G Adventures to introduce tours exclusive to vaccinated travellers

By Alexandra Coulton

G Adventures will introduce a range of tours that require proof of vaccination next month.

Chief experience officers (CEOs) or tour guides working on the trips will also need to be fully vaccinated after a global survey conducted by the adventure travel company showed that 56 per cent of travellers said having a vaccinated tour leader was important to them.

Forty-five per cent also said they would prefer if their fellow travellers were vaccinated too.

Due to the slower roll-out of vaccines in some countries, the operator will also introduce ‘Travel-Ready’ tours to give equitable access to work for tour guides in destinations that have not yet been able to administer vaccinations as widely as others.

G Adventures has also been working closely with local authorities to help speed up vaccination for its Inca Trail porters, who received their first vaccination dose this past weekend.

The team of ‘Inca Warriors’ has now safely led 14 trips along the ancient Inca Trail with travellers from Canada, the United States, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands hiking the recently reopened four-day route.

On Vaccinated Tours, all travellers and tour guides must have received a full COVID-19 vaccination, with the final dose administered at least 14 days prior to day one of the tour.

On Travel-Ready tours, all travellers and tour guides must have either received a full COVID-19 vaccination or have a negative PCR test within 96 hours prior to day one of their tour’s departure.

Both programs will kick off in October.

Sean Martin, managing director for Australia and New Zealand at G Adventures, said: “By October we will have successfully, and safely, run close to 1,000 tours, supporting employment and boosting the local economies of countries that are dependent on tourism, such as Costa Rica, Ecuador, Egypt, Morocco, Peru and Kenya.

“We are starting with Vaccinated Tours in October and will be adding future departures as we confirm CEOs and travellers are all fully vaccinated in order to lead and travel on those itineraries.

“As a global operator, we also want to ensure travel equity for those travellers who haven’t been able to be vaccinated as yet due to their age and/or home country, as we have travellers from more than 160 countries join our trips.

“We expect vaccination rates to increase in most destinations later this year, and as they do we will be operating even more Vaccinated Tours.”

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