Poon Tip Recognized With W.H. Baxter Lifetime Achievement Award

During last night’s Agents’ Choice Awards Gala, Trevello’s Zeina Gedeon and TL Network’s Lindsay Pearlman presented the William H. Baxter Lifetime Achievement Award to Bruce Poon Tip, the founder of G Adventures. 

“I met Bruce over 20 years ago. At the time he was rambling on about the three Ps: purpose, passion and profits. When he started to explain the profit side, I thought he was crazy. Going on about using locals on tours to provide that cultural experience and making money out of it? That’s nuts, you can’t control quality, volume, margins etc., but if you sat down and listened to him it made sense – especially from a competitive edge perspective – nevermind it being the right thing to do,” Travel Leaders Network’s Lindsay Pearlman noted during the awards presentation held at the Arcadian Court. “He’s never wavered from that, building his business around it – often at the expense of those profits or running afoul of many in and out of the industry.”

Although he’s much younger than many to receive a lifetime achievement award, Pearlman shared some of Poon Tip’s accolades such as talking part in TED Talks and UN World Tourism events, being recognized with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal, earning three honourary doctorates and the fact that G Adventures is repeatedly named a “best place to work.” Notably, he also pointed out that Poon Tip has even been sanctioned by Russia over his stance on the Ukraine invasion.

“It’s been fun to watch his evolution that’s always been grounded with passion and focused on the end goal,” he added. “Planeterra now is 20 years old and remains focused on community and the environment.”

The W.H. Baxter award recognizes individuals who have improved professional standards in the industry, demonstrated successful innovation and entrepreneurial initiative and enhanced the industry’s standing with the general public.

“You are genuinely a true person to yourself and to everything you do – you live what you say,” said Trevello Travel Group’s Zeina Gedeon. “I am very proud – you deserve this lifetime achievement award. Mrs. B would be very, very, very proud for you to be getting this award.”

Over the years, recipients of the prestigious award have included Judd Buchanan; John Powell; John McKenna; David Hardouin; Bruce Hodge; Josef Ebner and the founders of Transat – Jean-Marc Eustache, Lina De Cesare and Philippe Sureau.

“We are truly a global brand with people from 150 countries taking trips with us every day but it all started here in Toronto and I’m really proud to call ourselves Canadian and from Toronto so this means a lot,” Poon Tip said. “It’s amazing to be in Canada as well, as an immigrant from Trinidad, moved to Calgary, moved to Toronto and started a multinational business and be a success around the world and leave a message and a movement – and it’s all because this great country Canada gives us that opportunity to be entrepreneurs.”

During his speech, Pearlman also referenced Poon Tip’s book, which features a forward from the Dalai Lama. “Not only in his business, but also in this account of adventures, Bruce Poon Tip is making an active contribution to creating a more peaceful and happier world, while at the same time creating a model from which others can learn.”

Meanwhile, Poon Tip thanked the team at G Adventures for their continuous efforts and support, and called on those in the audience to strive towards a more transformational industry. 

“People are booking holidays in the 40 poorest countries in the world, the most in need citizens – just a small change in how we run our businesses and having dialogues with local communities, including those in the supply chain, would change our industry into a transformational industry,” he said. “Imagine if we came to a time where going on holiday means you’re giving back – that’s really always been the dream at G Adventures. As sellers of travel, you’ve got travellers right in front of you. The number one question I get asked all the time is what can I do to travel better? And it’s very simple. You just have to understand that travel is a privilege and it’s not your right.”