"See you soon," I quip as I bid Intrepid Travel chief executive James Thornton farewell after a warm and welcome face-to-face catch-up at the firm’s south London HQ.

The pleasantries trip off the tongue without a hitch, the past year-and-a-half oh so nearly forgotten. And then it dawns on me. "Well, perhaps not that soon," I add. You think lockdown was bad here? Try living in Australia. Or more specifically, Thornton’s adopted home of Melbourne.

The city was subject to Australia’s strictest lockdown, and now – perhaps inevitably – the Delta variant is in town, despite the country’s best efforts to achieve Covid-free status. "We’re living through nightly curfews, 5km travel limits, kids are off school," says Thornton. "It’s incredibly prohibitive. And I think the broader damage being done to Australia now is significant."

Australia’s vaccine roll-out, meanwhile, lags well behind those of comparable nations, which Thornton says owes to government procurement failures and the politicisation of the crisis. The Australian government says it is hopeful of achieving 80% vaccination by December. But at just 25% right now, and with a little over three months to get these shots in people’s arms, it’s a tall order.

"We’re adopting a 2020 strategy in 2021," Thornton continues. "If you look back to Christmas, Australia was sitting smugly in the sunshine thinking, ’aren’t we great?’. Eight months later, the rest of the world is thinking, ’why are you disconnecting yourselves from the world?’.

"Australia is ultimately a federation of eight states, run individually. They lock out areas that might have Covid, and that’s a vote winner. There’s a federal election second-quarter next year – that’s why Australia almost certainly won’t open until the middle of 2022."

It’s part of the reason Thornton, in his own words, has "escaped" here. With Australia and New Zealand locked down, the majority of Intrepid’s revenue is currently coming from its other core markets – the UK and Europe, and the US and Canada. "Pre-Covid, 50% of our revenues came from these two markets," says Thornton. "Right now, it’s nearly 100%."

New domestic product, though, is selling well in all markets. "Local travel is here to stay," says Thornton. "In the UK, people are using Intrepid to do things that are either a bit more active, or more out of the way. That’s where we add value.

"But the big reason is climate change. The news cycles were dominated by Brexit, then Covid, and now the climate and climate change is back at the forefront of the agenda.

"We’ve worked hard during Covid on decarbonising our itineraries. We don’t fly from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap any more, we go on a local boat instead. It’s a better experience, and more sustainable.

"I think people will increasingly choose operators that are more considered in the way they operate. They’ll also travel for longer, and consider travelling at home too."

Sustainable agenda

Ostensibly, though, he’s here to finally meet up with the operator’s new French minority investor Genairgy, part of the Leclercq empire that owns sports and outdoor retailer Decathlon. The arrangement will see Decathlon’s 60 million monthly customers offered travel product based on their purchases, with Intrepid supplying this product.

Thornton explains the tie-in, soft launched in July, will allow Intrepid to tap into new markets – western Europe, Russia, Brazil, India and China – and expand its active product range. "That’s how the flow works," says Thornton. "It’s a real growth opportunity for us."

It’s the first step for the strategic partnership after Intrepid opted to eschew bank or private equity financing. "We wanted to find an investor that would add value," adds Thornton. He’s particularly excited to grow Intrepid’s active product, which will be delivered under the Intrepid banner rather than another brand after an extensive brand consolidation exercise that has spanned several years.

"We’ve learned it’s much more sustainable and beneficial to grow one global brand rather than five or six smaller ones," he explains. This has seen Intrepid focus on travel "styles" rather than brands, with its Urban Adventures operation now sold as one of these styles. Thornton, though, hopes the investment will allow the business to be "acquisitive" in the coming months, allowing to potentially add more travel styles in this way.

Intrepid has just completed its second B Corporation audit, and is hopeful of retaining its status. B Corps are businesses that balance purpose and profit, and are monitored on their efforts and their progress – with each successful candidate certified a B Corp for three years.

Key will be its commitment to verified science-based climate and sustainability targets. Thornton hails the impact of Intrepid’s in-house environmental scientist, Dr Susanne Etti. "Her work is pushing this agenda and, critically, allowing us to share it," he says.

"There’s no benefit if we’re doing all these things an no one else is," Thornton adds, pointing to the firm’s decarbonisation guide on its website, which he hopes will serve as a starting point for some. "We’re lucky to have had a head start and to share our learnings. It’s about starting small. Small things become habits, and habits become permanent."

Vaccine equity

Another key focus for Intrepid has been vaccine equity; from 1 September, all guests most be fully vaccinated against Covid-19, as must Intrepid’s tour leaders guides. It is also raising money through its foundation, in partnership with Unicef, to get more vaccine shots into low-income countries.

Thornton says the decision to insist on vaccination was driven by the ethical dilemma of facilitating much-needed tourism to countries where vaccine supply is almost non-existent, or massively inequitable, and the circumstances facing much of the operator’s staff and DMC teams.

"We agreed as a leadership team it was the right thing to do," Thornton tells me. "The reality is that the vast majority of our staff are in-destination. Without vaccines, they can’t get back to normality like we can. That’s why it’s so high on our agenda.

"Most the green or amber countries you can currently travel to, or that people are likely to travel to, are – for the most part – European destinations where the vaccination rates are fairly similar. But as you start to open up more [of the world], it changes the conversation."

All these commendable efforts, though, haven’t spared Intrepid the ravages of Covid. Headcount at Intrepid has been halved, while record growth has been replaced by towering losses. "You do definitely mourn for what was," says Thornton. "But we’re still doing awesome things in the purpose space which prove our growth model.

"We’re very much coming out of survival though and into revival. And at some point, we hope to move into thriving mode. It’s still incredibly difficult for more than half of our teams, who are still locked down. But we’re feeling more optimistic."

In August, Intrepid had 130 departures – more than in the entire period from March 2020 to March 2021 – and is hopeful of operating in excess of 200 this month.

"Slowly but surely, more destinations are opening – Europe, the Middle East, parts of Latin America, even India," says Thornton. "There is more acceptance of the ability, and the need, to move and to travel. I feel like it’s only heading in one way, and that’s a positive way."