kabarsula What’s next for Cambodia: G Adventures’ Bruce Poon Tip and Sean Martin on its brighter future bandar SLOT INDONESIA

G Adventures founder Bruce Poon Tip and managing director for Australia, New Zealand and Asia, Sean Martin, believe tourism can help Cambodia rebuild its future, provided the communities who need it most share its benefits. Travel Weekly joined them to unpack that subject and more. 

Behind its ancient temples and warm hospitality, the Kingdom of Wonder is grappling with a dark past.

This is a country that endured some of the most unimaginable horrors of the 20th century, and the scars left behind by the Khmer Rouge are impossible to ignore.   

But so is the resilience of its people. 

On location for GX, that resilience was palpable in the stories of the women working at Tuk Tuk Lady Driver, who champion their right to earn a meaningful income despite the rampant, daily misogyny they endure in their field.

At Tonle Sap, a floating village, it was the wild waves and radiant smiles as the community gathered on motor boats to welcome us.

At SPOONS Café & Restaurant, it was the opulent banquet served with pride by former marginalised youth learning the skills to shape their futures.

For G Adventures founder Bruce Poon Tip, that resilience is exactly why tourism matters here. 

“There’s always hope, and we can always be hopeful that the human spirit will prevail. Cambodia is a great example of that,” he tells Travel Weekly. 

It is also why G Adventures brought its fourth annual GX community tourism summit to Cambodia, pivoting in early 2026, despite the country not having a bid in to host the event.  

The point of the trip 

“For us, what makes it worth is where we can have the most impact,” G Adventures managing director Australia, New Zealand and Asia, Sean Martin told Travel Weekly. 

“Cambodia, it’s had conflict this year, it’s been an unlucky country for a very long time. And we felt that this event is that big and can have that much of an impact.” 

In fact, following GX Jordan in 2025, Poon Tip says the destination saw an increase in tourism of 134 per cent.  

Its figures like these that he says make it clear that travel can be a “transformational tool” for the building of the future of Cambodia. 

“We have the ability and the access now that we can be an instrumental part of that rebuilding. Or building – in this case, for the first time – tourism the way they want it for the future,” Poon Tip says.   

“The media, creators and the 150 top travel sellers that are here on the Change Makers track really have a serious impact on these regions.”  

But how does G Adventures, and its non-profit partner Planeterra, propose to do this? 

For one, instead of simply sending travellers into a community, the aim is to make sure what when they arrive, the locals are the ones who benefit.  

“Community tourism is about a two-way conversation,” Martin says.  

“It’s not about us coming in and saying, ‘You need to do this.’ It’s about us working with a local community to provide them income long term.” 

Tourism with a return 

Martin is clear that getting this right requires more than putting a mandatory community experience into a brochure. 

“It takes a real skill to design trips that combine both – combine the big highlights, but also ensure while you’re doing that, the local communities do benefit.” 

G Adventures does not pretend every project succeeds. 

“We will go to communities. We will start projects. They don’t always work,” Martin says. “But when they do, which we’ve seen in the last couple of days, the impact is just huge.” 

The company says it holds its buying and product teams accountable for ensuring money stays in communities and that local people actually want to participate. 

Because the fundamental question is not whether tourists enjoyed themselves. 

“Are the locals happy that tourism exists? Are the locals involved in tourism conversations? Or is it a one-way conversation?” Martin says. 

“Travel is a real privilege, but it’s also about choices,” he says. “We all have a responsibility to ensure that everyone benefits from tourism.” 

A destination rebuilt

Poon Tip believes GX can be a catalyst, but he knows a standout event alone is not enough to transform a tourism economy. 

“It has to be fostered and cared for, and brought along very slowly,” he says. 

Poon Tip sees tourism as part of Cambodia’s longer recovery – a way to create opportunity in communities that have endured extraordinary hardship. 

“The right mix of government support, combined with the tenacity and resilience of the people, will be the perfect blend to be transformational for a lot of rural, marginalised communities,” he says. 

To bring this about, GX and Planeterra plan to act as consultants on Cambodia’s tourism assets, evaluating what the nation has presently and ensuring the benefits of travel to the Kingdom of Wonder are spread to the places that need it most.

Poon Tip says that he sees a real passion for long, sustained investment in Cambodia.

“I think there will be in the future a deep relationship with Cambodia as a destination, not just a stop off on the way to Thailand or Vietnam,” he says.  

For Martin, the excitement lies in seeing firsthand that community tourism in Cambodia is already having generational impact.

“It’s genuinely changing lives,” he says.

Because for all the temple parties awash with purple lights and unforgettable GX moments, the real measure of the summit will not be what happened during those five days in Cambodia.  

It will be what happens long after GX Summit attendees have gone and Cambodia is standing on its own as a must-do destination for travel advisors.