Responsible Business

We believe that with great travel, comes great responsibility.

Since our very first days as a tour operator, responsible business has been at the heart of what we do. Intrepid is committed not just to treading lightly, but to making a real difference – by investing in local communities, human rights initiatives, wildlife conservation projects and the environment. We’re all about operating in a responsible manner and incorporating principles of sustainable tourism and development into the way we provide our travellers with real life experiences. These values are more than just words; they’re ingrained in the culture and daily operations of every Intrepid office and trip. Our commitment to being a responsible business doesn’t end there. Intrepid has identified eight of 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that we can contribute the most to as a tourism business. By focusing on these goals, we ensure a strong commitment to areas where our business can make the most difference and be a company that balances purpose with profit.

The Intrepid Foundation

We help travellers give back to the places they visit through our not-for-profit arm, The Intrepid Foundation. Since 2002, we've donated over AU $10 million into 130 grassroots projects around the world. By empowering local people through sustainable travel experiences, we can make travel better for everyone. The Intrepid Group covers all administration costs, so every cent you donate goes directly to local projects and those in need.

Our climate commitment

Intrepid has been a carbon-neutral business since 2010 and in 2019 we had 44 offices and offered over 2,700 carbon-offset trips. We declared a Climate Emergency in January 2020; which is underpinned by a seven-point commitment plan. We passionately believe that businesses like Intrepid have a responsibility to do whatever we can to limit global warming to 1.5C in the next decade. Climate change is everyone's business and business need to be a part of the solution.

We are committed to create environmental benefits by removing additional carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and decarbonise our business by reducing emissions from our trips and global operations. With the help of The Intrepid Foundation, we're investing in an innovative project in Tasmania to restore the disappearing kelp forests. Supporting Seaweed: The (re)generation is our first step to becoming climate positive this decade/ in the future.

We have set a science-based emissions reduction target in line with a 1.5°C future.

Animal welfare & Child Protection

We’ve led the industry on animal welfare by being the first global tour operator to end elephant rides and by bringing awareness to the cruelty of lion walks. We’ve also taken a leadership position on child protection by removing orphanage visits from our itineraries.

Our commitment to Reconciliation

As an Australian-owned business with a vision to change the way people see the world, Intrepid is committed to reconciliation and strengthening relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous peoples. While Intrepid might have done a lot to empower communities, businesses and our partners around the world over the years, there’s still a lot for us to do here at home.

We're proud to have a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), which shows our long-term commitment to engaging with Australia’s First Peoples. Intrepid’s RAP, developed in partnership with Reconciliation Australia, outlines how we can make a genuine contribution to reconciliation through our business. We committed to our first ‘Reflect’ RAP in 2019 and progressed with our ‘Innovate’ RAP in 2020.

Reflect RAP Innovate RAP

Learn more about our commitment to Reconciliation

Gender equality

We're also committed to promoting gender equality, both within our business and without, which is why we set a goal to double our number of female leaders by 2020. We're proud to say we've achieved this goal; female leaders now make up nearly 30% of all our leaders. Like Becky, the first leader to be employed as a truck driver in East Africa, we hope to create new opportunities the world over. Watch the video below to learn more about Becky's journey with Intrepid Travel.

Our approach to being a responsible business

Responsible travel

Carbon management

UN Global Compact

The Intrepid Foundation

Our partners

B Corp certification

The 2019 Integrated Annual Report

We recognise the more we grow, the more we can deliver on that commitment, as a multi-brand global business. We call this Growth with Purpose, as we believe the two are inextricably linked.

That’s why, we’ve combined our sustainability reporting with our financial results, to show how being a responsible business can not only result in short-term, but long-term value for our stakeholders.

The report brings together our annual report and our ninth Communication on Progress Report for the United Nations Global Compact the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative, of which we’ve been a signatory since 2008. It provides our stakeholders with full accountability and visibility of our worldwide business operations, and includes both our performance and vision in the following areas:

Our external environment
Responsible business practices
Financial performance
Customer satisfaction
Employee engagement
Employee wellbeing
Our relationship with the communities we operate in
Corporate governance

As the world’s largest adventure travel company, we feel a responsibility to make a real difference to the communities and places in which we operate. Our 2019 Integrated Annual Report proves that there doesn’t need to be a choice between this purpose and profitability either.

Learn about our performance and vision in our Integrated Report 2019.