Intrepid Travel Chairman and Co-Founder makes special visit to Sri Lanka
View(s):Darrell Wade, the Chairman and Co-Founder of Intrepid Travel, of the world’s largest adventure travel company and a leader in responsible tourism has made a special visit to Sri Lanka recently to highlight the need for sustainable growth and the importance of Sri Lanka to Intrepid’s 2030 strategy.
As part of its commitment to its global teams, Intrepid’s co-founders and CEO, who are based in Australia, are travelling to every one of the company’s 27 country offices this year to meet with Intrepid’s team and stakeholders with the aim to introduce the company’s 2030 Strategy.
Intrepid Chairman and Co-Founder Darrell Wade
On 25th March evening, Intrepid Colombo hosted an evening fellowship to discuss Intrepid’s 2030 strategy and commitment to Sri Lanka. Priantha Fernando, the Chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, representatives from the Australian High Commission in Sri Lanka, senior officials from Sri Lanka’s tourism, industry partners, development agencies were in attendance along with Darrell Wade.
Intrepid Colombo’s Centre of Excellence supports the global company through a variety of functions, including technology, revenue management, human resources, product services, finance and customer service, as well as having its own Destination Management Company.
Intrepid Sri Lanka currently employs over 240 staff and 30 local trip leaders, being one of the largest offices for Intrepid. Intrepid operates 11 trips across the country. In 2023, it supported 1,200 travellers to explore Sri Lanka in a conscious manner. However, in 2024, Sri Lanka is growing at a rate of over 375 percent and is expected to carry over 4,500 customers. This figure surpasses the DMC’s best year back in pre-covid 2019 (3,500 customers) and the operation has ambitious plans to bring over 15,000 customers to Sri Lanka by 2030.
Beyond Sri Lanka, the 2030 Strategy involves a global ambition to double its global customers to 600,000 (320,000 in 2023), achieve revenues of $1.3bn (AUD $621M in 2023) and contribute 1 percent of revenue to Purpose initiatives. “Our commitment entails further strengthening the capabilities of the Colombo Centre of Excellence. We will achieve this by fostering greater economic growth in Sri Lanka, supporting a vibrant tourism industry and engaging in local community philanthropy,” said Poornaka Delpachitra, Country General Manager, Sri Lanka.
Darrell Wade together with Intrepid Colombo General Manager Poornaka Delpachitra and SLTDA Chairman Priantha Fernando
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