Intrepid’s global boss has refused to rule out further acquisitions, after the group announced a joint venture with Australian-owned Chimu Adventures last week – its first acquisition since splitting with Tui in 2015.
The move comes as Intrepid celebrates a strong year in the UK, with British sales in January surpassing its native Australian market for the first time in the company’s 28-year history.
Chief executive James Thornton told TTG the UK market outselling Australia could become “a much more regular occurrence” in future.
Intrepid’s UK sales have enjoyed 30% year-on-year growth as a result of “substantial investment” in the market – which also saw the opening of a new EMEA headquarters in Brixton last September.
Thornton, who was made chief executive in March, said he was “sure” the trend would continue.
The growth in sales is likely to be further strengthened by its investment in Chimu Adventures – a deal which sees the adventure travel giant take a 50% stake in the Polar and Latin America specialist, co-founded by Greg Carter and Chad Carey in 2004, and also includes Chimu brand Get About Asia, three sales offices in the UK, Sydney and the Sunshine Coast as well as a 50% investment in Chimu’s three South American destination management companies.
Intrepid said the joint venture with Chimu’s $30 million business would add about 10% of revenue to the group.
As part of the deal, Chimu will remain independent of Intrepid, with Carter and Carey continuing to have autonomy in running the company.
