Intrepid Travel's Sustainable Business Practices

This assignment requires you to analyze Intrepid Travel's approach to sustainable business practices. You need to examine their initiatives in areas like responsible tourism, community engagement, environmental protection, and supply chain management. The analysis should draw upon information provided by Intrepid Travel themselves and relevant academic literature on sustainability in the travel industry.

Running head: SUSTAINABIITY MANAGEMENT & MARKETING
Sustainability Management & Marketing
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

SUSTAINABIITY MANAGEMENT & MARKETING 1
Executive Summary:
The report is discussion on sustainability management and marketing of a small group
adventure travel company known as Intrepid Travels with its base location in Australia. The
report commences with an introduction about the company along with detailed information
focusing on the management, organizational structure, international business environmental,
environmental impact and the level of competition. The report also puts forward discussion
and analysis on sustainability issues and strategies related to planning, human resource
management, leadership and control of technology and value chain. The report also provides
recommendations on the three future management strategies of the company.

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Table of Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................3
1. Detailed Information of the Chosen Company......................................................................3
a. About the Company, Its Management and Organizational Structure.................................3
b. International Business Environment and Australian Context............................................4
c. Impact of Environmental Factors.......................................................................................5
d. Evaluation of the Level of Competition with the Travel Industry.....................................6
2. Analysis and Discussion on Sustainability Related Strategies and Issue..............................6
a. Planning and Strategy.........................................................................................................6
b. Human Resource Management...........................................................................................7
c. Leadership...........................................................................................................................9
d. Controlling the Value Chain and Technology..................................................................10
3. Future Strategy Management...............................................................................................11
Recommendations................................................................................................................11
Conclusion:..............................................................................................................................12
References:...............................................................................................................................13

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Introduction:
The report gives an overview of sustainability management and marketing of Intrepid
Travels. Intrepid Travel represents the largest small group adventurous travel company of the
world offering over 1,500 itineraries in around 120 countries (Intrepidtravel.com 2018). The
report therefore begins with a general introduction of the company along with a discussion
about its management and organizational structure. There is also discussion about the
international business environment in the Australian context. The report also puts forward
analysis on the impact of the environmental factors and evaluation of the level of competition
within the industry. The report also undertakes a research, analysis and discussion on the
sustainability practices undertaken by the company in relation to strategy and planning,
human resource management, leadership and control of the value chain and technology. The
report also puts forward recommendations on the future strategies on management of the
company followed by a conclusion.
1. Detailed Information of the Chosen Company
a. About the Company, Its Management and Organizational Structure
Intrepid Travel is the small group travel company that ensures adventurous travel
experiences and has headquarters in Australia (Intrepidtravel.com 2018). Geoff Manchester
and Darrell Wade found the company in the year 1988. The company focused on responsible
travel and represented the first travel company of the world to take a stance on the elephant
rides.

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The Australian travel operator has restructured the company’s top management. The
director and co-founder Geoff Manchester played the role of the managing director. The
former chief executive Darrell Wade also continues to be the executive director who
primarily focused on the newer opportunities of growth outside the existing business of the
operator.
The Intrepid Travel is part of the Intrepid Group that also has nonprofit organization
known as Intrepid Foundation (Intrepidtravel.com 2018). The Inteprid Foundation consists of
two entities, The Intrepid Foundation Ltd and The Intrepid Foundation Trust. The Intrepid
Foundation Ltd represents a company limited by its guarantee that has two roles. The first
includes acting as a trustee for the trust and manage the day-to-day operations and the second
includes raising funds for perpetual partners and community projects. The Intrepid
Foundation Trust represents an ancillary fund of the public that plays the role of receiving
donations.
b. International Business Environment and Australian Context
The International Business Environment depends on the macro and
microenvironment. The microenvironment represents actors in the immediate environment of
the company that influence its performance (Wild, Wild and Han 2014). These include
marketing intermediaries, competitors, suppliers, customers and publics. The macro
environment consists of larger societal forces that influence the microenvironment of the
company. These include demographic, natural, economic, technological, cultural and political
forces.
In Australia, Intrepid Travels is owned independently and operates in close to over
120 countries, and offers more than 1500 itineraries. The destination targeted by the travel
operator includes Asia, North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, Australia and

