Intrepid Travel Chairman and Co-Founder makes special visit to Lanka to share future responsible tourism growth plans

Chairman and Co-Founder of Intrepid Travel, Darrell Wade has made a special visit to Sri Lanka to highlight the need for sustainable growth and the importance of Sri Lanka to Intrepid’s 2030 strategy.

On 25th March evening, Intrepid Colombo hosted an evening fellowship to discuss Intrepid’s 2030 strategy and commitment to Sri Lanka. Esteemed guests, such as Priantha Fernando Chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, representatives from the Australian High Commission in Sri Lanka, senior officials from Sri Lanka’s tourism, industry partners, development agencies, and members of the media were in attendance along with Wade.

Sri Lanka currently employs over 240 staff and 30 local trip leaders, being of one of the largest offices for Intrepid. Intrepid operates 11 trips across the country. In 2023, it supported 1,200 travellers to explore Sri Lanka in a conscious manner. However, in 2024, Sri Lanka is growing at a rate of over 375 percent and is expected to carry over 4,500 customers. This figure surpasses the DMC’s best year back in pre-covid 2019 (3,500 customers) and the operation has ambitious plans to bring over 15,000 customers to Sri Lanka by 2030.

Darrell’s visit serves as a reaffirmation of Intrepid’s commitment to Sri Lanka within its 2030 strategy. “Our commitment entails further strengthening the capabilities of the Colombo Centre of Excellence. We will achieve this by fostering greater economic growth in Sri Lanka, supporting a vibrant tourism industry and engaging in local community philanthropy,” said Poornaka Delpachitra, Country General Manager, Sri Lanka.

In Sri Lanka, the Intrepid Foundation has been working with Zero Plastic Movement for the past two years to create a behavioural change among citizens and institutions to reduce plastic waste while building a demand for plastic alternatives. “Our support of Zero Plastic Movement is indicative of our commitment to ensuring the growth of responsible travel in Sri Lanka, and the world at large” shared Delpachitra.