TMG – Intrepid Travel’s global adventure boss, Darrell Wade, was warmly welcomed by his partners and the local press at the Vietnam National Museum of Fine Arts when the Intrepid Travel’s co-founder arrived in Hanoi on his world tour trip.
Darrell Wade, the Chair and Co-Founder of Intrepid Travel, the world’s largest adventure travel company with a commitment to responsible tourism, attended a meet and greet event with his partners and local press during the Tourism, Café, and Arts event at the Vietnam National Fine Arts Museum in Hanoi on March 12th. Wade is having his around-the-world tour, visiting 27 subsidiaries, aka 27 DMC companies, to introduce the travel group’s new 2030 strategy.
During a sharing session with Mr. Ho An Phong, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism of Vietnam, Australian Ambassador to Vietnam Mr. Andrew Goledzinowski, Chairman and CEO of Thien Minh Group (TMG) Mr. Tran Trong Kien, and guests and the press, Mr. Darrell Wade praised Vietnam as one of the most popular destinations for international tourists and said that Vietnam’s scenery is more than enough to draw tourists out of the virtual world to have real and impressive experiences. “Seize the opportunity,” Mr. Darrell stressed.
Intrepid Travel is a world leader in sustainable, experience-rich travel that has been taking travelers to discover the world’s most amazing places for more than 30 years. The company offers more than 1,150 trips every year, and every trip is designed to truly experience local culture. Globally renowned as a leader in responsible travel, in 2018, the carbon-neutral business became the world’s largest travel company to be certified B-Corp. B-Corp. certification signifies that a business meets rigorous standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency regarding social and environmental impact.
Accordingly, beyond Vietnam, the 2030 Strategy involves a global ambition to double its global customers to 600,000 (320,000 in 2023), achieve revenues of AUD 1.3 billion (AUD 621 million in 2023), and contribute 1% of revenue to Purpose initiatives. Intrepid plans to deepen its vertical integration to expand into areas including accommodation and grow its presence in key countries, including Vietnam.
Intrepid Vietnam, a member of the Intrepid Travel Group, was established in 2005 as a joint venture between the Intrepid Travel Group and Thien Minh Group (TMG). In 2023, after 19 years of development in the direction of responsible and sustainable tourism in Vietnam, Intrepid Vietnam successfully exceeded its revenue target with more than 16 million Australian dollars and is expected to reach AUD 17.4 million in revenue in 2024, serving nearly 22,000 customers from all over the world on nearly 3,000 special cross-country tours. The company currently contributes nearly 2.6% of the total international visitors to the domestic tourism industry, ranked by the European, American, and Australian markets.
“Darrell’s visit is a demonstration of Intrepid Travel’s commitment to bringing more economic stimulus to Vietnam by way of supporting a flourishing tourism economy, local community philanthropy, and the creation of viable career opportunities for the local community,” said Hanh Nguyen, General Manager, Vietnam.
Evaluating Mr. Darrell Wade’s visit to Vietnam at an extremely meaningful time when Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh had previously paid an official visit to Australia in the context of Vietnam just celebrating 50 years of relations with Australia, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism Ho An Phong and Australian Ambassador to Vietnam Andrew Goledzinowski both expressed their commitment to always supporting and promoting the development of Vietnam-Australia tourism cooperation to match the potential of the two sides.
“Compared to large corporations in the world, Intrepid and TMG are small, but the existence of companies like TMG and Intrepid is extremely important. It celebrates the sustainability and prosperity of the entire community and inspires thousands of other businesses that are diligently serving customers every day,” CEO Tran Trong Kien shared at the event.
Tourism for Community
One way that Intrepid supports local communities is through its not-for-profit, the Intrepid Foundation. This has raised more than $15.5 million for communities around the world since 2002.
In Vietnam, the Intrepid Foundation works with the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation, providing exceptional care to Vietnamese children and families in crisis while creating long-term change for a better world. It collaborates with WILDACT to empower Vietnamese communities to engage in science-based conservation of threatened species and ecosystems.
And it also partners with VUN ART to empower people with disabilities by providing job training and employment opportunities, including the successful $30,000 grant from the Foundation in 2023 to start up the bubble milk tea store in Ha Dong District.
In the same year, the Intrepid Foundation organized the first off-line marathon walk in Hanoi, Melbourne, Singapore, and London and raised over $370,000 for the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation, which is 148% above its target. That has contributed to continuing to rescue more than 1,388 victims (mainly children) of trafficking.
At the event, guests, including Wade, were treated to a traditional Hat Xam performance, a truly unique experience that is included in Intrepid’s Premium Package when travelers choose to explore Vietnam with the company. Hat Xam is an artform of Northern Vietnam dating back to the Tran Dynasty. Originally, this was performed by blind performers and was enjoyed by local working-class audiences. Today, this style of performance occurs rarely. The performer is a descendant of Ms. Ha Thi Cau, an icon of this folk art form.
“This is a premium Intrepid tour experience, and our guests love it. So it was perfectly reasonable to include Hat Xam in the program today for the Intrepid Travel leadership visit to Vietnam. We also asked the artist to choose cheerful and lively tunes to suit the atmosphere of the program,” Mr. Hanh shared more about how the company is working to preserve a part of Vietnam’s intangible cultural heritage.
| For more information about Intrepid Vietnam, a member of Thien Minh Group (TMG), please contact:
Hotline: +61 3 9473 2673 Website: www.intrepidtravel.com/en/vietnam |
Established in 1994, TMG has grown from a company with just three employees to an enterprise with more than 2,500 employees worldwide. Thien Minh is now Asia’s leading package travel provider, founded on the mission of always putting our clients front and center. With five business pillars: Destination Management, Hospitality, Online, Aviation, and Transportation – TMG is the ideal host for distinctive journeys featuring truly memorable travel experiences.
