TIES member in the spotlight: Intrepid Travel
Intrepid Travel’s team spirit has made the company one of the top “Best Places to Work” by Outside Magazine (May 2009 issue), reports the award-winning Intrepid Express newsletter.
Intrepid was ranked No. 1 out of 30 selected companies that best enable employees to balance productivity with an active, eco-conscious lifestyle. As Tiffany Richards, President of Intrepid Travel’s Boulder office, notes, Intrepid’s philosophy is “very much about promoting responsible travel, getting off the beaten path, helping to support positive change, and having fun along the way.”
The world’s leading responsible travel company, Intrepid takes the well-being of its employees seriously, and aims to “keep them smiling when they come into the office each day.” The company perks for Intrepid employees at the Boulder office include free public transportation passes for the Denver/Boulder area to encourage the environmentally-friendly use of public transport, paid days off for volunteering and a generous 4-week paid time off policy. Intrepid also encourages socializing with a monthly pot-luck lunch, on-the-company Friday happy hour and a bring-your-pet-to-work policy.
Headquartered in Australia, and offering a wide range of tours around the world, Intrepid’s core purpose is to “enrich peoples lives by creating unique, interactive travel experiences.”
>> Learn more about Intrepid
>> Find Intrepid Travel on Ecotourism Explorer
As a former Intrepid leader, I have to say that things have changed alot in the company, having spoken with older staff in the organisation and listening to the chats of the new recruits too. While Intrepid has been successful at promoting its ‘real travel’ experiences, the real travel required to have these experiences has been dulled over the years. I do believe that the company’s original philosophies have been watered down, a victim of its own success.
I am a admirer of Intrepid for the good work it is doing. It was recently brought to my attention by members of the travel industry in Sabah that Intrepid falls short on its Borneo Program in some ways. Unlike the other companies based in Australia and companies that operate similar adventure tours it uses local transport not licensed for tourists to move its tourists around Sabah and sarawak. I have met the groups a few times myself. Secondly, Intrepid in order to save on costs, have a staff based in Brunei for its Borneo program and no office in Malaysia which again is illegal as it is not licensed with the government of malaysia. They are not licensed to operate in Malaysia and do not use a local licensed local operator. Intrepid is also trying to save cost by using its own staff to organise and escort all the tour programs out of Brunei and for the Malaysia Borneo program. They also dont use Malaysian licensed guides as required by law as the escort know the country so well. The Ministry of Tourism has tried unsuccessfully to investigate this company especially after the fatality of one of its tourists belived to be its clients climbing Mt Kinabalu some years ago as they dont have an office in Malaysia.
Other foreign companies are practising green washing and cover their footprints very sucessfully. Some of these companies are now using local freelance guides who double as a illegal tour operator by operating out of their home without the permit.
Due to weak enforcement, it has proven difficult to catch the culprits.
I hope that all international tour operators especially TIES members will review its practices in Borneo by utilising the services of Malaysian licensed tour operators and not use freelance guides who also use unlicensed tourists vehicles, and operate as an illegal tour operator from their homes.
The above shortcomings can be changed by a review of the policy by management who may not be aware of what is happening on the ground. I congratulate Intrepid for its continuing success and its high standard. We need more companies like them around.
Bernice
Thank-you to Bernice for this opportunity to clarify Intrepid Travel’s operations in Malaysia. Our group leaders in the region are a mix of Western and freelance Malaysian nationals – all licensed. They are employed from our operating company, Intrepid Thailand and this is largely for logistical reasons as many of the Malaysian trips start or finish in Bangkok or Singapore. These leaders also lead in Borneo and we know that by offering them the stimulus and variety of leading trips in Peninsula Malaysia and Borneo, we are able to retain the good leaders and their knowledge for longer, enhancing the experience for our travellers.
There is a company based in Brunei called Brunei Bay who have a subsidiary that they call Intrepid Tours. Unfortunately their name frequently causes confusion, but they are nothing to do with Intrepid Travel. We understand that the Malaysian Government is soon opening up to 100% foreign ownership of tourism companies, which is something we will look into. Currently, throughout Malaysia we contract services directly with many small licensed local operators, guides and service providers, rather than one consolidator, enabling, we believe, to maximise the revenue that we can put directly into local communities.
Jane Crouch
Responsible Travel Manager
Intrepid Travel Pty Ltd
I knew some tour leaders of Intrepid: Lucy Cooper, Alex… (and Hmmm I forget her name)when I was working at Wanawisata Ujungkulon in 1994 – 1995. It would be very great if anyone could help to find their email address for me.
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