G Adventures celebrates an epic week of community tourism at GX Cambodia

Roughly 600 changemakers from around the world come together to celebrate the power of travel to change lives

 

 

G Adventures has wrapped up an epic week in Cambodia, bringing together around 600 changemakers from around the world for its fourth annual GX World Community Tourism Summit. From Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, travel agents, suppliers, media, content creators, travelers, industry leaders and G Adventures staff came together for a week of connection, discovery and learning about the power of travel to change lives.

 

Throughout the week, GX attendees experienced Cambodia through the people and communities at the heart of its tourism industry, while hearing from global voices on how travel can create meaningful economic and social impact.

 

Highlights included:

 

• G Adventures expanded its Global Ambassador Program, welcoming sustainable tourism pioneer Judy Kepher Gona alongside inaugural ambassadors Tony Wheeler, Delfin Pauchi Uhigua and the late Dr. Jane Goodall.

 

• G Adventures launched How to Travel Your Heart Out, a practical guide encouraging travelers to turn small choices into positive impact for people, communities, wildlife and the planet.

 

• The next annual GX summit was confirmed to take place in Brazil in September 2027.

 

• Planeterra unveiled its Community Positive Framework, creating a practical, community-informed approach to defining, measuring and improving tourism’s impact.

 

• The rise of ‘micro-community travel’ was identified, with G Adventures previewing Bazaar, a new platform connecting travelers through shared passions and interests.

 

• Project 300, delivered in partnership with Planeterra, passed its halfway point, with 160 community tourism enterprises now incorporated into G Adventures itineraries on the journey towards 300 by 2030.

 

• Trees for Days surpassed 6.7 million trees grown on behalf of G Adventures travelers, supporting community-led climate action around the world.

 

“G Adventures has always been about doing something differently, and doing it in our own way,” says Bruce Poon Tip, founder of G Adventures. “There really is something very special about what happens when our global community comes together to change perceptions, raise awareness and ultimately drive demand for destinations and communities that need it most. GX is a perfect example of communityship in action. Our agents, suppliers, staff, media, content creator friends and travelers all come together to celebrate, learn and see first-hand the power of tourism done right.

 

“Cambodia is a destination that has been significantly impacted by the challenges facing tourism in recent years. We knew that bringing our community here could do more than simply bring people together. It could shine a light on this incredible country, create connections, support local communities and hopefully inspire more people to come and experience Cambodia for themselves.”

 

GX culminated, as always, with the World Community Tourism Summit on September 27, UN World Tourism Day, bringing the global G community together for a day of thought leadership, engaging sofa sessions, inspiring keynotes and live performances. The day included a welcome from His Excellency Huot Hak, Cambodia’s Minister of Tourism, and His Excellency Prak Sophoan, Governor of Siem Reap, alongside performances from Phare Circus – The Cambodian Circus and MeDha Cambodia – a collective of women delivering powerful, drum-led performances celebrating strength, courage and identity.

 

The summit opened with GX’s first-ever live on-stage podcast recording, hosted by Travel Trends founder Dan Christian, who joined Bruce Poon Tip to explore the trends shaping travel and ask whether travel really can change the world. G Adventures also welcomed Judy Kepher Gona as its latest Global Ambassador, while Ben Perlo, CEO of G Adventures, celebrated the success of National Geographic Signature with G Adventures – the company’s first venture into the high-end travel space. With 66 new trips, over 500 departures across 48 destinations, he celebrated it as G Adventures’ most successful travel style launch to date. National Geographic Expedition Expert Khadija Amahal also shared her journey as a young Amazigh woman and explored how travel and community tourism can create opportunity, restore pride and uplift local people.

 

 

How to Travel Your Heart Out

Continuing G Adventures’ long-standing leadership in responsible travel, the summit saw the launch of How to Travel Your Heart Out, a new pocket-sized guide encouraging travelers to turn small choices into positive impact. Building on G Adventures’ responsible travel guidelines, first launched a decade ago, the interactive guide explores everything from wildlife and Indigenous communities to responsible photography, social media and supporting local economies, shifting the conversation from what travelers shouldn’t do to what they can do.

 

 

The Rise of the Micro-Community

G Adventures also identified a new shift in traveler behavior: the rise of ‘micro-community travel’. Smaller, highly engaged communities built around shared passions, identities and interests are increasingly looking to explore the world together. GX attendees were given a preview of Bazaar, a new digital platform launching in Spring 2027 that will allow travelers to browse hosted departures based not only on where they want to go, but who they want to go with and what they care about.

 

 

Making Tourism Community Positive

Planeterra unveiled its new Community Positive Framework, designed to create a practical, community-informed way to define, measure and improve tourism’s impact. The initiative will bring together community tourism enterprises, global experts and travel companies to explore what positive tourism impact actually looks like from the perspective of the communities experiencing it.

 

“There is currently no agreed global standard for defining or verifying what positive community impact from tourism actually means,” says Jamie Sweeting, President of Planeterra. “If we want tourism to genuinely benefit communities, we need to understand what communities themselves define as positive, and have practical ways to measure whether we are delivering it.”

 

G Adventures, G Touring and TruTravels have joined the group of founding industry partners and supporters.

 

 

G Values Fund

When G Adventures’ Chief Experience Officers (CEOs) reach a point where guiding no longer fits their lifestyle, G Adventures’ G Values Fund provides low-interest microloans to help them turn their business dreams into reality. With the upcoming release of Bruce Poon Tip’s latest book, “Communityship: Lessons from the Universe and the Business of Everyone,” the fund was relaunched as Bruce shared that all proceeds from the book will go towards supporting new G Values Fund projects, helping more members of the G community build businesses and create opportunities of their own.

 

 

Celebrating Greater Impact

The summit also marked significant milestones across G Adventures’ impact work. Jamie Sweeting confirmed that G Adventures and Planeterra have passed the halfway point of Project 300, with 160 community tourism enterprises now incorporated into G Adventures itineraries. Daniel Walsh from Reforest shared that more than 6.7 million trees are now being grown on behalf of G Adventures travelers through Trees for Days, while Planeterra’s Director of Climate & Biodiversity Thomas Armitt shared stories of communities whose lives are being changed through tree-growing initiatives across East Africa.

 

As GX Cambodia came to a close, the week demonstrated what communityship looks like in action: a global community coming together around a shared purpose, while celebrating the people, businesses and ideas proving that tourism can be a force for good.