TRM201: Detailed Analysis of Intrepid Travel's Tourism Operations

This report provides an in-depth analysis of Intrepid Travel, a major player in the global adventure tourism industry. It outlines the company's history, market position, unique products and services, and relationships with other organizations within the tourism distribution system. The report also examines the trends and challenges faced by the tour industry, such as increasing fuel prices, security concerns, and political instability, and explores the risk mitigation measures adopted by Intrepid Travel, including sustainable development plans and responsible tourism initiatives. The analysis concludes that Intrepid Travel has successfully navigated the complexities of the tourism industry by focusing on responsible travel and offering unique adventure experiences.

TRAVEL AND TOURISM
OPERATIONS

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Contents
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................2
Assessment 1.........................................................................................................................................2
Outline of tourism enterprise.............................................................................................................2
Outline of the product and services...................................................................................................3
Assessment 2.........................................................................................................................................3
Nature of tourism enterprise..............................................................................................................3
History and background of Intrepid...................................................................................................4
Market Position and its major competitors........................................................................................4
Product and services that makes Intrepid Unique..............................................................................4
Relationship with other organisations................................................................................................5
Intrepid position in the tourism distribution system...........................................................................5
Trends and Challenges faced by tour industry...................................................................................6
Risk mitigation measures or recommendations of Intrepid for its business.......................................7
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES......................................................................................................................................7
INTRODUCTION
Tourism and travel industry has become one of the most significant contributors in the
nation’s income. There are many travel and tourism enterprises that have come up in various
parts of the world. Intrepid is one of them. This report highlights the analysis of the Intrepid,

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the industry in which it is working. It also showcases the mitigation that has been adopted by
the company so as to fight the challenges faced by the industry.
Assessment 1
Outline of tourism enterprise
Intrepid is one of the largest small group adventure travel enterprises in all over the world.
This firm offers its products with 1500 itineraries in around 120 countries. Some of the
destinations include Australia, Middle East, Antarctica, Africa and Latin America (Global
Compact Network Australia, 2018). This company was founded back in the year 1989 in the
Melbourne, Victoria Australia. Its headquarter lies in Melbourne, Australia. This company
has received many awards including Pacific Asia Travel association (PATA).
This company is in the industry of tourism which is one of the best performing industry in
Australia. This industry is estimated to be one of the fastest developing industries in
Australia. Since this industry provides jobs to large number of people as well as it also helps
in the development of tour destinations hence government is also helping this industry in
tourist destination development. The number of products that are getting added into the travel
industry is large for example the nature tourism, man-made tourism, adventure tourism.
Outline of the product and services
This company is known for serving trips at lowest of cost. They do it by providing travel via
public transport, locally owned accommodation. Intrepid is dealing in the business of
providing adventure travel (Intrepid Travel, 2018). Their other product includes adventure
travelling, nature travelling etc. This company has focused on responsible travel and has
signed United Nations Global Compact. This company became carbon neutral business in
2010 and this company was known as the first global travel firm to take a stance on the rides
through elephant. This company is one of the greatest supporters of providing local facilities
and hence popularising the local culture.
There is significant increase in the number of people who is opting for adventure tourism. It
provides various kinds of adventure programs that include cliff jumping, Para gliding, water
surfing etc. These products are delivered at several locations all around the world.

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Assessment 2
Nature of tourism enterprise
The nature of the Intrepid is understood to be as an adventure providing company. It is a
company that provides the trip that are of grassroot type (The guardian, 2018). They have
adopted an operational methodology where they take use of the public facilities for giving
services to their client. They are one of the greatest supporters of responsible tourism. This
company is a part of integration of many smaller and bigger firms. It worked in the favour of
the smaller firms which got support from larger firms so as to avail services. They are the
promoters of local business and facilities.
Their extent of operations is in various parts of the world as they offers services in the
regions like Asia, Latin America, Europe, North America, Australia, Antarctica and Middle
East (Crisp 2016).
History and background of Intrepid
This firm was established by two Australians named Geoff ‘Manch’ Manchester and Darrel
wade in the year 1988. It was a part of PEAK Adventure Travel Group which was a joint
venture of TUI group and Intrepid Group (Cogswell, 2015). They separated back in the year
2015. They adopted a banner name afterwards which included Adventure tour Australia,
Intrepid Travel, Geckos Adventures, Urban Adventure, The family Adventure Company and
Peregrine Adventures. Apart from this group included non-profit The Intrepid Foundation
and other 17 individual destinations management firms operating below the PEAK DMC
brand.
Presently it offers more than 1500 itineraries in around 120 nations (Media, 2018). This firm
had distributed its philanthropic fund of around $5 million towards child welfare, human
rights, wildlife and environmental protection programs, healthcare programs in the
communities where it operates. Its awards include Ernst and Young Entrepreneur (2002) and
PATA Gold Award (2007).
Market Position and its major competitors
It’s the world’s largest small group adventure travel company. It is a major player in
Australia and operates in a group that is having good image in the market. They have been a
crucial player in the industry over two decades.

