Darshika Jones Running The North American Show For Intrepid

Darshika Jones is sipping a latte in a downtown Toronto coffee shop and talking about her first four months with Intrepid Group.

"It's kind of surreal," she says. "I always worked hard when I was in finance and I'd take a break by hopping on an Intrepid trip somewhere in the world, and now here I am."

Jones is from Melbourne, where Intrepid Travel was created by a pair of young Australians thirty years ago this year. She worked at a number of firms in the early part of her career, including Deloitte Australia, Hewlett Packard and Canada-based Agrium. She left Agrium early in 2016 to take the role as general finance director with Intrepid, a company she had used for personal trips to Nepal, Russia, Turkey, Brazil and many other countries.

"When I got the job with Intrepid my friends all teased me. They were like 'How did you manage this?'"

"I think they liked that I was a customer," Jones told TravelPulse Canada. "I'd tried other travel companies in the past but Intrepid was the only one I used more than once."

Jones was on the finance side of the company in Australia, but was given the job of Regional Director - North America five months ago and is now making the adjustment to her new Toronto digs.

"This will be my first new winter, so I'm excited about the cold," she said, and when was the last time you heard anyone say that?

Jones also said she's blown away by how close Toronto is to so many places. Unlike Australia, where getting almost anywhere involves several hours by plane and where a journey to Europe is a full-day affair, she now finds London is just seven hours away and New York City a mere 55 minutes.

"I can't get my head around that," she said with a laugh. "It's insane."

Jones said North America is the fastest-growing region for the Intrepid Group, which includes Intrepid Travel, Peregrine, Adventure Tours, The Intrepid Foundation and Intrepid Urban Adventures, and is billed as the world's largest travel company.

"We're doing what we've always done really well, which is sustainable experiences in travel. But we've taken more of a focus on this region. We've invested more in PR and getting our message out there."

Jones said the North American product also has been tweaked, with far more eight to ten-day trips versus a full two weeks.

North Africa and the Middle East are particularly popular with North Americans right now, she said.

"People are looking for something exotic, as well as a place that's accessible and safe."

(My interview with Jones took place a couple weeks before the latest trouble in Egypt, where a bomb near the Giza pyramids killed four people.)

Jones said Morocco bookings are "off the charts."

"You can have these amazing cultural experiences in Morocco and still feel that you've gotten away. One of my early Intrepid trips was there. We had a couple days in the Atlas Mountains. There are traditional hammams. I still have the painting I bought there hanging in my bedroom."

Jones said Intrepid is constantly tweaking its product.

"Every trip is reviewed every year," she said. "Some trips get removed entirely; other ones we might tweak by changing a hotel or something else."

Jones said Intrepid has almost outgrown its Toronto space and is looking to make renovations. They're also adding more employees to their hub in New York City.

They also are pushing their message out with stronger public relations efforts in Canada and the United States. The company last December started offering trips to Antarctica, which means they now reach seven continents.

Changes are being made, but Jones said one thing that will never be altered is the company's founding ethos.

"Purpose-based travel is important; sustainability; giving back to communities. For me personally that was important, and I could see how Intrepid did that through the trips I took. They were small groups, and we had immersive, real cultural experiences."

"We're doing what we've always done really well, which is that sustainable experience in travel."

Jones said her company runs 85 per cent of their own trips, which she said is "much higher" than most travel companies.

One area that's working quite well for Intrepid is vegan-themed trips, mostly to India, Thailand and Italy.

"Those have sold out," she said. "Veganism isn't just a fad; it's a big demographic in its own right."

Women-only expeditions also are very popular.

"We've done a number of these in the Middle East, in Morocco, Jordan and Iran. With some of these destinations it's a very different experience if you travel with other women. For example, in Iran you might go into a beauty parlour" where men would not be allowed.

"I was in Iran last year on an Intrepid trip for 16 days. It's an amazing destination."

Jones said the Intrepid Group is the world's largest travel company with a B-Corp certification for its environmental and community work.

According to the B Corporation website, certified B-Corp companies are "businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. B Corps are accelerating a global culture shift to redefine success in business and build a more inclusive and sustainable economy."

"We worked very hard for that," Jones said. "We were audited, and it took us three years to get it. So we're marketing that more."

Jones said being environmentally and socially responsible "goes far beyond banning plastic straws."

She noted that Intrepid helped Nepal rebuild after the earthquake that hit the country a few years ago. They also work with the World Wildlife Fund on various projects. In 2014 they stopped elephant riding programs.

"We were the first company to do that. And we did it when we couldn't afford it. Elephants were one of the key attractions in Southeast Asia, which was our biggest market at the time. But we did it because it the right thing to do for the animals."

Jones noted that a global sustainable travel report last fall from booking.com found that 87 per cent of Canadians want to travel sustainably. Another global study last year found that 66 per cent of people worldwide are willing to pay more for products and services that come from companies that are committed to positive social and environmental impact. That's up substantially from the 55 per cent of folks who said that in 2014.

"I actually think the market is shifting towards what we do," Jones said of Intrepid, which has more than 2,000 employees in 26 countries around the world. "We're doing what we've always done, but I think more people are looking for that immersive, experience-rich travel. And sustainability.

"People are putting their money behind what they're saying, and I think that's really exciting. It's not just about price. They're willing to pay a little more if that's what it means. And we're in a great spot because we come in at such a good price point, especially for millennials. It's easy to get a trip that's responsible and that's economical and that's very cool and very experience rich, where you're camping with nomads or what have you."

"I think there's definitely been good management on our part, but I also think the world is shifting towards what we do."

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