Intrepid's latest annual report

MARCH 2023

The tour operator’s latest annual report details its financial, environmental, and social performance in 2022... and its rapid turnaround to positive cashflow. 

Intrepid Travel, the world’s largest travel B Corp, has released its sixth integrated annual report. The report, which offers a fully transparent look into the company's financial, environmental, and social performance. It is completely voluntary and published as a marker of trust and credibility for their customers, partners, and the entire global travel industry.  

The 76-page 2022 Integrated Annual Report outlines how Intrepid has performed across all parts of its business in the past year. It includes noteworthy accomplishments such as returning to strong operating cash inflow of $34.2 million (versus a $31 million outflow in 2021); reopening operations in 86 countries and rebuilding its global workforce through recruiting more than 500 new roles. Intrepid’s report shows that the business has significantly reduced its operational loss (to $25.9 million in 2022, from $60.7 million in 2021), and that it will return to profitability in 2023. This reflects the resilience of Intrepid’s business model; the rapid recovery in the global travel industry; and growing global demand for sustainable and experiential travel.  

The report also openly shares some of the challenges from the year, including the skills shortages in global travel and tourism; and the 2022 financial loss that was incurred in the first half of the year during the global Omicron outbreak. Intrepid went on to generate a profit in the second half of the year and the business now has a goal to achieve an EBITDA of above pre-pandemic levels in 2023. 

From an environmental perspective, Intrepid’s report includes new and expanded carbon reporting, which now includes emissions generated from technology services, marketing and more. Intrepid produced 27,898 tCO₂e of greenhouse gas emissions (compared with 51,486 tCO₂e in 2019) and is encouraging other travel businesses to take greater accountability for their carbon emissions and to transparently report on their impact on the planet. 

“This report marks Intrepid’s transition from survival to revival mode. I’m incredibly proud that we’ve continued to invest in the business and as a result, have emerged as a thriving, transformed company,” said James Thornton, Intrepid Travel CEO.  

“There were so many highs last year, including experiencing our best booking days in our history during November and December 2022. This was almost inconceivable at the start of the year and it’s truly remarkable how our business recovered, through the support of our industry partners and customers,” Thornton added. 

As the world’s largest travel B Corp, Intrepid is committed to the highest standards of environmental and social performance, part of which includes the publication of its integrated annual report. Highlights outlined in the 2022 Integrated Annual Report include:  

• Achieving Intrepid’s best ever Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 75. The company now aims to improve again this year, aiming to achieve an NPS of 76. 

• Completed the majority acquisition of environmentally conscious walking and trekking company Wildland Trekking and Australian tour operator JOOB. Entered into a 50 per cent partnership with low-impact accommodation company CABN.  

• Chalked up a record sales day on 3 December with $6.1 million in bookings.  

• Plans to increase the number of staff shareholders from 52 employees in 2022 to approximately more than 500 staff members in Q2 of 2023. This will be achieved by the company opting to pay eligible staff 2022 bonuses via shares, in countries where this is possible.  

• Achieving its best-ever people engagement result with an employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) of 56.  

• Raised nearly $700,000 AUD via its not-for-profit The Intrepid Foundation, including $151,000 for emergency relief in Ukraine. The Intrepid Foundation has a goal to more than double its fundraising in 2023.  

Intrepid’s report has been released just weeks after the company was named one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies in 2023 for Corporate Social Responsibility by Fast Company.