by Donald Wood
Last updated: 2:16 PM ET, Tue December 4, 2018
Travel company G Adventures announced Tuesday it had acquired small group youth travel specialist TruTravels as part of the company's efforts to strengthen its offerings for the Gen Z and millennial markets.
TruTravels was founded in 2012 by Joe Fallon and Mark Pope, who will continue to run the company as partners and minority shareholders. The brand will now have access to G Adventures' vast global supply chain and distribution networks.
G Adventures remain steadfast that TruTravels will remain true to its unique brand identity, style of trip delivery and ways of communicating with its Gen Z and millennial customers.
"As I was studying youth market trends earlier this year, I realized we were missing opportunities around a playful, grassroots-style of small group travel that is gaining steam among young people," G Adventures founder Bruce Poon Tip said. "When I started digging deeper into what TruTravels does, I discovered that while their ethos is closely aligned to ours, the way they communicate and how they travel are so distinct from G Adventures' that we couldn't directly compete with them. We would rather work together."
TruTravels hosts 22 small group trips in seven countries across Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Philippines, and Indonesia. The company currently employs 25 people based in London and another 40 tour guides across Asia.
The acquisition of the TruTravels brand is just the latest of deals that have strengthened G Adventures. The travel company also purchased British brands Travelsphere, Just You, Swan Hellenic and Page & Moy in 2017.
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