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Major competitors of Intrepid include Intro Travel Excellent, Cosmos, G Adventure, Top
Deck, Ultimate Travel, Contiki, Globus etc. These are the companies that are established in
Australia. Apart from this they also face competition from external players like Thomas
Cook, TUI travel, Cox and kings and many more.
Product and services that makes Intrepid Unique
In many types of products and services that Intrepid offers, there are some which makes it
unique. Its product and services related to adventure tourism makes it unique especially the
products like cycling, sailing, trekking, polar activities and wildlife (Kow, 2018). Its
adventure cycling in many parts of the world has been a great success for the company. Apart
from this their wildlife related tours have also been highly successful.
Relationship with other organisations
In the starting phase of its establishment for many years they have been a part of the group
which included partners of TUI group. The groups name was PEAK Adventure Travel
Group. Presently the group has its partnership with Gekos adventure, Adventure tour
Australia, Peregrine Adventures, Urban Adventure and The family Adventure Company.
Apart from this there are many smaller and local companies that are the partners. Along with
its ties with private companies, it is also having tie up with the government organisations.
This partnership with government bodies in all around the world helps the company in
providing the cheapest of facilities. They take use of the facilities like public hotels, public
transport etc. It is a signatory in the United Nations Global Compact. They have made tags
with government in various parts of the world to safeguard natural destinations. The prime
examples can be seen in the countries like India and Japan. Apart from this they also get help
from the Australian government in terms of the CSR activities they are carrying. They have
donated huge funds to the people that are living in the communities where the cited firm has
their business operations.
Since they have provided jobs to so many people hence the government also gives them some
kinds of tax exemptions. The amount of resources that this company own is very less hence
they need to make sure that they have an effective tie up so as to provide best of facilities to
their clients at the lowest of prices.
Intrepid position in the tourism distribution system
Tourism distribution system is a system that reflects the way through which a consumer can
avails the tour. There are many players at different levels of the tourism system that helps in

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giving tour services to the people. It is basically considered as channels through which the
people can avail the tour program (The Travel distribution system, 2018). There are four
levels of companies using which a customer can avail the services namely Wholesalers,
retailers, ITO and suppliers. Intrepid stands in the distribution system as a retailer. They are
the direct players in providing tour packages to the customers. They provide different types
of packages to different consumers as per their demands.
Trends and Challenges faced by tour industry
In the increasing demand of tourism products and services all around the world, there are
several trends that are making their place in the market (Swarbrooke & Horner, 2012). Some
of the most common trends that are driving the industry are as follows:
 Unique experience: People these days are demanding of innovative experiences that
they may not forget. In the past few years larger numbers of customers have
demanded for the trip that gives them experience of the life time (Biggs, 2011).
 Mobile booking: In the research of recent trends it has been found that more than 49%
of the total booking was done through mobile. App based booking system has
attracted the customers.
 Online feedbacks: People usually get attracted towards the company for whom the
online reviews had been good. The online review shared by previous clients has been
thoroughly read by new customers before choosing the plan (Seetaram, 2012).
 Solo travellers: The numbers of travellers who prefer to travel alone have increased in
the past few years. In terms of tourism people are keeping family at second (Jaafar,
Abdul-Aziz, Maideen & Mohd, 2011).
In spite of the fact that tourism industry is growing at much faster speed; there are several
challenges that are faced by the companies in this industry. Some of them are as follows:
 Higher taxes: Tour industry has been one of the highest taxed industries. This
products related to tour have also become expensive (Ruhanen, Mclennan & Moyle,
2013). This had made a negative impact on the minds of people as in the increasing
inflation they want products at the cheapest of costs.
 Increasing prices of fuel: The higher prices of fuel have also impacted the tourism
industry as travelling has become very expensive (Zaei & Zaei, 2013). The rise in the
airlines prices is one of the major reasons for the decline of outbound tourism in many
countries as people do not want to spend more money on transportation

