Tourism Adventure Group (TAG) is known for creating extraordinary travel experiences for youth travellers visiting Australia and New Zealand. With multiple brands across all aspects of adventure travel
TAG is one of the fastest growing youth tourism companies in the World. TAG owns both the Nomads & Base Youth Hotel brands and operates 10 properties across Australia & New Zealand.
TAG has a focus on extending the youth offering to include extraordinary entertainment and tours as a part of the overall customer experience. The portfolio of 8 licensed venues, live music events and adventure tours, are a part of the social fabric that contributes the youth traveller experience.
OUR STORY
We are Nomads. A bunch of people who started travelling and didn’t give it up. In the process of working with amazing staff, agents, travel operators, property owners and other business partners we have been able to create an incredible network of tourism offers.
Nomads
The current day Nomads started in 2003 when Daniel Bunning, young property developer from Perth, took ownership of half of the company and was joined in 2005 by long term Nomads General Manager, and proud Mt Isa boy, Michael Ebert who took on the other half of the company. In 2019 lifelong backpacker Tom Cooney joined the partnership and in 2020 partner in the Nomads Noosa business, Dean Walsh, joined the ownership structure of the collection of companies. The four retain ownership of the group today.
Since 2005, Nomads has grown massively buying hotel leases, adventure tourism, and retail travel business to become Australia and New Zealand's fastest growing and exciting youth accommodation providers. Nomads acquired the 14 property Base Backpackers brand, United, All Nations and boutique Byron Bay getaway, the Garden Burees as additions to its core accommodation portfolio. Under Dan, Michael, Tom and Dean's guidance the company has grown into the adventure travel space owning and operating the K'gari Safaris and Island Expedition businesses, Mojo Surf and Snow business (which operates in Sydney, Coffs Harbour, Bali and Portugal) .
In 2016 Nomads consolidated its businesses under the Tourism Adventure Group (TAG) umbrella and added a partnership with Australia and New Zealand's largest youth focused travel agency, Happy Travels and formed a key partnership with the longest running Work & Holiday program operator Work & Travel Company.
Like all good Nomads the journey is never over, and the 4 stooges are constantly seeking the next addition to this unique tourism platform.
The Experience
Base, Nomads & United Hostels
Tourism Adventure Group owns and operates 10 backpackers across Australia and New Zealand.
While our network has grown considerably in size since the acquisition of Base Backpackers in 2015, and then shrunk as a result of the pandemic, our philosophy has never changed and that is to create extraordinary travel experiences for our customers.
Our diverse portfolio of properties means we are able to offer our customers the experience of a life time, the way they want to enjoy it. This way of thinking lead us to ensure our product offering could cater to differing travel styles and for the individualised personalities of the traveller.
While the Nomads Hostels brand has evolved to attract those who want to discover different. The brand essence is a feeling of positive vibes in a chilled out atmosphere, where you stay to alert your senses, dive deep into local-culture and define your experience at your own pace.
Travellers chose the way they want to travel by fluidly moving between all of our hostels as they create their own story of travel.
No matter what property or product you choose all share a common goal to deliver extraordinary experiences.
8 Licensed Venue's
Our venues are as varied as our customer, from CBD nightclubs, to boutique speakeasy’s, beachside cocktail bars and fine casual eateries. Each one of our licensed venues contributes greatly to its partnered accommodation, offering discounts to our in house guests and always ensuring there’s great product and friendly service available.
Each venue offers an entertainment calendar carefully curated to match the expectations of our accommodation guests, and continuous evaluation in our food, drink and entertainment products ensure that all our guests see our F&B offering as valuable addition to their hostel and backpacking experience.
In addition to our licensed venues like award winning Scary Canary, and backpacker institution Down Under Bar, TAG has also curated a number of award winning boutique festivals. Full Moon Down Under & Island Life beach festivals both hosted on spectacular Magnetic Island, in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Heritage Area provides an unparalleled opportunity to party in paradise, and newly awarded Spring Break Australia, the only Spring Break event of its kind in Australia targeting an international student market, to celebrate in the Airlie Beach and the surround Whitsundays.
ISLAND EXPEDITIONS, K'GARI SAFARIS & MOJO ADVENTURE TOURS
Tourism Adventure Group expanded their product offering to include must-see and do adventure tour experiences.
K'gari Safaris tours as the name suggests is a 2 or 3 night tour of the Heritage listed K'gari (Fraser Island). Here customers explore the Island on a tag-a-long 4WD tour, where they get to drive along the white sandy coastline, discover Lake MacKenzie and see firsthand the Islands very own ship wreck.
Island Expeditions is for the adventurer looking for a slightly more rustic experience on K'gari, where each night of the tour customers will stay in a dedicated beach side camp, falling asleep to waves and waking up to the sun.
Mojo Surf represents the heart and soul of Aussie surf culture, now in its 26th year of operation the Mojo team continue to push new boundaries teaching customers how to respect the ocean and stand up on a surf board.
Mojo surf caters for all levels of surfing and has surf camps in some of the World best surf regions, including the iconic Sydney to Byron Bay surf adventure, a 3 month surf academy at a private surf camp Spot X near Coffs Harbour.
The brand expanded its product offering to include destination surf camps in Bali and the Mentawai Islands, as well as running seasonal product in Portugal.
WORK & TRAVEL
Sydney Iconic Tripz
In 2023 TAG is launching a brand new Iconic Sydney tour with a 7 night stay, job search membership and all the tools travellers need to enjoy a year of travel and work. The Job Search team helps with CV curation, bank account set up and all the admin that goes behind getting a job in Australia or New Zealand, while the Iconic Tours team takes our work and travel customers on an action packed week long intro tour.
