“Female empowerment is big for us”: G Adventures’ Bruce Poon Tip

G Adventures founder Bruce Poon Tip sat down with Travel Weekly to talk about the company’s latest social enterprise goals in India and Nepal.

Travel Weekly was among a group of 35 media representatives from across the globe who joined Poon Tip to experience first-hand G Adventures’ latest initiative, the ‘Ripple Score’ – an evaluation score for the company’s trips which indicate what percentage of its tours’ local expenditure remains in the economy.

Sustainable Travel International and the Planeterra foundation (G Adventures’ non-profit partners) assisted in the development of the Ripple Score calculation.

As well as the development of the company’s supply chain, an innovative algorithm calculates how much money stays in the destination, and the positive social and economic benefit that this provides to the local community.

Being so transparent forces accountability and approximately 700 G Adventures trips have been given a Ripple Score that travellers can access and see on their website.

“I am truly hoping people understand the greater philosophy of the business and the greater purpose that we have set out to do outside of some top-line messages, which seem to me greenwashing,” Poon Tip said.

“We are a work in progress too and I still think we can do better all the time.”

A number of the social enterprises we visited in India and Nepal were run by women, including Sheroes, a café run by survivors of the heinous crime of acid throwing on women’s faces, for reasons such as disobedience or rejection of romance.

Some of the women who work at Sheroes café.

While this café is not one of G Adventures’ social enterprise projects, it’s well-ensconced in its ripple effect calculation as the company drives its travellers there, with 63 per cent of them women.

“Female empowerment is big for us and in this region in particular an issue,” Poon Tip said.

“I think men also need to be equally excited about women empowerment. That would be a great accomplishment if we can help do that.

“In the US, with the war on women’s reproductive rights, I think the cause is limited if it’s just women speaking all the time.”

And indeed, the men in the media group were equally moved by the stories from the Sheroes women as they shared their ordeal and how the café helped them to find their voice again. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house.

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Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

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