful change as we send more travellers out into the world the right way following this informative and inspiring week.

Even if you aren’t at GX with us, I want to wish you all a wonderful World Tourism Day and to thank you for all your contributions to making the world a better place through travel.

Peace,

DG 

G Adventures’ Managing Director David Green’s monthly column, ‘G in 3’ is a 3-minute read running exclusively in Travelweek Daily all through 2024