Intrepid Travel believes a key to growth can be found in custom travel. The Australia-based tour operator, which is focused on growing its U.S. audience, recently hired Richard Wise of Audley Travel as general manager of tailor-made.
Richard Wise
His appointment signals Intrepid’s seriousness about developing a more robust program for guests interested in the benefits of traveling with a guided tour operator but on a custom itinerary.
The market for custom tours appears to be growing, particularly in the U.S., which has prompted custom-tour operators like Audley to expand their presence there. Intrepid, too.
“There is a huge opportunity for us … particularly in North America, where people are typically more time-poor and can’t commit to fixed dates,” Wise said.
Wise spent the past two years in Boston working for Audley as its head of global travel. While there, he said, he noticed that Americans crave a jam-packed, action-oriented itinerary — something he said Intrepid is positioned to deliver.
Currently, about 10% of Intrepid’s revenue comes from tailor-made travel, but the company hopes that will grow. CEO James Thornton said that segment of the travel industry is “ripe for disruption.”
The focus on tailor-made comes as Intrepid enhances its portfolio with lodging acquisitions, launches shorter trips to accommodate time-strapped travelers and develops a daytrip collection to introduce more people to the brand.
For every 100 people who visit Intrepid’s website, only about three book a trip, Thornton said. He believes the key to stronger conversion lies in custom itineraries, which will enable potential travelers to develop trips that suit their schedules and interests.
“That’s what has given us the confidence to want to bring in this tailor-made role so that we can actually facilitate that,” he said.
Perillo’s bespoke trips
Not many group tour operators have moved into the custom travel space.
One that has done so successfully is Italy specialist Perillo Tours, which began offering custom travel in 2008. Now, the operator does “quite a bit” of bespoke travel to Italy and Greece, representing about a quarter of its business in those destinations, said president and owner Steve Perillo.
The move was a throwback, he said: Perillo started in 1945 with custom, independent travel before pivoting to group tours.
Independent travelers tend to spend more per day than group travelers, making those itineraries more lucrative, Perillo said.
But while he welcomes the success of custom travel — it was his idea to relaunch it almost two decades ago — Perillo still believes group tours reign supreme; they offer a better deal for clients, and for travel advisors it’s easier to sell a preset tour than help clients piecemeal together an itinerary.
Still, he said, customized private tours open up all of Italy to travelers.
“You can go to any little town, your relatives’ little town,” he said. “So it’s just something that a big group tour can’t do.”
