by Lacey Pfalz
Last updated: 12:10 AM ET, Thu January 27, 2022
In an effort to provide travelers with more sustainable, active adventures, Intrepid Travel has acquired Wildland Trekking, an environmentally conscious U.S.-based tour operator.
The acquisition will provide Intrepid with more domestic tours to offer to both domestic and international travelers. Intrepid was one of the tour operators that began pivoting during the pandemic to provide Americans with more domestic tour options, later expanding in 2021 to launch a North American operations hub after the tours' popularity.
Wildland Trekking was founded in 2005 by Steve Cundy, Scott Cundy and Brad Ball. Offering active backpacking trips and other innovative tours from the Rockies to the Appalachians, it has hosted more than 75,000 travelers and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for conservation efforts. It also is working towards carbon neutrality.
"Wildland Trekking has such an incredible history of operating exceptional and innovative trips, and we've been really impressed with their commitment to running tours that are also good for the planet," said James Thornton, CEO of Intrepid Travel. "This acquisition will play an integral part in Intrepid's journey to becoming a billion-dollar adventure travel company by further increasing our operational capabilities in the region, but more importantly, it signifies our commitment to growing and scaling our style of sustainable, experience-rich travel within the U.S."
The new acquisition will boost Intrepid's number of U.S. tours by over 400 percent; the tour operator currently offers 57 U.S. trips. Wildland Trekking's 200 employees will remain with the company.
"At Wildland Trekking, we prioritize sustainability, conservation, safety and professionalism, while striving to create life-changing experiences for every guest who travels with us," said Steve Cundy, Co-Founder and Partner at Wildland Trekking. "It was clear to us that Intrepid possesses all of these same values."
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