Tour operator Intrepid Travel has announced a strategic partnership with France-based investment company Genairgy, which will hold a minority equity stake in the business.
Intrepid says the partnership – which will facilitate the company’s growth strategy in four key areas, including digital transformation, product innovation, market expansion and purpose initiatives – will help Intrepid become the first $1 billion adventure travel company by 2025.
In 2019, Intrepid Travel, which is the world’s largest travel B Corp, had a record year of $419 million AUD in sales.
However, because of the devastating impact of the coronavirus pandemic, by the end of 2020, Intrepid had processed over 43,000 trip credits and returned $21 million in refunds, CEO James Thornton said in a blog post.
“As a business that is so invested in people, it was an ongoing challenge to turn away customers whose dream holidays had to be put on hold, many for now, others forever. The Intrepid community all over the world have made immense sacrifices to adjust to life without tourism. Leaders, guides, homestay hosts, drivers … people whose livelihoods depend on travel had their lives changed overnight,” he wrote.
Still, in 2020, Intrepid launched more than 100 sustainable, local trips and became the first tour operator in the world with verified science-based carbon emissions targets.
“As the travel industry starts to recover from the pandemic, we remain focused on building the best travel company for the world,” Thornton says in a statement.
“The fact that Genairgy and Intrepid have come together at this time demonstrates real confidence in the future of sustainable experience-rich travel. It’s clear that what was once considered a niche, will become a mainstay tourism model post-COVID.”
Genairgy, a family investment company owned by Julien Leclercq, owns a destination management company network called Altai and has an adventure travel division with several investments in the area.
“We are excited to find a partner with the same values as us and we look forward to helping Intrepid achieve its full potential as we emerge from the global pandemic,” says Leclercq.
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“While Intrepid has maintained an impressive history of growth, it was their genuine commitment to sustainable travel and B Corp credentials that truly set them apart.”
Intrepid co-founders Darrell Wade and Geoff Manchester, who started the business in 1989, retain majority ownership of the company and remain on the board as chairman and director, respectively; James Thornton will remain CEO and as a member of the board.
The transaction is expected to complete by early April 2021.
Intrepid offers more than 800 small group trips across every continent. Its not-for-profit, The Intrepid Foundation, has raised over $10 million for more than 130 charities around the world.
In September 2020, Intrepid’s Urban Adventures was named one of Amazon’s tours and activities partners for the e-commerce giant’s Amazon Explore product.