Early in my chat with Jo Reeve, it quickly becomes evident agents can rest assured Intrepid Travel's new UK and Ireland lead has their backs – and they have her ear.

Reeve is the latest industry leader to have come up through the trade and clearly respects its vitality, although her journey to the top differs from some of her peers.

Her early travel experiences were modest; her parents worked hard to take the family – including Reeve and her brother – away to the Norfolk coast or northern France.

“They always brought an element of surprise and delight,” she recalls. “It wouldn’t be uncommon for them to rock up at the school gates on a Friday with the car packed – we’d be delirious with excitement.”

She reflects fondly too on her first holiday with friends, to Portugal, in her mid-teens. “That connection between positivity and travel started very early on,” she observes. “From a young age, I knew travel was going to be really special to me.”

In it for the long-haul

However, this didn’t translate into repping or seasonal work. Reeve studied English and embarked on a career in media, working on travel shows for production companies and networks like Discovery US. “There was always a connection with travel,” she says.

As she tired of media, that connection became a calling; a friend helped her into a role with tailor-made specialist Imaginative Traveller, which in turn led to a post with Australia’s Peregrine Adventures building out its UK presence.

“Shortly after that, Intrepid acquired Peregrine, and the rest is history,” she says. The acquisition brought Reeve into Intrepid, which had not long forged its Peak joint venture with Tui, capitalising on the adventure travel boom. The two brands parted company in 2015 after four years.

“It was quite poignant,” Reeve recalls. “Intrepid was celebrating regaining its independence – it was an exciting time for us filled with energy and possibility. That really drew me into the business, along with its purpose mission. I had a feeling I might be in this for the long-haul.”

So it proved. Reeve’s background in tailor-made, and her work with Intrepid’s DMCs on product for the operator and its partners, served as an ideal stepping stone. “I think, probably without realising it, that was the start of my partnerships journey.”

(Credit: Intrepid Travel)

She took on trade in 2020, with the partnerships brief following a year later. However, this came with an added challenge – Covid. “It was quite daunting to step into the role in those circumstances,” Reeve admits. “I didn’t meet anyone in person for about 18 months.

“At the same time, it was a unique opportunity to talk to partners and create personal bonds. Having our own DMCs, one of the first things I did was to start a penpal scheme pairing our local teams’ children with those of agents. In a weird way, it all set us up well for when things bounced back.”

Reeve believes her unconventional journey has had its advantages. “I’m not a trade thoroughbred like others,” she remarks. “Some people have really lived and breathed it.

“But that media and partnerships focus really played in my favour. I’ve never been pigeon-holed – I can see things from both sides and bring siloed teams together. If direct is performing well, for instance, I can see and understand how trade benefits from it.”

Intrepid’s business mix is always changing, but in the UK, it’s about 40% trade. “Trade is a big part of what we do,” Reeve stresses.

Making it all matter

Stepping into her shoes following her promotion back in April to general manager UK and Ireland is senior partnerships manager (north) Carrie Grant. Recruitment for her replacement is under way, Reeve confirms.

Further support for agents comes from Grant’s southern counterpoint Lucy Wildman, industry partnerships managers Holly Piggott (north) and Scott Tyrer (south), and Charli Preston, senior partnerships manager for Intrepid’s Urban Adventures brand.

There's also an industry marketing team and dedicated trade resource within Intrepid’s sales team. “We bring them along to training – it’s important agents meet us across as many different functions as possible,” says Reeve.

(Credit: Intrepid Travel)

Leaning into her philosophy, she continues: “Agents don’t just want to hear about the new stuff, the day-to-day stuff really matters to them. Those relationships have to be in play outside of these traditional [trade] roles.”

Agents can also self-serve from Intrepid’s trade hub, launched last year, but Reeve’s passion is evident. “We’re about experiences – we want as many agents as possible to experience our product,” she insists.

Grant will lead on delivering more experiential training – Reeve cites an Urban Adventure in Paris as an example – and a bigger, “more meaningful” fam programme next year. “We have the opportunity to bring the product to life in ways others perhaps can’t,” says Reeve.

Broadening appeal

It’s an endeavour that plays into another one of her ambitions: to break down lingering, perhaps now misleading, preconceptions about Intrepid, its travellers and travel style – chiefly that it’s only for young people and always involves compromise, like trading down on accommodation or comfort.

Reeve reveals the average age of Intrepid travellers is now mid-to-late-40s; 61% are women, and its fastest-growing segment is families. She insists these are trends agents can capitalise on, and there are others – milestone birthdays, safari, premium, once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

“Our travel style is rapidly starting to appeal a broader set of ages, from teens to women in their 60s who want to reclaim travel for themselves.

“We’re seeing more female solo – not necessarily single – travellers, and a rise in couples. Again, not necessarily married couples or people in relationships, it’s friends, mums and daughters, dads and sons, grandparents and grandkids. I have a teenage son and I’ve never leant into our family product line as much as I am now."

Families, premium and solos, she adds, are a “really nice entry point” for agents who are likely already selling to a lot of these customers.

(Credit: Jo Reeve)

Reeve highlights another trend, so-called “coolcations”; Intrepid has already seen a 40% uplift in sales from people seeking to avoid the peak summer heat and crowds. It has opened an office in Copenhagen and is growing tours of northern Europe by 50%.

“Clients may not be bursting through agents’ doors asking for their finest sustainable offering, but they do expect businesses to have this covered for them,” Reeve asserts.

“Paying attention to the changing shape of travel will play a big part in our plans, as will doubling down on what we stand for – like DEI – and our identity as a B Corp. We know it attracts people and helps us retain talent. It’s not just the right thing to do ethically, but also commercially.”

So what’s top of Reeve’s to-do list? Growing Intrepid’s brand identity is a priority, building on existing efforts in London and the south east. “We want Intrepid to be a household name in the UK,” she says. “That’s our north star. And, of course, agents will play a big part in that.”