BUS5SMM: Intrepid Travel's Marketing Mix and Sustainability

This report provides a comprehensive marketing analysis of Intrepid Travel Group, an adventure travel organization based in Melbourne, Australia, with a focus on its sustainable marketing practices. It begins by outlining the company's background, objectives, and target audience, emphasizing its ...Read More

Running Head: Sustainable Management & Marketing
Sustainable Management & Marketing

Sustainable Management & Marketing 1
Executive Summary
Marketing is a word used to initiate and maintain relationship in the environment. It plays an
important role in providing a medium of interaction in the society. Further the below-mentioned
task provides a brief overview about the activities initiated by the company Intrepid and it
sustainable marketing activities in the external environment. The organization is based in tourism
industry and provides real life experiences to its customers. More details about the task are
discussed below:

Sustainable Management & Marketing 2
Contents
Executive Summary.....................................................................................................................................1
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................1
Organizational Objectives............................................................................................................................1
Main Products, services, suppliers and customers of Intrepid....................................................................2
Target Audience..........................................................................................................................................3
Marketing Mix of Intrepid...........................................................................................................................3
Product....................................................................................................................................................3
Price.........................................................................................................................................................4
Place........................................................................................................................................................5
Promotion................................................................................................................................................5
Comparative Analysis with competitors......................................................................................................6
Product....................................................................................................................................................6
Price.........................................................................................................................................................6
Place........................................................................................................................................................6
Promotion................................................................................................................................................6
Recommendation........................................................................................................................................7
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................7
References...................................................................................................................................................8
Appendix...................................................................................................................................................10

Sustainable Management & Marketing 3
Introduction
Intrepid Travel Group is an adventure travel organization which is based in Melbourne,
Australia. The company was originated in the year 1988 and it was the biggest division of the
PEAK Adventure Travel Group and it was also a joint venture of the Intrepid Travel Group and
the TUI Group. Under this alliance many countries became a part; further the company was
separated with this joint venture in the year 2015 in order to initiate expansion (Intrepid Travels
2017). So, considering from that period it shall be noted that organization became the most
successful organization in the field of travel. Many marketing strategies were adopted by the
company to help people gain knowledge about the company and its functioning in the target
market. The purpose of this report is to provide a brief overview about the marketing mix of
Intrepid Travel Company and competitive analysis and the sustainability practices adopted by the
company to sustain their growth n the target market. More details about the task discussed
below:
Organizational Objectives
Adventure Travel is regarded as one of the most important aspect present in the travel industry.
The organization which is discussed in the report engages their activity in this sector of the
industry. The organization initiates their activities in this sector as it provide them advantage to
grow and earn profits. In order to earn profit, the organization initiates activities which provide
maximum level of satisfaction to customers and real life experiences as well (Percy 2014). The
major aim of the company is to provide real life experiences to people by providing their share in
various social care activities implemented with respect to the nature. Furthermore, one important
fact shall be noted that the organization Intrepid organization does not initiate their process to
gain profits; instead they initiate their activities focusing on protection to the human rights and
the nature as well. Development of the society is the major aim of the organization in the target
market; resulting to which, major portion of the company is invested in operating these activities
only. Apart from environmental development, the organization is also a customer focused
company which initiates their activities to enhance the efficiency of their travellers so that their
business is expanded in various parts of the world (Kumar, and Christodoulopoulou 2014).

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The vision statement developed by the company is that they need to fulfill the needs of the
travellers and initiate development of customer relationship as well. Also the company wants to
maintain a fixed and solid position in the target market with respected to that the organization
has adopted various innovative techniques in marketing strategies.
Main Products, services, suppliers and customers of Intrepid
The main products of the organization are linked with the adventure tourism industry. The
organization is based in providing the real life experience of adventure tourism in the industry.
This the major product served by the organization, apart from that the company is also involved
in responsible tourism practices as their core value in their business operations. It is the service
that the organization provides to make a social effect in the environment. Prevention of human
rights and environment are the activities which are initiated by the organization for the purpose
of nature. And with respect to travel services the organization provides transportation, local
leader cum experts and accommodation etc. facilities to the customers (Hollensen 2015).
The hotel, transportation industry, tour operation and industry travel agents etc. are few suppliers
present in the industry without which no organization can initiate their activities effectively. As
Intrepid organization is a part of travel industry where the company can only when they have
effective connections worldwide. So, the organization is connected with such industries in order
to maximize the satisfaction level of the employees. The company tied their business activities
with various hotels and transportation services to provide effective services to their customers.
These suppliers of the organization help them in gaining competitive edge in the target market
(Armstrong, et. al., 2012).
Target Audience
The target audience of the company is those people who love travelling to new destinations and
exploring the world. The people who believe in living real life experience are the main target of
the company. Targeting is a strategy which is used by the organizations in order to identify the
actual customers whom the company shall target in order to gain more and more sales for the
company. Along with sales the company also aims to fulfill the organizational objective which
includes may other factors apart from profit and revenue. Mainly the people who are very lively

