In

In
the early 90s, he explained, bigger meant better. Around the
world, concrete high-rise hotels began to pop up – marring our
planet’s most beautiful coastlines – as cruise ships inflated in
size, guzzled fuel and spat it back into the sea. Meanwhile,
all-inclusive holidays exploded in popularity – people were ruining
the Earth just by leaving their homes. The owners of hotel chains
and big travel companies sat back comfortably with bulging pockets
while native communities suffered – out of the £100 spent on
holidays in developing countries, only £5 remained in the local
community. In the next decade, according to Bruce, tourism will
continue to grow to account for 10 per cent of global GDP, and he
wants to make it count.

Bruce wanted to make travel an “emotional purchase”. He asked:
“What would it take for tourism to be the biggest form of wealth
distribution the world has ever seen?” And so in 1990, the same
year that the travel industry took a downturn, G Adventures was
born, the world’s first sustainable travel business. He had a
strong vision, but no money and very little support. However he
persevered, maxing out two credit cards to found the company.

Immediately he set about creating authentic travel experiences
by turning the one-way street of tourism into a two-way street of
travel. He invested in local indigenous communities, giving them
tools to create their own businesses, and then brought people to
them, making it a rewarding experience for both travellers and
locals. Later he formed a fund called Planeterra which focused on
the charitable aspect of his work. Bruce regularly speaks about
sustainability at UN conventions, and even has a fan in the form of
one of the holiest men on Earth, the Dalai Lama, who wrote the
foreword to his best-selling book Looptail.

Serena Guen: If there was one thing that you wanted
readers to take away from your book, Looptail, what would that
be?

BRUCE POON TIP: It would probably be the idea
that businesses have to change in order to really have an impact on
the world, and that happiness drives performance for
businesses.

SG: What made you suddenly want to write it
now?

BPT: Well there are two reasons. My global
public speaking demands have now overtaken my abilities, because as
you know I have my company to run. But I know there are a lot of
people who want to hear my story and want to know how we define
social enterprise. As well as that, my company is coming up to 25
years old. We’re a people business, and the people we have in the
company don’t know our history and don’t know where we come from,
so I wanted to document that.

SG: Why do you think travelling is
important?

BPT: Travelling can be a main driver for
happiness. First of all, one of the best perks about travelling is
planning – the excitement in planning and looking forward to a
trip. We all have that internal need to explore. On top of that,
travel done in the right way is a form of wealth distribution which
can transform some of the poorest countries in the world.

SG: Why was it important for you to start a travel
company?

BPT: For me, it was about being passionate
about what we do. If I was to start a business I wanted to be
passionate about something that I loved. I saw the greater purpose
in travel which can transform lives, whether it’s those of the
travellers, the customers or communities. And it was something that
I was very passionate about, that message behind it was something
that I thought didn’t exist in the industry before we came along in
1990. Like every other entrepreneur I had my own eureka moment. I
thought I could find an audience for something a little
different.

SG: You mentioned that travel is important because it
could be the biggest form of redistribution of wealth, what will it
take for that to happen, apart from consumers creating
demand?

BPT: Well business models have to change and
travel companies have to do things right, they have to give back.
They have to make sure money is staying in local economies, people
have to stop going on all-inclusives, they have to get off cruise
ships. Why not have that money benefit the local people? People
have to live more like they do at home. They are living more
sustainably at home. People are recycling, putting lower voltage
light bulbs in their houses, eating organically. But they seem to
suspend their beliefs when they go on holiday. My hope is that
there is a tipping point – that people put those two things
together and are smart enough to realise that the travel they are
doing is not best for the planet.

SG: Can you recommend some small steps to help our
readers make their travel more sustainable?

BPT: Firstly, they should book with more
independents. They shouldn’t book with a conglomerate – especially
in the UK. Massive holding companies hold every resort and airline,
and they just suck that money right up for the shareholders’
benefit. So do your research about who actually owns the company
and stay away from those that don’t leave anything to the local
people and offer no local benefits at all. Spend your money with
different tax drivers and markets, get out of the compound, eat in
different restaurants, make sure your money is being distributed
when you’re on vacation. Meet local people and use local
services.

