Is it possible to operate a luxury tour product without compromising on a company’s commitment to being socially conscious and supporting the local economy? G Adventures believes so. In September it announced a new partnership with National Geographic Expeditions, which it says takes high-end luxury touring to ‘another level’.
Tours under the National Geographic Signature with G Adventures brand will go on sale in January 2026, with the first departures scheduled for January 2027. It’s the second partnership between the two companies – G Adventures has been operating National Geographic Journeys since 2015, later expanding the programme to include National Geographic Family Journeys.
G Adventures CEO Bruce Poon Tip said the operator had been thinking for a while about creating a luxury tour brand to sit in its portfolio. It took a step closer with the launch of Geluxe in November 2023, with the first trips starting six months later, offering ‘premium adventure tours with comfortable stays’. But it wasn’t until the opportunity to partner on Signature with National Geographic came about that G Adventures realised it could add the ‘luxury’ label to its range.
“We never called it [Geluxe] ‘luxury’,” said Bruce. “That’s why we created the Geluxe name. It’s the most successful brand we have had but there was still another level in terms of luxury that we have never touched – until now.”
Although National Geographic Signature with G Adventures is a new product, the Signature name has been used by Nat Geo Expeditions since 2022, as a brand operating land trips in the US market.
National Geographic launched a global pitch for a partner for Signature last year and at that point, Bruce realised a ‘high-end’ and ‘bold’ lifestyle G Adventures brand could be possible.
He said: “We told them: ‘We think we can create a programme that doesn’t currently exist. We think we can do it at the luxury end using the talent of the lecturers and experts of National Geographic combined with the values of G Adventures.”
The result is a unique, revised Signature programme for discerning travellers, which Bruce says is: “Our highest end programme – this is on another level.
“We have always debated whether our brand could go that high,” he said. “This was a great opportunity for us to partner with National Geographic and revise the product that they had. We are excited.”
Twenty-nine National Geographic Signature with G Adventures tours will go on sale at the beginning of the year, with another 50 added by the end of 2026.
Bruce said guests won’t be staying in Ritz-Carlton-type luxury hotels but will stay in the ‘best’ locally run accommodation in a destination.
This is because G Adventures operates a ‘Ripple Score’ system – the higher the score for a destiantion, the more money that stays in the local community – and the operator doesn’t want the score to drop.
“We are not going to let the quality of hotel take away from a community experience. We won’t sacrifice experience for luxury but, where we can, we’ll have accommodations that capture local flair and taste. Guests will find an exquisite experience that’s elevated and locally owned,” Bruce said.
Tour transport will be private and ‘more spacious’; there will be a meet-and-greet service and a higher level of support, for example, by the 24/7 pre-trip concierge.
More meals will be included with ‘fantastic food’ at memorable places, such as the Parwa Community Restaurant in Huchuy Qosco, in the Sacred Valley, Peru, where Bruce said ‘every element’ is sourced locally, ‘from the quails’ eggs on top of the salad, to the tea’. Another example would be alfresco dining in the Serengeti, Tanzania.
‘Signature Moments’ will give guests access to exclusive events and experiences through National Geographic, such as private visits to research stations that aren’t accessible to the public, after-hours access to museums and places of interest and historic sites for private visits and unique dinners, such as the Gold Museum of Peru in Lima.
Certified ‘first-in-class’ experts (‘not just regular people on the ground’) will be flown in specifically for tours to elevate experiences that are already in the G Adventures programme. For example, during a visit to the Ccaccaccollo Women’s Weaving Co-op in Peru, Nat Geo specialists will give greater insight into the traditions of weaving, how it’s being preserved and the stories being told through the woven patterns.
The first tours will include South Africa, Vietnam, Japan, Central Asia, Peru and Jordan. Tour durations have been expanded from eight, nine or 10 days in length to 14 or 18 days for many trips, since Signature will now operate in global markets, not just the US. At around $1,000 a day (about £750), the Signature tours are double the price of G Adventures’ National Geographic Journeys.
Maximum guest numbers on each tour will be around 22, slightly higher than Journeys or Geluxe tours. Bruce said that’s to ensure the tours are as cost effective as possible when factoring in the level of expertise and quality of experiences featured.
Each guest will have their own room, unless they want to share, and G Adventures expects Signature to attract multi-generational guests, such as ‘grandparents travelling with grandkids’ and ‘a lot of family travel’, as well as solo travellers and couples.
Bruce said the UK is a key market and travel agents will be crucial to National Geographic Signature with G Adventures’ success.
“People who book luxury holidays have an advisor. We [G Adventures] don’t have a luxury customer that will pay $12,000 for a 10-day trip. This opens the doors for us to reach a lot of travel industry agencies and specialists who have liked the idea of the Journeys programme but have been unable to sell it because they needed something more upmarket.
“Our big customers for this are the travel industry. This is opening a whole new market for us. Agents have long loved G Adventures and now luxury agents can finally work with us.”
