Better at being better 

Since the beginning, we’ve always been about balancing profit and purpose. In 2018 we made that commitment official when we became a certified B Corporation™. In 2021, we went even further, recertifying with an even higher score – from 82.7 to 91.2.

Being a B Corp means we’re more dedicated and accountable than ever to being better – in the ways that matter. It means being committed to creating benefit for all. It's not only our official pledge to be a responsible business, but also to use travel as a force for good in the world. Intrepid Travel is proud to be part of a community that includes the likes of Patagonia, Ben and Jerry’s, Danone and over 4,000 other companies across the globe who stand behind their greater purpose as a business, not just their balance sheet.

What does our B Corp certification mean?


 

B Corps are a new kind of business that creates benefit for all stakeholders, not just shareholders. They are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.

Certified B Corporations are companies that look after their staff, work toward a more inclusive supply chain, and take corporate social responsibility to the next level. For us, becoming a B Corp meant taking all the work we’ve already done – through both The Intrepid Foundation and our core operation – to the next level and conducting an extensive audit to ensure we meet the highest responsible business standards. Not only that, but we conduct those audits regularly to ensure that we’re improving year-on-year. In 2021 we achieved a new score of 91.2 from the B Corp Impact Assessment, an increase of 10% from our 2018 result. Basically, we’re getting better at being better.

Who's in charge of B Corp certification?

The term B Corp stands for ‘B Corporation’, and the people behind the B Corp certification are called B Lab. They’re a not-for-profit organisation headquartered in the USA with offices all over the world. They exist to help companies be better – to benefit all people, communities, and the planet, not just them and their shareholders.

How do B Corps work?

Companies become B Corp certified when they pass a minimum threshold of 80 points in their assessments. Points are awarded for how well a company is governed, how well staff are treated, and what they do to benefit communities, customers and the environment. Once the certification has been attained, it’s about making continual improvements to create even bigger impacts through the company business model.

How has B Corp certification changed the way we operate?

The B Corp assessment looks at the environmental and social impact of a business in five different categories: governance, workers, community, environment and customers.

Here are just a few examples of improvements we’ve made on this journey since 2018:

  • Locking in our mission. We amended our constitution to protect our commitment to profit and purpose, which means it will always be at our core, and the impact on all stakeholders will be considered in decision-making. 
  • Producing a public annual report, based on the Integrated Report framework, that provides a comprehensive and transparent account of how we operate and tracks our financial, social and environmental performance. 
  • Introducing three weeks paid parental leave (or caregiver leave) for all staff – regardless of gender, which is a big deal in many countries. 
  • Improving transparency and understanding our supply chain impact and reviewing our suppliers, which has led to some fantastic changes, such as female homestay suppliers signing their own contracts in Egypt. 
  • Improving the gender balance in our staff. For instance, our global leadership team has equal number of males and females in the three years since we applied for B Corp certification.

If you want to see how we performed on our journey to becoming B Corp certified, read our B Impact report.

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), in partnership with Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, published a case study on our B Corp certification journey in May 2021.

What does our B Corp status mean for you, our travellers?

At Intrepid, our vision is to change the way we all see the world, and we do that through our mission of creating positive change through the joy of travel. What does that mean for you? Well, we asked and you told us that travelling with Intrepid positively impacts your life. Our survey showed 99% of you believed your trips with Intrepid enhanced your education, 98% experienced more cultural understanding and connection, and 91% of you felt your health and well-being improved. And that’s all on top of having a great time. So being a B Corp means you have our word, sealed with an independent global stamp of approval, that we’re committed to our purpose beyond profit: using travel as a force for good in the world. 

Read more about our B Corp certification