What does it take to bring hundreds of people from across the travel industry together in one destination and make sure their presence leaves something meaningful behind?

In Episode 12 of You Came to the Right Place, Natasha and Jen sit down with Dre Giroux, Director of Global Community Operations at G Adventures and one of the driving forces behind GX, the company’s annual community tourism summit.

With GX Cambodia just around the corner, Dre takes us behind the scenes of an event that requires a full year of planning, a small-but-mighty team and, apparently, a truly heroic number of spreadsheets.

Dre reflects on the moments that have stayed with her from past GX events, why she believes travel builds empathy, what excites her most about this year’s destination and why sometimes the best travel advice is simply to “lean into it.”

And in the Rapid Fire Five: Jordan, a travelling pharmacy, Taylor Swift almost makes an appearance, Wonderwall refuses to die, and we learn why Dre was once cut out of an outfit with a chef’s knife.

It’s a conversation about the enormous amount of work that happens behind the scenes of transformational travel and the people and communities who make it matter.

Subscribe to You Came to the Right Place wherever you get your podcasts.

ABOUT THE HOSTS

Between them, Natasha Lair and Jen Mallia bring more than four decades of media and travel editorial experience to the mic. Ontario-based Natasha, Managing Editor of TravelPulse Canada, is warm, funny, and deeply curious, known for finding the human angle and cutting through industry spin with factual, unbiased reporting. Edmonton-based Jen, Senior Editor and travel media expert, pairs two decades of travel editorial experience with charm, quick wit, and sharp industry insight. From Central Canada to the West, they’ve got their ears to the ground, delivering real talk, smart analysis, and just enough sarcasm to keep it interesting.

ABOUT THE SHOW

You Came to the Right Place is a Canadian travel industry podcast from TravelPulse Canada. Expect smart conversation, insider context, and the kind of straight talk that doesn’t always make it into a press release. Each episode blends candid conversations between two editors, interviews with industry leaders, advisors, destination execs, and the people behind the stories we publish. If you work in travel, you came to the right place.