Intrepid Colombo, a fully owned subsidiary Intrepid Travel, the largest adventure travel company in the world, recently celebrated 10 years of operations in Sri Lanka, during which time the business has grown its team by 3,300 per cent, or an average of 330 per cent per year, and established itself as a significant employer.
The company’s formal celebrations included a glittering event held at Waters Edge, Colombo on Friday 21st October 2022.
Intrepid Travel is a global tour operator, providing sustainable experience-rich travel on all seven continents. The business was established in Melbourne, Australia in 1989 and has experienced global growth over the past 33 years.
The Colombo office was originally established in October 2012 as a provider of IT development services to the Intrepid Group with a team of just 5 members. Today this has evolved as a center of excellence for services within the company with a growing 170-plus team, providing financial, customer, and HR services as well as support services for back-office travel related processes for Intrepid’s global offices, in addition to also being a Destination Management Company (DMC) to operate trips for Intrepid and other leading travel brands.
Intrepid Travel is a purpose-led brand, which means it strives to make a positive impact in and beyond its business. In line with this, during the week of the celebration, Intrepid Colombo initiated and organized a blood donation campaign and saw many of its colleagues coming together for this timely cause.
Amidst the numerous challenges here at home and the recent unprecedented global pandemic disrupting and bringing the travel industry to a standstill, Intrepid Colombo has exhibited a tremendous amount of resilience, and continues to grow in leaps and bounds driven by its mission to create positive change through the joy of travel, with various career opportunities opening up especially in its Technology & Customer service divisions.
“We’ve reached this decade milestone, and we celebrate this with all our amazing and talented colleagues whose commitment is a testament to where we are today. We are only growing stronger,” said Anu Karunatilaka, Intrepid’s Managing Director, Asia.
Intrepid Colombo has built a strong workplace culture over the decade, which deeply embeds an inclusive approach where hard work and fun is supported. This is reflected in the company achieving the Great Place to Work Certification™ during May this year.
Employees can opt-in for flexible work schedules including a ‘four-week work-from-anywhere’ option, one free tour per year – plus five additional days leave to self-experience trips and explore the world. Team members also receive generous travel discounts for friends and family, salaries pegged to the Australian dollar and two weeks paid parental leave for new parents among others. Employees can also access their Employee Assistance Program and various project or cause related volunteering activities.
Very recently, Intrepid Colombo also made it to the list of top 15 Best Workplaces for Women. The Women’s Expedition with Intrepid initiative has garnered high interest and involvement among colleagues, with the view of recognizing and championing their roles from the leadership to the front line, to empower, enlighten and energize.
Sustainability is a core part of Intrepid Travel’s approach and its team consistently strive to create more sustainable trips. Intrepid’s Sri Lanka DMC team recently initiated the first ever fully escorted EV trip run in the country, as well as for Intrepid, This follows moves to use EVs for airport transfers since early July. Intrepid Colombo also held ‘New Climate Learning’ guided by the Purpose Team, a project designed to engage all its colleagues from around the world on the impacts of climate change, informing how Intrepid is responding to these crises, and inspire colleagues to act.
Intrepid is a certified Benefit Corporation (B Corp), independently verified to have the highest environmental, social and governance standards, balancing profit with purpose.