At a virtual press conference hosted by G Adventures on May 11, founder Bruce Poon Tip said small-scale tour operators should stop trying to compete with the mainstream to survive this global travel crisis.
“We are all starting again at ground zero and it is up to the smaller tour operator companies to invent fresher ways of doing business in order to outperform larger corporations,” says Bruce.
He says it was hard for G Adventures to compete with companies like Royal Caribbean in the beginning, but G Adventures focused on doing things differently to hold on to its competitive edge.
Bruce’s advice to independent entrepreneurs and small businesses in the travel and tourism industry is, communicate with your customers. “Tell them a story about how you’re going to regain their trust again. You’re going to have to do that with much fewer resources than everyone else.”
According to him, the best ideas come from the people put in the most difficult positions because their ideas are simple but can be critical for survival.
Travel News’s Sarah Robertson, spoke to Bruce about crisis management, company culture during COVID and his book, Unlearn: The Year the Earth Stood Still. Click here to listen in.
