Trips in the Geluxe Series are designed with community and comfort at their core
G Adventures, the leader in small group adventure travel since 1990, recently introduced a new program targeted at travelers who want to kick things up a notch.
Called Geluxe, the collection of premium active adventures features one-of-a-kind accommodations and elevated dining experiences. Like all G Adventures trips, the new series retains a focus on close connections to people and places visited, as the company enjoys a well-deserved reputation for sustainable travel and working with local businesses. With 19 offices worldwide, it offers 750 tours on all seven continents. Each tour is led by a CEO, or Chief Experience Officer, a locally based guide handpicked for their years of experience and expertise.
Geluxe has been G Adventures’ most successful category launch to date in terms of speed to book and number of bookings. Says Kimberly Greiner, US Public Relations Manager, “We clearly hit the nail on the head with this new collection of trips, and we are continuing to roll out new destinations and itineraries.”
She comments, “Geluxe was created to fill a gap in the market that we detected: a slightly older demographic that wants all the adventure, connection and excitement of a classic G trip, but with a softer landing.”
Yves Marceau, VP of Product for G Adventures, says the new collection of Geluxe trips is hitting a sweet spot for travelers looking to be both active and comfortable while enjoying local experiences in the communities they visit along the way.
“The travelers who are booking these trips are slightly older than our usual demographic, with the majority above 40,” he says. “It’s been especially appealing to female travelers, a high proportion of whom are traveling solo, showing us there was a niche in the market that wasn’t being fulfilled.”
Marceau adds, “We’ve taken a lot of care with this collection, curating every experience in a way that provides a balance of activity and cultural immersion. Meals reflect the history and tell the story of the place and its people, with accommodation unique to the location.”
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New Adventure Travel Trips Highlights
Highlights on each Geluxe trip include at least one “Your OMG Stay” and one “Your OMG Day.” Another Geluxe feature: More meal inclusions. “Your OMG Stay” is a stand-out style of accommodation selected for its impressive history, design or surrounding experiences. These include stone cottages at Narsingh Bagh in Dholpur, India; a Maasai community-owned lodge in Kenya; and the Exedra Hotel, which is set among ancient caves in Cappadocia, Turkey.
“Your OMG Day” gives travelers the opportunity to personalize one of their days by picking between two different travel experiences. Examples include a yoga class on an organic farm in Pushkar, India a river cruise with port tasting in Porto, Portugal; and exploring the fairy chimneys of Cappadocia by e-bike.
As for Geluxe group bookings, Greiner said destinations of particular interest have been Morocco, Greece, Peru and Mexico. Maximum group size is 16, with an average of 10-12 people per departure.
Eight days in Southern Morocco
On the eight-day “Southern Morocco: Marrakesh, the Atlas Mountains & the Sahara,” a sunset camel ride precedes the OMG Stay at Imperial Glory Lodges Merzouga, a luxury tent camp in the Sahara Desert wilderness. Each spacious tent, with its own bathroom, air-conditioning and private terrace offering stunning views of the dunes, is provided with traditional Moroccan attire so you can dress for the occasion at dinners. Memories are made around the campfire and under the starry sky.
On the following OMG Day in Merzouga, travelers set off into the dunes in 4x4s, either focusing on Saharan culture through visits with nomads and villagers or on the natural history of the desert while exploring an oasis and meeting with a local farmer. Other tour highlights include a hike in the valley of Dades Gorge, a guided tour of the ancient kasbah of Aït Ben Haddou (a filming site for many movies) and a cooking class on how to make a traditional Moroccan tagine (stew). In the High Atlas Mountains, Geluxe travelers hike through olive and juniper trees around the Berber village of Ourigane, where they connect with a local family and take part in some of their routines, like harvesting crops, mastering the art of tea-making and creating butter from freshly obtained milk before sharing a traditional meal with them.
Cool-weather Adventures in Iceland and Patagonia
Cool-weather Geluxe adventures include an eight-day Iceland trip and a 10-day journey to Patagonia. In Iceland the groups hike to waterfalls, traverse lava fields, soak in geothermal pools and trek through manmade ice tunnels in the heart of Langjokull Glacier. In the Patagonian region of Chile and Argentina, tour participants spend three days hiking in Torres del Paine National Park, witness Perito Moreno Glacier up-close, travel by boat in Upsala and Cristina passages, and hike or horseback ride in Los Glaciares National Park.
Ten days in Tanzania
Highlights of the 10-day Tanzania trip include walking in the footsteps of Dr. Jane Goodall’s groundbreaking primate research on a chimpanzee trekking experience in Gombe Stream National Park, with a visit to her former house and research station. Participants also enjoy wildlife watching on safari drives in Ngorongoro Crater and Serengeti National Park. The OMG Day is devoted to hiking in the crater, with the option of climbing to the summit of Mount Makarot for stunning views of the Ngorongoro plains. For cultural insights, tour members tour the village of Mto wa Mbu, where they take part in a cooking demonstration, meet artisans in their shops, go to a farm and browse in the local market. Afterwards, they sit down with community members for a traditional lunch of meat and plantains.
The Geluxe Collection was first announced in November 2023 with trips in Botswana, Cambodia, Costa Rica, Egypt, Greece, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Mexico, Morocco, Nepal, Peru, South Africa, Thailand, Vietnam and Zimbabwe. Departures for these trips started in May 2024. These additional destinations were announced in March: Argentina/Chile (Patagonia), Ecuador (Galapagos), Iceland, Ireland, India, Kenya, Portugal, Spain, Tanzania and Turkey, with departures available from October 2024. In all, there are 45 Geluxe itineraries across 27 countries.
By Randy Mink
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