Intrepid Travel opened the doors to its new 8,000-square-foot Toronto office for the Intrepid Happy Hour Open House and Book Launch on 23JAN.
The small group adventure company’s North American headquarters near Queen and Spadina is just a short hop from its previous location (literally across the hall), but the upgrade is significant. With its expanded footprint, the office is now better equipped to host industry events, accommodate an ever-growing team, and serve as the hub for Intrepid’s continued investment in the Canadian travel market.
“We’re growing our teams in all departments because there is the demand. We can’t keep up with the demand,” Kazundra Brown, Senior Key Partnerships Manager at Intrepid, told Open Jaw. She added that to date, 2024 marked Intrepid’s biggest year on record with “substantial” year-over-year growth.
The event also celebrated the launch of The Intrepid List: 100 Uncommon Experiences to Change the Way You Travel, the tour operator’s debut book.
Expansion in Canada and the U.S.—Intrepid’s Next Big Adventure
The new Toronto office is only part of a much larger story: Intrepid’s ambitious expansion in North America.
“Canada is one of our faster-growing markets, and we have big plans to continue to grow and invest in this market. We see huge expansion in the U.S. and Canada for outbound tourism. We believe it will become our largest market,” Barnes told Open Jaw, noting that traditionally, as an Australia-based company, Australia was its biggest market.
Fast forward in three years’ time, Barnes suspects most bookings and business for Intrepid will come out of Canada and the USA.
“The expansion will be more Intrepid, selling more holidays, a bigger focus on our brand, working with more partners, and operating and developing more trips for the USA, Canada, and the Americas, and also in-country,” he said.
How do they plan on doing that? Three key areas stand out:
· A bigger investment in day tours.
“If you think about multi-day tours, most customers are doing one of these every couple years. So for us, we’re going beyond just the multi-day tours to become a bigger part of people’s lives,” said Barnes.
· An expansion in new verticals, particularly accommodations.
Among its current properties are the Daintree Ecolodge in Australia, which Intrepid owns and operates, and the Hoi An Field Boutique Resort and Spa in Vietnam, held under a lease agreement.
· A new publishing business to introduce compelling travel narratives through books, starting with The Intrepid List.
Travel Advisors in Intrepid’s Expansion Plan
How do travel advisors fit into this ambitious plan? It’s clear the trade is one of the operator’s priorities.
“We’re working to grow our relationships with existing partners and other partners that we haven’t traditionally done business with that, in the coming weeks and months, we’re hoping to do more business with,” Barnes said. “We think we have a product that all travel agents in Canada are going to want.”
Barnes acknowledged that a large part of Intrepid’s business is direct-to-consumer, but noted they’re eager to have more partners to work with and have already started laying the groundwork to facilitate this by growing the team that supports advisors in North America.
The tour operator plans on hosting travel trade events to help advisors get to know Intrepid better and connect with the trade.
The Intrepid List, Inspiring Travel
The Intrepid List isn’t just a book—it’s a key part of Intrepid’s growth ambitions and strategic vision to create “more Intrepid people.”
“We wanted to find a way to connect with more customers, more often, and we saw a gap in the market for a travel book. Largely, travel books have been very list-based or almost like recipe books, so we saw a gap in telling stories about places and experiences,” Barnes said.
This bright red hardcover book is filled with real travel stories from real travellers. One story shared during the open house featured writer Sahar Aman’s family tradition of feeding crocodiles at the Manghopir shrine, a centre of worship in Pakistan.
“For travel advisors, it’s an inspiration piece,” said Brown. “How can you speak to your clients about a new destination or tour operator? How can you sell it to them in a way that brings them in? We talk so much about the logistics of travel, and for someone who just wants to book that cookie-cutter trip, it might be an easy sell, but for others, going through that storytelling and giving them that why, could possibly seal the deal,” Brown said.
Intrepid’s publishing plans include three to six books released annually, focusing on travel storytelling and experiences.
Trending Now: Solo Adventures and Nature Escapes
What’s hot in travel right now? Barnes shared that Egypt, Jordan, and Morocco are seeing increased interest following the ceasefire in the Middle East. Closer to home, Peru and Ecuador are also in high demand.
Globally, Intrepid is observing two significant trends: a rise in solo travel and a growing desire for nature-based experiences and escapism.