SG: Do you find that now you’re older that you tend to
travel in a different way?

BPT: Well recently my travel has been somewhat
based around One Direction concerts. No I’m just kidding, but I
have two girls so if One Direction is there, we will be there. I
mean, I do travel very differently, I want to be more remote and be
disconnected, we’re all so wired today. I love when I can be
completely lost and disconnected as it’s so difficult these days.
So there’s a very big difference between now and ten years ago,
when I loved the hustle and bustle of markets in Marrakech or
travellers’ towns with high rollers or lots of people being in
exciting nightlife and those kinds of things. But you move on and
you have an evolution like you do with any other part of your life.
In different stages in your life you like different things, and
right now I’m attracted to the more spiritual nature of different
cultures and more remote places.

SG: Can you name any of the places that you’d like to go
to have this experience?

BPT: Right now I’m trying to arrange a trip to
go diving with whale sharks in the Philippines. I want to go to
Mongolia again. I want to go to Eastern Tibet – there are a lot of
unknown and minority tribes in Eastern Tibet that are calling to me
right now.

SG: Tell us about one of the most special G Adventures
trips that you’ve done.

BPT: The Silk Road in ’99. It was amazing to
drive solo for three weeks down the Silk road – we went to Western
China and saw the whole cultural transition in between Eastern
Europe and Central Asia. It was such a special trip, although that
area has changed so dramatically and it’s pretty closed off now. I
was lucky to be able to go there as we did in a very peaceful time.
I remember staying and having meals with local villages and with
local people, the people were beautiful and peaceful and I just
loved it.

SG: It’s a shame you can’t do that anymore.

BPT: You know in Pakistan I saw they had these
polo matches in the centre path and my goal was to see one. Every
city has these polo matches in this beautiful valley where
thousands of people would come to camp and we were the only
tourists in the area watching these – very vicious I may add – polo
matches between the towns. It was magical.

SG: Where is one place that you’d tell our readers they
have to go to in the coming year?

BPT: I would say the Galápagos Islands, it’s a
great place to go. The Galápagos Islands heavily regulates the
ships that are allowed to go there, but right now it’s easier to
get to than ever before – you have to go to Ecuador first and then
out to Galápagos. It’s an incredible place that mixes complete
isolation and stark beauty with education and the understanding of
Darwin’s theory of evolution.

SG: What is one of the most unusual trips that G
adventures offers?

BPT: You know, one of our most exciting trips
is our expedition trip that sails up the west coast of Africa. We
have a trip that goes from South Africa to Morocco, going into all
of those countries that you’ve never even heard of. The Congo,
Sierra Leone, and all those tiny islands as well. The expedition
goes right along the coast from South Africa to Morocco. It’s long,
it’s thirty days. But you can split it in half and just do two
weeks.

SG: Do you have wifi on the boat?

BPT: We do, we do. But it’s not like what you
think of as wifi, we have satellite. You can’t go surfing YouTube
but you can get your email, send messages…

SG: I can’t imagine taking a month off
work…

BPT: I know. My wife went and she did it over
two years. It’s in April every year and costs $25,000 per person so
it’s not cheap. But you can break it up into two halves and it’s
amazing. It’s a great way of seeing these countries that you
wouldn’t want to see on your own. First of all, there’s an issue
with food. Anyone I know who’s gone to West Africa gets sick from
the food. So having our ship with beautiful food is a great way to
knock off all those countries on the west coast.

SG: Do you ever have to worry about pirates or anything
like that?

BPT: The pirates are generally on the other
side of Africa, the Suez Canal side. But there are areas where we
are concerned, so we wrap the ship with these thin wire-type
things. Pirates pull up in these little boats. But we wrap the ship
for security’s sake. It’s like a barbed wire-type metal as they can
climb up the sides. But there’s not really an issue with pirates on
that side of Africa.

