A Case Study of Intrepid Travel's Climate Action in Tourism Industry

This case study examines Intrepid Travel, a leading adventure travel company, and its commitment to addressing climate change within the tourism sector. Established in 1989, Intrepid Travel has positioned itself as a carbon-neutral organization, actively working to mitigate its environmental impact. The company's initiatives include carbon offsetting, setting science-based emission reduction targets, investing in renewable energy, and supporting climate research. Intrepid Travel aims to transition to 100% renewable energy by 2030 and has invested significantly in projects that promote low-carbon economies. By maintaining high standards of social and environmental performance, Intrepid Travel has earned B Corp certification, demonstrating its commitment to balancing profits with purpose. While the company has made substantial progress, further investment in air quality improvement projects could enhance its efforts in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and fostering a more sustainable future for the tourism industry. Desklib provides access to this case study and other solved assignments for students.

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Table of contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Discussion........................................................................................................................................3
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................5
Reference and bibliography.............................................................................................................5

Introduction
Intrepid travel can be considered as the largest small group adventure travel company that
operate in the global market (Gössling & Scott, 2018). In the year 1989, the company was
established and from the very beginning the company is maintaining its positive impression
towards sustainable tourism initiatives (Intrepidtravel.com, 2020). It is true that climate change
has become the most concerning topic in the current scenario, which has brought different
strategic changes in the tourism industry. The purpose of this study is to shed light on the
particular business and analyze all the operational initiatives adopted by the company while
dealing with the climate change.
Discussion
Intrepid travel is a popular travel organization which has gained its popularity through the
introduction of adventurous tourism. It can be considered as the largest carbon-neutral travel
company that operates in dynamic travel and tourism sector. It has become the second largest
export commodity in the world. In the year 1989, the company was formed by the Australian
university mates Geoff Manch Manchester and Darrell Wade. In the year 2011, the TUI group
has acquired almost 60% of intrepid travel. In order to provide the real life experience to the
travelers, through the sustainable tourism development initiative, the company has maintained its
strong relationship with the stakeholders. Although the company operates in the international
market, but it aims to represent the specialty as well as diversity of the local region to the
travelers by experiencing the local transport, foods and accommodation. In the month of January
in 2020, the company has declared the climate emergency after publishing the survey report that
was started developing in 2006 (Intrepidtravel.com, 2020). In the increasing greenhouse impact
mitigating the climate changes has become necessary. In this situation the company has shown

its strong commitment towards measuring and managing the climate change by becoming the
climate neutral organization. Maintaining the national carbon offsetting standard, the company
has taken the radical action against the urgent climate crisis.
In order to limit the global working, the company has set its science based emission reduction
target to reach the global worming limit almost 1.5°C. In the running year, the company has
decided to expand its carbon management program by offsetting the customer’ fights
(Intrepidtravel.com, 2020). The company has targeted to reduce the emission almost 125% in the
running year. Analyzing the strategic goal of the company, it has been identified that within
2030, the company has aimed to bring the 100% transition towards the renewable energy
(Intrepidtravel.com, 2020). It is also true that Intrepid travel is the first travel company that has
invested in green deposits. Different projects have been introduced by the company for
delivering the low carbon to the economy. For the better climate foundation, the company has
decided to fund almost $100K for the Antarctic climate can get research so that the better
conservation technique can be introduced. In order to generate better environmental benefits the
company has set its target to remove the additional carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. It has
aimed to reduce the emission from the operations and its trips. The budget allocation process in
the company has also got influenced after the strategic initiative towards becoming the climate
positive organization.
The company has invested $100,000 AUD in the climate scientific research in case of supporting
the advancement in carbon emission reduction process (Intrepidtravel.com, 2020). In the Paris
agreement the commitment of the company towards climate action has been shared. In order to
make itself as the B Crop certified business, it has maintained the highest standard of social and

environmental performance by ensuring the public transparency. The company always tries to
maintain the balance between profits and the purpose, which has made it certified travel B crop.
Analyzing the entire initiatives adopted by the company, it can be said that if the company can
properly be able to implement its future goals, in that case, in the long run major sustainable
impact can be seen in the company operation. Although the company is making significant
initiatives towards reducing the greenhouse gas emission, but in order to improve the process,
more investment can be done towards purifying the air quality project.
Conclusion
In this study, it can be concluded that being a carbon free company, Intrepid travel has made the
significant image in the tourism sector. The continuous effort of the company towards
sustainable tourism can generate the better climate condition in near future that can bring
positive impact in the planet.
Reference and bibliography
Bina, O., Verdini, G., Inch, A., Varanda, M., Guevara, M. & Chiles, P., (2017). INTREPID
Futures Initiative: Universities and Knowledge for Sustainable Urban Futures: as if inter
and trans-disciplinarity mattered, 4th INTREPID Report, COST Action TD1408, 11 May.
Gössling, S. & Scott, D., (2018). The decarbonisation impasse: global tourism leaders’ views on
climate change mitigation. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 26(12), pp.2071-2086.
Henry, T.M., (2019). Exploring local perceptions on visual media representations of climate
change and last chance tourism in Tuvalu (Doctoral dissertation, The University of
Waikato).

Higham, J., Cohen, S.A., Cavaliere, C.T., Reis, A. & Finkler, W., (2016). Climate change, tourist
air travel and radical emissions reduction. Journal of Cleaner Production, 111, pp.336-
347.
Intrepidtravel.com (2020). retrieved from: https://www.intrepidtravel.com/adventures/why-
intrepid-are-declaring-a-climate-emergency/ [Accessed on 21st Feb, 2020]
Michailidou, A.V., Vlachokostas, C. & Moussiopoulos, Ν., (2016). Interactions between climate
change and the tourism sector: Multiple-criteria decision analysis to assess mitigation and
adaptation options in tourism areas. Tourism Management, 55, pp.1-12.
Scott, D., Hall, C.M. & Gössling, S., (2016). A review of the IPCC Fifth Assessment and
implications for tourism sector climate resilience and decarbonization. Journal of
Sustainable Tourism, 24(1), pp.8-30.