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and want to get a break from their basic life routine to embrace the beauty of nature are fit for the
organization to target (Rosenbloom 2012). The company does not provide services which are
luxurious and pompous; rather it ensures that the customers receive a pleasant and lively
experience which connects them to the nature. Thus, the company provides such people tempting
offers which they can utilize to travel around the world; they aim to provide offers which stratify
them financially and provide satisfactory experiences as well. As the organization adopted
various marketing techniques to target customers and deliver them services as well. Digital
media and print media play a significant role in promoting the services provided by the
organization. Being placed in a travel industry the organization needs to promote their product to
gain maximum number of customers in the market, also advertisement helps the customers to
know about the features of the company and services provided by them in the market (Mowforth,
and Munt 2015).
Apart from that the main motive of the organization is to provide satisfactorily services to the
customers apart from profit gaining intention, so the promotion scheme of the organization
provides a view to the target customer that what kind of services the company deliver. further in
this way the organization target the adequate customers who matches to the services provided by
the company Intrepid (Whitelaw, King, and Tolkach 2014.).
Marketing Mix of Intrepid
Product
As discussed above the company provides services which satisfy the feel of adventurous people.
Being situated in adventure tourism the organization mainly provides real life experience to the
customers. The organization aims to maximize the level of satisfactions of the travellers traveling
with them. Adventurous tourism is a crucial segment of the tourism industry, unlike other
organization; this organization does not serve prime and luxury services and products to the
customers in the market. Neither the organization target such customers who thrive for luxurious
travelling, basically the company Intrepid is known for providing real life experiences to the
travellers while travelling. This states that organization make people close to nature and make
feel the real beauty not through artificial products (Juvan, and Dolnicar 2014).

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Furthermore, it shall be noted that the organization is more close to nature if compared to
organizations due to which the company receives more degree of uncertainty and threat in the
organizational structure. As the health of nature is now days depleting day by day due to which
there is high degree of risk aligned with it, resulting to which, the company also provide
adequate safety measure services to the customers so that they can experience a safe and pleasant
experience with the company (Page 2014). The company has maintained adequate objective
while travelling which are discussed below:
 Functions shall be performed in such a way that they create effect on the satisfaction
level of customers along with the company as well.
 Local leaders appointed by the organization shall co-ordinate with local and understand
the culture and heritage of the location. This will help them provide better level of
satisfaction to the customers.
 Prevention of environmental and human right is the foremost important aspect which
shall not be waive by any employee under any circumstances (Bramwell 2015).
Price
Pricing is not an issue for the company; their main objective is to increase the level of
satisfaction for the customers. So in context the organization develops and implements a pricing
strategy which target mass customers at a time provide who wants to attain such services. The
company adopted the cost-leadership and competition based pricing strategy in their business
which helps them to grow of overtime. This strategy was used in such a way that the company
reduced their travel package which excited the customers to travel with the company due to
which the company increased its sales as well. Due to this strategy the organization also earned
the competitive edge in the market (Pomfret 2016).
Further the cost-differentiated strategy also supported the competition strategy of the company.
Also this strategy helped the organization to deal with its competitors in order to run in target
market and develop connections as well. Thus, the pricing strategies initiated by the company
held them to gain the target customers in the market and initiate sustainability in their actions as
well (Intrepid Travels 2017).

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Place
Specifications of place play a significant role in implementing activities in the Intrepid tourism
industry. The company operates its functionalities at the famous place which are close to nature
and the place which are mostly liked by the customers present in society. Such kind of places is
the place where the company initiates its activities. Furthermore it shall be noted that as the
company Intrepid is customer centric so all the activities initiated in the management lie travel
packages, offers, accommodation and based on their preference only. So, the place aspect
depends upon the preference of the customers that were they want to travel (Wilks, Stephen, and
Moore 2013).
Another aspect is the connection of the company with other suppliers present in the market.
Looking at the market analysis it shall be noted that the organization chooses the place to travel
according to their relation with different companies and people present in different locations
around the world.
Promotion
Promotion is regarded as one of the most important aspect which helps the companies present in
the tourism industry to grow with a rapid speed. Promotion of the company helps the customers
to know about the features of the company and activities provided by hem in market. With such
information the customer can easily compare it with different competitors present in the market
and chose the right company which can fulfill their requirements (Hardiman, and Burgin 2017).
Also the promotional strategy of the company helps them to communicate their vision and
mission with the target customers and increase their sales rapidly. This process improves the
brand image of the company as it helps the customers to gain trust on their activities in grow in
the global market. Digital media and print media are the ways through which the company
promotes its activities in the target market. For companies like Intrepid, promotion is the basic
source to target more and more customers from different geographical boundaries. So the
company invests a huge amount in promoting the product and their objectives in the target
market (Wood 2017).