SG: Sounds a little terrifying. So how many weeks a
month do you spend away?

BPT: There isn’t a single answer. Between
February and May this year, I was only home for eight days. But I’m
trying to keep a schedule where I am away only one week a month.
But the book, the book kind of ruined my life. That book
[laughing]…

SG: In a good way?

BPT: Sometimes in a good way, sometimes not. I
mean, I was in Niagara Falls this week and there was a line. I
swear to god these people were lining up for the Star Wars sequel
or something for me to sign their book. And there were a couple
moments when I just wanted to walk away.

SG: You need a stunt double.

BPT: No, no, I like it to a point but there are
just these surreal moments where you think: Is this really
happening? Is this a thing? Another famous one was about a month
ago, in India, and there was this press conference for a book
launch. There was a luncheon and I was very excited as I thought I
was going to be speaking on the stage. A woman was going to come on
and talk about the book. The Dalai Lama is a very important figure
for India. I came out from this curtain onto the stage and they
introduced me and there was this mad stampede of cables flying
literally everywhere. Photographers were running onto the stage. I
was like, is One Direction here? So I was running onto the stage.
Everyone just lost their shit. It was supposed to be a very nice
press conference. Everyone was meant to ask questions. There were
mics set up in corners of the room where people could go to ask
their question. But when one person started to run up to the stage,
then another did and then another. People kept storming up like it
was a Madonna concert. That’s another one of those moments where it
was just weird. But anyway, they were very nice people and it was
an amazing experience. I don’t complain. It was just one of those
moments where I was asking myself: ‘Is this really happening right
now?’

SG: When was the first time that you were inspired by
the Dalai Lama? Was it when you read his book The Great
Ocean?

BPT: Oh, it was long before then. The first
time was in 2007. He was in Vancouver and I got an invite to come
to a special audience. For his audience they were trying to select
people and different leaders and entrepreneurs. People from all
walks of life in Canada. I thought the luncheon would be five or
six people but I walked in and there was maybe 150. It was big and
not intimate at all. I got called up, as there was a group of
people called up to ask him a question. It was filmed for
television here. So there were all these Buddhist and religious
leaders and they asked him all these questions. I was sweating it
out. They were talking to him about things like, ‘the ninth
revelation of Buddha said this’. Or asking why the Buddha’s hands
are closed…I was thinking to myself: oh my god. It got to my
question and I was like: “Is there a dog heaven?”

SG: Did you actually ask that?

BPT: No, I didn’t actually. But I was going to
ask something similar about the difference between reincarnation
and heaven. So I changed my question down the line. Luckily I was
second to last. If I had opened it up, it would have been highly
embarrassing.

SG: You’re not Buddhist are you?

BPT: No no, I’m not a practising Buddhist at
all but I certainly relate to Buddhism more than any other
religion. I believe all religions are linked, they are about being
good people and your happiness is directly related to creating
happiness in others. I believe all those concepts are linked. But
no, I don’t subscribe to organised religion.

SG: How do you balance your work with your
travel?

BPT: I don’t believe there is a balance between
work and travel. Travel is my work so…so it’s what I do. Not
everyone does that but I think travel should be a priority in
everyone’s life. It would make the world a much better place. I
would say there is no faster track to peace than people getting to
know other people and cultures and travel can be that vehicle. I
really believe that. I think fewer people would invade other
countries if they understood how those people lived in those
countries. I think that if people got to know other cultures and
appreciate other religions, there would be so much more
understanding. I don’t want to sound all hippie but I think travel
can be a vehicle.

SG: I agree. Do you think technology is helping or
hindering travel?

BPT: It’s changing it. When you look back to
1990, before technology and the internet, it was a beautiful time
for travel. We had the element of surprise back then. We went and
experienced something magical. Well technology has taken away any
element of surprise. But it’s also made it much easier and more
enriching…people have more information and come more prepared.
They learn more when they are away. I don’t think it’s necessarily
better, it’s different. There has been an evolution in how people
travel.