“The time was right to transform ourselves. We would use the power of our community, which we would build and strengthen using tools like social media, to rally our company and our customers around social innovation. Alleviating poverty, empowering local communities, and all the things we had already been passionate about would become a core part of our business. It was about creating a business model based around happiness and freedom, and truly believing that we could really change the world.”
From Looptail: How One Company Changed the World by Reinventing Business
by Bruce Poon Tip, Founder of G Adventures
When people announce they want to change the world, few people listen because few people really mean it. Bruce Poon Tip means it, and has devoted his entire adult life to making it happen.
Looptail reveals Poon Tip’s journey from humble beginnings to world-renowned business leader. Armed with just a few credit cards and a bucketful of ambition, the story tells how Poon Tip created what is now one of the largest adventure travel companies in the world, G Adventures. Offering authentic, sustainable tours for travellers, G Adventures runs around 15,000 small group tours across all seven continents, and is touted to be one of the happiest places to work in the world.
In this first-person account, Poon Tip divulges the highs and lows encountered during the shaping of the company, how he dealt with each obstacle, and suggests how other businesses can replicate his methods.
Some of his business concepts are less than traditional. G Adventures famously has no HR department; instead culture, karma and community play important roles. Techniques used in games and game design are used to drive certain desired behaviours among the staff in an effort to make the company a fun place to work, and Poon Tip promises to give any of his employees $5,000 if they manage to actually hurt his feelings when giving negative feedback about the company.
Poon Tip is aware some of his ideas are a little left field, and has become used to the eye-rolling when explaining his concepts. Yet, he is obviously doing something right as he is a frequent keynote speaker at both tourism and business conferences.
While Looptail is in essence a business book, it is a great read if you’re interested in travel and tourism. It explores the finer details of setting up a tour company, from meetings with potential hosts to how to drum up interest from investors, yet it is also enjoyable from a travellers’ point of view as it revisits Poon Tip’s own life-changing travel moments. Discover why his first trip to Tibet made such an impression, how he managed to get arrested on the Burmese border, and why sustainable travel is so important to him.
Poon Tip’s inspirational story confirms that if you put your mind to it, you really can change the world.
If you’d like to get your mitts on a copy of Looptail, Eco Traveller Guide has FIVE copies of the New York Times Bestseller to giveaway. The books are Australian editions, including exciting exclusive material. *Giveaway open to Australian readers, only.
What You Need to Do to Win a Copy:
~ Share an inspiring or life-changing travel moment in the comments section below.
~ Please make sure you either link your url or leave some way for me to contact you (all emails are kept hidden from other readers)!
If you liked this review, why not read our recent interview with Bruce Poon Tip to find out more about the man, his ideals and his business.
All images © Genevieve Hathaway. No images to be reused or reprinted without prior consent from the photographer.
