Darrell Wade
Australia-based tour operator Intrepid Travel was part of a task force to assess the damages in Nepal following the April and May earthquakes, which recently found that Nepal is safe for travel. Intrepid has also made strides in raising awareness about animals rights issues by, for instance, banning the riding of elephants on all its tours. Travel Weekly's Michelle Baran spoke with Intrepid CEO Darrell Wade about progress in Nepal and what the killing of a protected lion in Zimbabwe means for animal conservation efforts in Africa.
Q: Do you think the government-backed report greenlighting travel to Nepal will work to jumpstart bookings?
A: Our big message to the public is, No. 1, it's safe, and No. 2, if you want to actually help the people of Nepal, travel there. Just by going to Nepal, you employ people ... and that's helping to get Nepal back on its feet.
Q: How much business was lost due to the earthquakes?
A: In terms of cash into the country, in the very short term it wasn't that significant because [the earthquakes hit] right at the end of the [busy] season. The big issue is how many people go next season, and bookings from the earthquakes up until about two or three weeks ago were really tiny; like they've been down about 80%. It has certainly recovered a bit since then, but it's still well down from where it should be.
Q: Why is Nepal such an emotional touch point for travel companies when it actually represents a relatively small slice of business?
A: It's extraordinary, isn't it? I've been really shocked on this issue myself. We operate in about 100 countries and ... we've never had the outpouring of emotion like we've had this time. We started an appeal to raise funds for Nepal ... We literally had 4,500 individuals donate to our appeal. And I think it's just, it is quite an iconic destination. And people go there for the mountains, obviously. But generally people who travel there are genuinely touched by the Nepalese people, and it does become a very emotional destination and an emotional journey.
Q: Switching gears to another emotional destination, the news media and social media have become consumed with the story of Cecil the lion being hunted as a trophy kill in Zimbabwe. As an operator in Africa, were you surprised?
A: I came across [trophy hunting] for the first time about four or five years ago, and my reaction was I actually questioned the person who was talking to me about it. I said, 'When you say shooting, you mean shoot with a camera, don't you?' And they said, 'No, shooting with a gun. They skin the animal and take it home.' And I just couldn't believe it. I was really shocked. But apparently, it's, I wouldn't say widespread, but it's not uncommon.
Q: What does the killing say about the larger wildlife conservation efforts in Africa?
A: Conservation is actually winning quite substantially. There's a far greater awareness of the risk of poaching. There's more money and resources being put into anti-poaching, because land owners and communities and governments and tour operators realize that there's a lot of natural interest to keep the animals alive. And whilst there are, dare I say, some idiots in the world, overall we're actually very encouraged about what's happening in Africa.