Dear Intrepid Travellers,<\/p>\n
Intrepid began as a company dedicated to the idea that travel makes the world a better place. It\u2019s a simple idea, but potentially a radical one: by venturing outside our ordinary lives we can fight prejudice, spread compassion, and actually help those less fortunate than ourselves. Basically, we want to change the way people see the world.<\/p>\n
In the last few days, sadly, those ideals have come under threat.<\/p>\n
Intrepid stands against any policy that closes borders, separates families, discriminates against religion or demonises the less fortunate. As global travellers, as people with a conscience, this isn\u2019t something we can sit and watch. Not in silence.<\/p>\n
Each year Intrepid carries more than 100,000 people around the world, from Antarctica all the way to the Arctic Circle. We\u2019ve got over 1,600 staff working on seven continents. And it\u2019s our commitment that each trip we run, every step we take, is taken in a spirit of inclusiveness, tolerance and understanding. That\u2019s not a marketing line for us \u2013 it\u2019s fundamental to what we do. It\u2019s what makes us global citizens.<\/p>\n
The free movement of people between borders is one of the fundamental building blocks of democracy. It\u2019s a freedom that should be unfettered by race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or ability. Available to all. And especially to those fleeing persecution, war, violence and tyranny. It\u2019s a freedom we probably take for granted, but we should never underestimate its power to offer hope to the hopeless. That promise of a better life, just over the horizon.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve travelled a lot, and it\u2019s a privilege I do not take for granted. With every country visited, I learn something. With every meal shared, I become less ignorant, more inquisitive. Ultimately, it\u2019s not governments or nations (or even executive orders) that have the greatest capacity for change. It\u2019s ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Simple things. A traveller on a long and dusty road, swapping stories with a local.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s how you beat prejudice. And it starts with all of us, right now.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n We\u2019ll be doing everything we can to help travellers and passengers affected by the current changes. \u00a0But in the meantime, we strongly urge all governments to treat foreign visitors \u2013 whoever they may be \u2013 \u00a0with\u00a0tolerance, compassion and an open mind.<\/p>\n Yours sincerely, Intrepid began as a company dedicated to the idea that travel makes the world a better place. In the last few days, sadly, that idea has come under threat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15098,"featured_media":18269,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[14],"tags":[1272,253],"class_list":["post-18267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-news","tag-travel"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nJames Thornton
\nGlobal Managing Director, Intrepid Travel<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"