Chief executive James Thornton told TTG the operator had spent the past two years putting itself in a “decent position” to grow post-pandemic. This work saw Intrepid retain its B Corporation status last month with an increased score, while the business has also made several recent acquisitions – and Thornton hasn’t ruled out more.
 
“If you get it right, B Corp’s methodology helps you become a better business,” said Thornton. “It contributes to making all aspects of the business better. It helps to provide a bit of a guiding light.”

Another priority during the past two years has been to retain as many of Intrepid’s key staff as possible, despite having to reduce the overall number of employees because of the Covid-19 crisis.

"We’ve done as much as possible to retain our key people and talent,” explained Thornton. “We have also pivoted to more domestic travel and grown the number of destination management companies (DMCs) in our core source markets – Australia, the UK, US and New Zealand."

Intrepid has also made acquisitions during the pandemic, including US-based Wildland Trekking, with Thornton hinting at more to come in the “accommodation space” over the coming months. “We wanted to make sure that when the inevitable rebound does come, we’re in the best possible position to take advantage,” he said.

“People are going to be hugely keen to get out of the house and have some active adventures; they also want to support local communities. People are increasingly aware of how they want to travel because of the climate disaster.
 
“I hope that will have an impact on customers’ decision-making and they will look to travel in a more adventurous and sustainable way. We’ve got the foundations built through the work we’ve done over the course of the last two years.”

Thornton said he was “cautiously optimistic” about Intrepid’s prospects for 2022, although bookings in early January were “lower than hoped” due to the impact of the Omicron variant. “They have picked up in the last two weeks and we’ve had our best day since February 2020,” he said.

“There’s still some mild caution – we were feeling really optimistic in November and then we had Omicron when sales petered off for the six weeks up to Christmas. I’m cautiously optimistic about having a good year. I think there’s going to be a strong northern hemisphere summer. It feels like we’re heading in the right direction.”

‘Mission locked’

Securing recertification of its B Corp status was another challenge for Intrepid during the pandemic. All firms with this status are required to recertify every three years. B Corporations are classified as businesses “meeting the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency and legal accountability” to balance profit and purpose.
 
Not only did Intrepid achieve recertification, the company increased its original score of 82.7 in 2018 to 91.2 this year – an improvement of nearly 10 points, despite being in the middle of the pandemic. “We wanted to be a company that could get the balance right between having a strong purpose and being commercially successful and making a profit,” said Thornton of the original decision to seek B Corp status.

“It was important to find something that was holistic, rigorous and not linked solely to travel industry certification. You also have to continue to do better, which is why you have to recertify every three years.”

While Intrepid lost some points for having fewer employees than in 2018, it gained significantly in the governance and customer categories. “There were no exemptions because we’re a travel company going through the pandemic. It was challenging but we were fortunate to make up a lot of points in other areas,” added Thornton.
 
Intrepid has improved its governance through becoming “mission locked”, which means that a company commits to consider the impact of their decisions on all stakeholders, including employees, customers, suppliers, shareholders, the community and the environment. “As a board of directors, we have a responsibility to protect all of our key stakeholders,” explained Thornton. “It protects us through future capital raises and leadership changes.”
 
Intrepid also scored more highly in the customer category with its goal of “changing the way we all see the world”. This was illustrated through a survey of the operator’s travellers, which found that 99% of clients believed their experience had enhanced their education, while 98% said their trips had created more cultural understanding and connection, and 61% were motivated to take more action around environmental issues.