2024 Ethical Marketing Goals Update

By Leigh Barnes, October 2024 

Our Ethical Marketing Guidelines have been an important initiative for Intrepid to create more rigour and public accountability around DEI, transparency, ethics and openness across our global marketing.   

Each year, we invest tens of millions in brand building. We know how we allocate these funds can drive positive change and genuinely influence the industry for the better. We don’t take that responsibility for granted.  

Since the inception of our ethical marketing guidelines in 2021, we have maintained 5 core commitments while making changes to the way we track our progress. We’ll have more to share on the latest evolution soon.  

For now, I’m happy to share a transparent progress update from January 1 – September 30, 2024.  

Commitment 1: Diversity, equity and inclusion 

Create allyship and improve representation of BIPOC travellers 

• 50% (at least) of all content creators hired by Intrepid must identify as BIPOC creators 

YTD: 65% (11 of 17 creators hired self-identify as BIPOC creators) 

• 5 global partnerships per year with BIPOC-owned travel organisations 

YTD: 4 

• 50% (at least) of commissioned blog stories must be voiced by BIPOC travellers 

YTD: 35% (8 of 23 stories) 

• 10 blog stories published each year about BIPOC travellers and experiences 

YTD: 4 

• Invest a minimum of $100,000AUD annually to support BIPOC-owned businesses, events or initiatives  

YTD: $208,588

• 20% (at least) of content creators hired (including talent, influencers, bloggers, production team) by Intrepid must be from the Black travel community 

YTD: 53% (9 of 17 creators hired self-identify as Black creators) 

Create allyship and improve representation of the plus-size community 

• 10% of content creators hired (including talent, influencers, bloggers, production team) by Intrepid must be from the plus-size travel community 

YTD: 30% (5 of 17 creators hired self-identify as plus-size) 

• 20 photos of plus-size travellers will be shared on social media each year 

YTD: 17 

• 10% (at least) of commissioned blog stories must be voiced by plus-size travellers 

YTD: 26% (6 of 23 stories) 

• 5 blog stories published each year about plus-size travel 

YTD: 2 

Create allyship and improve representation of the LGBTQIA+ community 

• 10% (at least) of content creators hired (including talent, influencers, bloggers, production team) by Intrepid must be from the LGBTQIA+ travel community 

YTD: 6% (1 of 17 creators hired self-identify as LGBTQIA+) 

• 10% (at least) of commissioned blog stories must be voiced by LGBTQIA+ travellers 

YTD: 0% (0 of 23 stories) 

• 5 blog stories published each year about the LGBTQIA+ travel experience 

YTD: 0 

Create allyship and improve representation of the Indigenous community 

• 10% of content creators hired (including talent, influencers, bloggers, production team) by Intrepid will be Indigenous creators 

YTD: 6% (1 of 17 creators hired self-identify as Indigenous creators) 

• 10 social media posts each year that amplify stories of Indigenous communities 

YTD: 8 

• 5 blog stories published each year amplifying Indigenous communities 

YTD: 2 

Commitment 2: Openness & transparency 

• 2 public impact updates (published on our blog and social) that transparently look at our DEI and climate actions  

This is the first, the second will be published in early 2025.  

• 1 climate progress update (published mid-year) that transparently looks at our goal to reduce global emissions in line with a 1.5°C future by 2030.  

Our next update is due to be published later this month. 

• 1 integrated report (published annually) to provide full transparency on our business (including the ethical marketing guideline commitments)  

Read our 2023 Integrated Annual Report. 

Commitment 3: Reject neocolonialism 

• Zero use of the word “colonial” as a positive adjective and descriptor in blog stories 

YTD: 0 

• Zero use of the word “colonial” as a positive adjective and descriptor on social media 

YTD: 0  

• 20% of first-person social media stories are told through the community or host lens 

YTD: 3% (8 stories told through the community or host lens) 

Commitment 4: Sense of belonging 

This commitment is about creating a safe and inclusive online community. We’ve published our global community guidelines.

Commitment 5: Ethical Digital Marketing 

• 100% compliance with Google’s webmaster guidelines through an annual audit 

YTD: 100% 

• 100% regional data usage and privacy compliance, specifically in our key source markets, including GDPR in Europe, CCPA in the United States, CASL in Canada and APP in Australia 

YTD: 100% 

• 48-hour response time (or less) for any customer query regarding data or security 

YTD: 100%  

Learn more about our Ethical Marketing Guidelines.