Recognizing the ability of hostels to make travel accessible and affordable, as well as to provide a sense of community for travelers, G Adventures has announced a partnership with Hostelworld to offer 18- to 35-year-olds a new style of travel.
Called Roamies, the tours combine the independence of adventure travel with the social aspect of hostels, all with the support of a G Adventures guide (referred to as a “chief experience officer”) along the way. The collection has launched with 38 tours in 15 countries, with departures beginning May 8.
Here, Ben Perlo, managing director of G Adventures, discusses the opportunity these new tours provide to both travelers and travel advisors.
With the pandemic, most operators are doubling down on private options — why did you decide to launch a social touring style now?
We saw there was a gap in the marketplace between adventure providers and hostels. We also did a lot of research on [these travelers] and what they were looking for. And we realized that a little over 70% of the demographic was very interested in socializing while on a trip. And yes, we’re in the middle of a pandemic … but there is a huge market out there that still wants to be in a social environment and on a trip where they’re meeting unique individuals with similar personalities, and so we figured: Why not now?
And that atmosphere of socialization, immersion, learning and getting to understand other cultures — we’ve seen people wanting that more and more since they’ve been isolated for so long. You can see that in the amount of volume we’ve been able to move. And in November, we had a banner month; we grew over 30% versus 2019. And so, clearly our travelers, and in particular this demographic, are yearning to get out there.
Ben Perlo, managing director of G Adventures
Credit: 2022 G AdventuresAside from the age range (18-35), what kind of travelers will enjoy Roamies trips?
Somebody who enjoys social environments, adventurous opportunities, being immersed in the world and having a good time while they’re doing it. That’s the audience we’re trying to market to for this product line.
What can travelers expect on these new tours?
It’s very value oriented; they’ll get a lot of bang for their buck. They’re also going to get a trip that will provide them with unique opportunities to see the world and its cultures, but in a framework where they’re meeting other individuals and really getting to learn from them. The trips are geared more toward the freedom of backpacking and the excitement of connecting with individuals, but also having the safety net of our chief experience officers being on-site to help facilitate things.
And one thing we pride ourselves on is being immersive, as well as how we design our trips to support the local communities we travel to. Roamies, like our entire product line, has a very similar sort of impact and the same ethos. Over 70% of the hostels we’re using are locally owned. And we’re going to be building more social experiences with Planeterra, our nonprofit foundation.
What should travel advisors know about selling these trips?
I think some of the opportunity that we have in the U.S. market is not just for this age demographic, but also for our agency community and our advisors. This gives them a product that they can sell to their clients’ kids to get them started traveling at a very young age, with some safety and security.
Another important thing that they should know is that if their customers are looking to do some unique things in a more independent fashion, this product line allows them to do that. And then with the value of these trips, it gives advisors the ability to capture a client at a very early age, show their value, show G Adventures’ value and then have them continue on with the advisor — and hopefully continue to buy G Adventures’ different portfolio of trips. It provides the advisor with a few more tools in their toolkit.
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