Chief growth officer Michael Edwards told TTG Intrepid’s “white-label” – product produced by Intrepid for other companies to rebrand – partners now ranged from multinational tech firms and media organisations to individual social media influencers.
It has most recently partnered with the New York Times to operate the paper’s City Tours programme – a collection of half- and full-day tours inspired by its long-standing 36 Hours travel column.
Edwards said the trips had been made possible by development of Intrepid’s burgeoning Urban Adventures (UA) brand.
Launched in 2009, UA now operates more than 1,200 itineraries in around 100 countries. Passenger numbers grew to 266,000 last year, with Intrepid targeting one million passengers annually.
“Urban Adventures has been a real success story,” said Edwards. “It allows us to partner really well. The big difference between us and our competitors is our DMC network. We have 21 globally, fully owned and operated by us. This greatly increases our ability to white-label.
“A significant chunk of our business now is running trips for our competitors – and these conversations are only going to increase. People want to offer these experiences under their own brands.
“Tour operating, though, is very difficult, with low margins. So being able to package for someone else without being precious about it, while having teams on the ground that are used to operating for multiple brands, is quite a powerful proposition.
“Big brands like to live in their own eco-systems. But what they can’t do, yet, is tour operating.”
Edwards added further details of Intrepid’s plans for its non-branded business would be revealed in its second integrated annual report, which it expects to publish next month.
