Kathmandu, March 21: Darrell Wade, co-founder and chairman of the world famous travel agency Intrepid, has arrived in Kathmandu on Thursday afternoon for a three-day visit to Nepal.

Wade, as a world’s largest adventure travel company and a leader in responsible tourism has made a special visit to Nepal to highlight on Intrepid’s overall growth and expansion plans in Nepal in a responsible manner and its 2030 strategy.

Wade’s visit is part of a broader commitment to the company’s global teams, which will see Intrepid co-founders and CEO, who are based in Australia, travelling to every one of the company’s 27 country offices this year to meet with Intrepid teams and stakeholders with the aim to introduce the company’s 2030 Strategy. 

Intrepid currently employs 19 staff, 38 local trip leaders and operates 15 trips in Nepal. In 2023, it supported approx. 3000 travellers to explore the country in a conscious manner.

Beyond Nepal, Intrepid’s 2030 Strategy includes a global ambition by 2030 to double its global customers to 600,000 (320,000 in 2023), achieve revenues of $1.3bn ($621m in 2023) and contribute 1% of revenue to Purpose initiatives.  It plans to deepen its vertical integration to expand into areas including accommodation and grow its presence in key countries, including Nepal. 

Another way that Intrepid supports local communities is via its not-for-profit, The Intrepid Foundation. This has raised more than $15.5M for communities around the world since 2002. In Nepal, the Intrepid Foundation works with Sagarmatha Next that has taken on the mission to support and assist the local communities and specifically the local NGO organization, SPCC for them to create and implement a sustainable waste handling system in the region. This includes the removal of waste and transported out of the region to facilities where proper recycling can be done. 

The solution to the current solid waste issues that Sagarmatha Next has identified consist of three main changes of the current methods used, which are: collection in waste bins and commercial establishments – deposit in landfills – burning and cover up and instead create a system with: waste sorting at sources (requirement for Commercial establishments) – further separation and volume reduction of waste at MRF (Material Recovery Facilities) – packaging of sorted & processed waste in transportation bags (1kg bags called Carry me Back filled with shredded plastics and compressed metal cans/aluminum & tin) – transport to Kathmandu and distributed to recycling facilities.

All these measures had been started as of April 2023 and so far more than 10 tons of waste materials has been recovered, processed and transported out of the region and taken to recycling facilities.

“We are delighted to welcome Darrell Wade back to Nepal and his visit is a demonstration of Intrepid Travel’s commitment to bringing more economic stimulus to Nepal by way of supporting a flourishing tourism economy and the creation of viable career opportunities for the local community,” said Ashish Verma, Intrepid’s General Manager in Nepal.

Intrepid believes by growing its business, it can achieve more positive outcomes for local communities from tourism. As a certified B Corp, with the highest standard of social and environmental performance, this is a key priority for the business.

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