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Comparative Analysis with competitors
Competitors are those people who are involve in providing same type of services to the target
customers in the same industry. Competitors of Intrepid are Austin Adventure, G Adventure, and
Geographic Expeditions Adventurous Trips etc. further the comparison of the company with
their rivals is discussed below:
Product
Just like Intrepid Tourism there are many other companies which are present in adventure
tourism sector and provide almost same types of services to the customers. But the fact that
makes the company different from its competitors is the Intrepid provide offers and packages
available at affordable prices. This helps the company to gain competitive edge in the market.
Price
Talking about price, it shall be noted that the company does not focuses on gaining more and
more profits like others; instead it focuses on maximizing the level of satisfaction of customers.
Resulting to which provide their services at very affordable prices in the market (Peacock, et. al.,
2017).
Place
The company is locate in total 100 countries and have a huge family of around 1600 employees
working with them in more than 20 offices worldwide. So, it shall be noted that if compared to
other competitors the company Intrepid holds more area and initiates diversified activities
worldwide.
Promotion
Intrepid Travel is an Australia based company; Australia is a beautiful country where there are
many places which are very close to nature. So, it gives the company plenty of opportunity to
travel and expand their services. Resulting to which, the company adequately promote their
services worldwide (Giddy, and Webb 2016).

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Recommendation
Thus, it shall be recommended to the company that they shall adopt effective and efficient
strategies to improve the target objective of the company. Also the organization shall aim to
attain competitive edge in the market by developing promotional activities in the market. Further
it shall be recommended to the company that they shall also focus on other ways of promotions
to reach out to more and more people. This process will help them to create brand equity and
flourish their business in international market as well. Lastly, the company support expansion
activities in their business to provide more and more people their travelling adventure
experiences.
Conclusion
Thus in the limelight of above-mentioned events the facts that shall be noted is that the
organization Intrepid Company is an Australian organization which is part of tourism industry.
The company is among one of the most prominent companies of Australia which provides
adventurous services. Further the main motive of the company is to provide real life experience
to the travellers travelling with them. Also they aim to protect the environment as well. Apart
from that considering to competitors, the company gained advantage because of their qualitative
marketing activities in the global market.

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References
Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M., & Brennan, R., 2012, Marketing: an introduction,
Pearson Prentice-Hall, London.
Bramwell, B., 2015. Theoretical activity in sustainable tourism research. Annals of Tourism
Research, 54, pp.204-218.
Giddy, J.K. and Webb, N.L., 2016. The influence of the environment on motivations to
participate in adventure tourism: The case of the Tsitsikamma. South African Geographical
Journal, 98(2), pp.351-366.
Hardiman, N. and Burgin, S., 2017. Nature tourism trends in Australia with reference to the
Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 25(6), pp.732-
745.
Hollensen, S., 2015, Marketing management: A relationship approach, Pearson Education.
Intrepid Travels. 2017. Expedition trips: Brand new off-map adventures. Viewed on December
12, 2017 from https://www.intrepidtravel.com/en/theme/expeditions
Intrepid Travels. 2017. Small groups, big adventures with Intrepid Travel. Viewed on December
12, 2017 from < https://www.intrepidtravel.com/en>
Juvan, E. and Dolnicar, S., 2014. The attitude–behaviour gap in sustainable tourism. Annals of
Tourism Research, 48, pp.76-95.
Kumar, V. and Christodoulopoulou, A., 2014. Sustainability and branding: An integrated
perspective. Industrial Marketing Management, 43(1), pp.6-15.
Mowforth, M. and Munt, I., 2015. Tourism and sustainability: Development, globalisation and
new tourism in the third world. Routledge.
Page, S.J., 2014. Tourism management. Routledge.

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Peacock, S., Brymer, E., Davids, K. and Dillon, M., 2017. An Ecological Dynamics Perspective
on Adventure Tourism. Tourism Review International, 21(3), pp.307-316.
Percy, L., 2014. Strategic integrated marketing communications. Routledge
Pomfret, G.C., 2016. An exploration of adventure tourism participation and
consumption (Doctoral dissertation, Sheffield Hallam University (United Kingdom)).
Rosenbloom, B., 2012, Marketing channels, Cengage Learning.
Whitelaw, P.A., King, B.E. and Tolkach, D., 2014. Protected areas, conservation and tourism–
financing the sustainable dream. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 22(4), pp.584-603.
Wilks, J., Stephen, J. and Moore, F. eds., 2013. Managing tourist health and safety in the new
millennium. Routledge.
Wood, C., 2017. Travel, roads, risks and volunteers. Journal of Tourism and Cultural
Change, 15(5), pp.490-498.

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Appendix
SWOT
Strengths
 Tourism with responsibility
 Huge contribution in social factor like,
human rights prevention, environmental
regulation etc.
 Standards according to international
quality.
 Being placed in world’s largest
adventure tourism based industry.
Weakness
 Australian adventure centric company.
 Lack of luxury services.
Opportunities
 Aiming to expand the business in
international market.
 Initiation of e-commerce services to as
to increase satisfaction.
Threat
 Initiate activities in small scale and lack
of sufficient resources.
 Threat of new entrants
Positioning Chart
Geographic Expeditions Adventurous
Intrepid Travel Group G Adventure
Superior
Services
Few
Destinations
More
Destinations
Inferior Services