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 Security and safety: In the increasing threat of terrorism, it has become difficult for
the companies to persuade people customers to travel in these regions. People are
travelling less towards the places where social crime is very high.
 Political condition: Political tensions in many parts of the world have increased
sharply. This has forced the companies to make new plans according to the political
tie ups between different regions of the world and well as the cultural similarities they
have.
Risk mitigation measures or recommendations of Intrepid for its business
It is crucial that a tour company adopts a risk mitigation measures. This helps them in
avoiding business failures which could be dangerous for the firm. Some of the risk mitigation
measures adopted by Intrepid are as follows:
 Sustainable development plan: They have made the plan that will help them in doing
sustainable business which is necessary for the growth of company.
 Planned investments: As the economic stability all across the globe has shivered over
the decades. This has forced them to make investments that are highly planned.
Managing investments has been a major strategy of the firm.
 Responsible tourism: Company is focused towards bringing responsible tourism in
their business. This would help them in reducing the risk towards changing tourism
policies.
Conclusion
From the above based report it can be concluded that tourism industry has grown at a much
faster rate. This has provided good opportunities for the firms like Intrepid. This firm is
providing tour packages at lowest of prices. It is the largest small group of Travel Company
that is operational in all around the world. In the tourism distribution system it is a retail
company that provides direct services to the customers. There are various kinds of trends and
challenges faced by the tour industry. They have made many kinds of risk mitigation plans
for themselves.

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REFERENCES
Biggs, D. (2011). Understanding resilience in a vulnerable industry: the case of reef tourism
in Australia. Ecology and Society, 16(1).
Cogswell, D., (2015) Retrieved from:
https://www.travelpulse.com/news/tour-operators/intrepid-group-and-tui-group-end-
peak-adventure-travel-group-joint-venture.html
Crisp A., (2016) Retrieved from: https://www.ecotourism.org.au/news/intrepid/
Global Compact Network Australia. (2018). [Online]. Retrieved from:
http://www.unglobalcompact.org.au/portfolio/6390.
Intrepid Travel. (2018). Our Trip Styles. [Online]. Retrieved from:
https://www.intrepidtravel.com/au/about/trip-styles.
Jaafar, M., Abdul-Aziz, A. R., Maideen, S. A., & Mohd, S. Z. (2011). Entrepreneurship in the
tourism industry: Issues in developing countries. International Journal of Hospitality
Management, 30(4), 827-835.
Kow, N (2018) Retrieved from: https://www.trekksoft.com/en/blog/9-travel-trends-that-will-
drive-the-tourism-industry-in-2018
Media, (2018) Retrieved from: https://www.intrepidtravel.com/en/about/media
Ruhanen, L. M., Mclennan, C. L. J., & Moyle, B. D. (2013). Strategic issues in the Australian
tourism industry: A 10-year analysis of national strategies and plans. Asia Pacific
Journal of Tourism Research, 18(3), 220-240.
Swarbrooke, J., & Horner, S. (2012). Business travel and tourism. Routledge.
The guardian (2018) Retrieved from: https://www.theguardian.com/nab-meet-the-
changemakers/2016/oct/06/purpose-beyond-profit-drives-intrepid-founders-big-
adventure
The Travel distribution system, (2018) Retrieved from:
http://www.tourism.australia.com/content/dam/assets/document/1/6/w/u/c/
2002116.pdf

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Zaei, M. E., & Zaei, M. E. (2013). The impacts of tourism industry on host
community. European journal of tourism hospitality and research, 1(2), 12-21.
Seetaram, N. (2012). Immigration and international inbound tourism: Empirical evidence
from Australia. Tourism Management, 33(6), 1535-1543.

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APPENDIX
Current User Flow for Intrepid
Revenue of Intrepid and Its competitors

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Intrepid comparative competitive analysis

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