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Antarctica (Intrepidtravel.com 2018). The company employs around 800 staffs in close to 20
countries. This travel agent is for those customers who yearn not only for a sense of fun and
adventure but also possess the urge of escaping from the monotonous mainstream tourism.
The company has respect for all the local environments and cultures and follows a relaxed
and flexible approach that proves beneficial for the international travelers of all the ages. The
company offers a range of ten different trip styles where they make use of public transport
and make people eat and stay in locally owned small-scale establishments thereby making the
trip comforting and active.
The company is in position where it thoroughly researches and incorporates travel
sensitivities and local knowledge of all its destinations. This approach of the company helps
them repeat around 40 percent of the travelers (Intrepidtravel.com 2018). Intrepid Travel also
visits wide location ranges including protected areas like National Parks, UNESCO World
Heritage sites and animal conservation centre. Patronage of the local services along with
admission fees brings in economic incentives to local communities for conservation of the
natural heritage. The company also supports conservation programs through the
philanthropic contributions of the Intrepid Foundation.
c. Impact of Environmental Factors
The impact of the environmental factors on Intrepid Travel includes (Doherty, Steel and
Parrish 2012):
Political –Legal
Australia has a liberal capitalist democracy and state interferes with the economy
through its various roles thereby affecting businesses. Like for instance the decision of the

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parliament in setting up importation of taxes for protecting the national economy or the
implementation of the environmental protection laws.
Economic
In terms of economy, Australia represents the largest capitalist economy of the world
dominated primarily by the service sector. This provides scopes for business to flourish.
Socio Cultural
Three social classes including working, middle and the upper class dominate the
Australian social culture. Each of these classes follows different social trends that have a
direct impact on the demand for the company’s services thereby affecting its business
directly.
Technological Factors
Australia is improving in terms of science and technology by collaborating with
various research and development centre. Technology leads to innovation, improves quality
and reduces costs thereby providing a better platform for businesses.
d. Evaluation of the Level of Competition with the Travel Industry
Australia happens to be the most desired of all the tourism destinations around the
world (Vengesayi 2013). The demand for travelling to the country will grow during 2015-16
with the increase in international inbound visitors to about 5 percent that is close to 7.3
million visitors. Australia has a strong tourism brand and therefore it faces aggressive
competition from more than 190 countries. Intrepid Travel can respond to such increasing
competition by focusing on the countries competitive advantage.

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2. Analysis and Discussion on Sustainability Related Strategies and Issue
a. Planning and Strategy
Intrepid Travels believes in the vision of changing the manner in which people views
the world. The company aims at enriching the lives of the people through creation of
interactive and unique travel experiences. The company provides fun loving, sustainable and
affordable travel adventures for benefitting the local communities (Vengesayi 2013). The
company recognizes the necessity of sustainable tourism and so it believes in the principles of
responsible tourism thereby respecting the local environment, cultures and people,
distribution of wealth and goodwill that ultimately leads to balanced development.
The company plans in working towards its vision and fulfilling its purpose by
focusing on the business growth and analyzing the purpose beyond the profit
(Intrepidtravel.com 2018). However, the key plan of the company involves having a digital
mindset on a company wide basis. It also includes leveraging the global destination
management companies. The company also plans to focus on the expansion of the fully
independent travel range. There were plans for ensuring the success of company’s multi-
brand business model. In addition, the company also aims at coming under the certification of
B Corp.
The company has put in extraordinary effort and thought in rolling out the carbon
management plan within a period of four years (Intrepidtravel.com 2018). In the year 2008,
the company became signatory to United Nations Global Compact and a portion of the
commitments represented working towards the environmental sustainability through
recognizing the change of Climate. By the late 2010, the Intrepid Travel became a company
that was completely carbon neutral.

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However, for incorporating sustainability into the operations of the company, Intrepid
Travel believed in undertaking a holistic view of the business and its impacts. This meant
looking beyond balance sheets and the areas of the business that were linked intrinsically.
This included society, economy, government ethics and environment.
b. Human Resource Management
The small group adventure travel company, Intrepid Travels, has adopted a
competitive strategy that ensures that it has low operating expenses for maximization of the
profits. The company also adopts a strategy for attaining operational effectiveness (Yüksel
and Çalıyurt 2016). This ensures employing skilled employees who not only helps in
reducing the internal cost and thereby increase the operational margins. The company also
focuses on having a stronger internal culture marked by engagement and higher morale of the
employees. This helps in increasing productivity and thereby enhancing its profits.
The company also believes in responsible tourism. Intrepid Travels believes in
making a difference through investment in the human rights initiatives, projects related to
wildlife, environment and local communities.
Intreprid Travels manages to recruit the right kind of people that ensures the success
of its business (Harry 2014). The recruitment process followed by the company is office
based where the employees screened through the process of an interview. The selected
applicant is invited to meet the concerned person where he is confirm through the process of
writing whose time frame varies from 2 to 4 weeks time.
The keep pace with the growing business needs the company also reengineers the
existing positions and ensures the creation of newer roles. Thus, the company helps in
developing an effective workforce through performance reviews, internal training and

