Raising Diverse Ownership to 26% and Women Tour Leaders to 38%: How Intrepid Harnesses Tourism for Inclusive Impact

In 2021, Intrepid launched a structured initiative to understand who benefits economically from its global operations by measuring the diversity of supplier ownership across 19 countries and linking this insight to its procurement spend. This first assessment established that 17% of its suppliers were women or ethnically diverse-owned, and that women represented 29% of its tour leaders, providing a clear baseline for future action. 

Building on this insight, Intrepid began integrating ownership and business structure data into its systems across more than 32 Intrepid operations worldwide. This allowed the company to track the local economic impact of its supply chain, including the percentage of suppliers that are locally owned, women-led or owned by Indigenous and ethnic minority groups.

In 2022, Intrepid translated the baseline into concrete impact targets. Country offices were challenged to increase the share of women in their tour leader pool to between 40% and 50%, depending on local context, while the business set a global ambition to increase diverse supplier ownership over time. 

To embed these goals, Intrepid updated its Responsible Purchasing Policy to guide employees to actively prioritise diverse and inclusive suppliers in procurement decisions. The company also created a dedicated Global Procurement function and a Responsible Supply Chain Manager role to standardise processes, drive innovation and ensure that diversity and inclusion targets are reflected in everyday purchasing

With clearer goals and policies in place, Intrepid launched a cross-functional supplier diversity programme. Purchasing, Product, Operations, People and Purpose teams worked hand-in-hand with local offices and destination managers to identify, engage and contract diverse suppliers on the ground. 

Internal buy-in was built by positioning the programme as a natural extension of Intrepid’s impact commitments and certification journey. Framing supplier diversity as a practical way to strengthen the company’s positive impact — through core business decisions such as product design and supplier selection — helped teams understand its relevance early, even before commercial results were visible. 

The company adapted its tech platforms so that supplier diversity attributes could be recorded against each supplier and integrated with finance data. A new reporting dashboard allowed teams to monitor spending with women-owned, ethnically diverse and Indigenous or First Nations suppliers and to assess the economic value generated by these relationships.

In parallel, Intrepid focused on closing the gender gap in tour leadership, aiming to use its core product — trips — as a vehicle for positive change in tourism. The company designed targeted initiatives to attract, train and retain more women as tour leaders, with a particular focus on markets where structural barriers are highest. 

One flagship approach has been Intrepid’s Women’s Expeditions range, launched in 2018 in destinations such as India, Nepal and Morocco. These trips are designed for women travellers, led by women tour leaders and centred on women-owned businesses and experiences, creating safe spaces, breaking down social barriers and providing direct income opportunities for local women. 

Intrepid has continued to invest in and innovate this range. In 2024, it launched a new Women’s Expedition in Saudi Arabia with a female-owned local operator, co-designing an itinerary that allows travellers to experience the country through the perspectives of local women — from home-hosted meals and locally run experiences to stays in women-owned boutique accommodation.

Intrepid adopted a localised approach to remove barriers for women tour leaders, tailoring actions to each market’s regulations and cultural context.

• Morocco: After Intrepid’s advocacy efforts, the Moroccan government opened the national tour guide exam to women in 2017. When the exam was held again in 2023, Intrepid launched an awareness campaign to encourage women to apply (earning coverage across national newspapers, women’s media, radio and podcasts). The Intrepid Morocco team also offered a free, intensive two day pre-exam training with mentorship for 24 women, including accommodation for those travelling from outside Marrakech. As a result, 10 women obtainedtheir tour guide licences.
• Nepal: With only 4% of trained tour guides, trekking guides and porters in Nepal being female (NATHM data), Intrepid prioritised female crew members through targeted recruitment and assignment practices, increasing women’s representation from just over 5% (2022) to 12% (2024).
• India: In a context where women’s labour force participation is 27%, Intrepid increased female tour leader representation to ~40% through targeted recruitment and by shaping trip operations and product delivery to create more accessible pathways for women tour leaders (e.g., aligning routes, schedules and on-the-ground support with local realities).
• Sri Lanka: In partnership with the Australian government’s Market Development Facility (MDF), Intrepid launched a programme in April 2024 to address the shortage of women tour leaders and women-owned experiences. To date, 18 women have been trained in tour guiding, and 38 women tourism business owners have received training to run sustainable tourism businesses.

Finally, Intrepid recognised that changing who benefits from tourism must go hand-in-hand with changing how travel is portrayed. The company introduced Ethical Marketing Guidelines that commit it to more inclusive and representative storytelling, both in front of and behind the camera. Intrepid now measures and reports on its progress through its Integrated Annual Report, including the share of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) creators and writers it works with and its investment in BIPOC-owned businesses and partnerships. This reinforces the company’s broader commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and helps shift narratives across the wider travel industry.