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training and study support (Jabbour and Santos 2008). The performance reviews carried
every six months where issues related to training opportunities, performance and future
development is discussed that helps in building a healthy two way communication between
the managers and the employees. The company also values its employees by providing them
with study leave and encourages application for the financial support of the external training
programs. The company also runs workshops and regular courses that ensure internal training
of the employees.
Intrepid Travel managed to maintain an effective work force by providing them with
various benefits. The company puts forward travel discount for the staffs that implies that
every permanent employee receives a discount on intrepid trips. The company also offers
Employee Assistance Program (EAP) that assists to the employees and the immediate family
members in critical times (Intrepidtravel.com 2018). The company ensures the safety of the
workers but also see to the fact that they are happy working.
Intrepid Travels has incorporated its HRM practices through creation of business
opportunities. The key sustainability focus of company remains in engagement of the
travelers in the sustainability issues, improvement of the engagement of the staffs, creation
and adherence to the best practices on a global scale. The sustainability focus is lies in
measuring the impact of partnerships and operations. The company thus tries to align its
objectives with the five Ps of the sustainable development that includes planet, people,
prosperity, partnerships and peace.
c. Leadership
The company has followed a transformational and charismatic leadership style.
Transformational leadership refers to the leadership style where leaders usually work with the
subordinates for identifying the need for change thereby creating a vision for guiding the

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change through the process of inspiration along with execution of the change amongst the
group members (Stead and Stead 2013). On the other hand, charismatic leadership relies
more on the persuasiveness and charm of the leader and driven by the commitment and
convictions towards the cause. Due to certain shared similarities charismatic leaders also
known as transformational leaders (Avolio and Yammarino 2013).
The leaders of Intrepid Travels are not only the travel experts but also act as travel
guru, teacher and an enthusiastic source of knowing about the grass root experiences
These leaders inspire and motivate people beyond the normal levels of performance.
The leaders act as bridge between the friendly locals and the travelers. They also share tips
along with plenty of stories that makes you to feel as a part of the locality. They also help in
discovering the hidden highlights and provide suggestions for best utilization of the free time.
They also make the trip seamless for the travelers.
Intrepid Travels possesses its greatest strength in diversity. The company therefore
strives in promoting inclusiveness and equality at all levels of the business. The company
currently has 21 percent female leaders that it plans to double by the year 2020. This is a part
of the ongoing effort of the company in promoting independence of women and gender
equality.
d. Controlling the Value Chain and Technology
Operations Management is the field of management that deals with controlling and
designing the production process along with redesigning the business operations for ensuring
effective delivery of services (Stead and Stead 2013). Intrepid Travel is conducting an
effective supply chain management through continuous improvement of the performance

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factors along with increase in flexibility. The company also ensures quality improvement and
improved communication facilities.
Intrepid Travel ensures effective management of Supply Chain by adopting the
following strategies.
1. Adopting a demand-driven process of planning and business operation model based
on demand shaping and demand insights on real time basis.
2. Ensure building an agile and adaptive supply chain through integrated execution
and rapid planning.
3. Optimizing the various services for attaining sustainability and accelerating
profitable innovation
4. Ensuring the alignment of the supply chain with the business goals of the company
5. Integrating the aspect of sustainability into the supply chain operations
6. By ensuring a predictable and reliable supply
Intrepid Travels have used new technology in transforming its supply chain
management practices (Prajogo and Olhager 2012). The emergence of technology has not
only lead to greater transparency and efficiency but it has also helped the company in
focusing on its individuals. Influence of technology has also made community and
communication tighter. The concept of cloud computing have also made way for small but
nimble carriers.
Companies strive for operating in a sustainable manner and Intrepid Travel is no
different. There is however no denying the fact that being environmentally friendly and going
green is the only way for the future of the companies (Intrepidtravel.com 2018). Intrepid

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Travel thus ensures delivering their service in a manner that has hardly an impact on the
environment, does not contribute to the climatic changes, does not reduce natural resources or
contributes to injustice or social inequalities. This has encourages the company in
undertaking a carbon neutral business since the year 2010.
3. Future Strategy Management
Recommendations
The recommendations of the future management strategies for Intrepid Travel are as follows:
1. Understanding the needs of the local market and developing a collaborative
approach:
Intrepid Travels should focus more on the local cultures, behaviors and customers
needs along with the existing successful and lesser successful marketing approaches. This
helps on building a closer relationship with the team that operates locally.
2. Developing and Socializing an Early Global Marketing Plan:
Intrepid Travel must follow a proactive approach in socializing its plans that will give
more exposure to the company. Socializing helps in receiving feedbacks and thereby ensures
better operation.
3. Keeping Track and Ensuring Adjustment in Real Time:
For better operation, the company must ensure keeping a track of the review metrics
through either a video call or simply a call that allows the company in undertaking necessary
actions. The discussions undertaken must be vibrant and active with necessary contributions
from the local team.

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Conclusion:
The report ends by recommending future management strategies for Intrepid Travels.
There is also a vivid analysis on the company’s operations management and supply chain
with special emphasis on sustainability. The report also puts forward a discussion on
leadership, human resource management and planning with special emphasis on
sustainability. The report also discusses about the background information of the company.

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societies in higher education in Australasia: A PEST analysis.
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