Intrepid turns 21, plans share float

The hope was to start a little business that gave them an excuse to keep travelling.

But for Darrell Wade, 49, and Geoff Manchester, 50, the little enterprise they called Intrepid Travel is now a multimillion dollar company.

They are aiming to float the company in a couple of years, by which time, they hope, the sharemarket is less volatile.

"We are setting up our company to do a float," Mr Manchester said.

Intrepid fills what is a growing niche for adventure travel.

Want to trek to gorillas in Uganda, or climb up Mt Everest? Intrepid may be able to help you out.

It undertook about 10,000 trips last year, and the number is growing fast.

In its 21st year, the company founders have high hopes for the share float, with nothing similar to it on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Last year it made a pre-tax profit of about A$10 million ($12 billion) and had a turnover of A$120 million.

Speaking with AAP from their office in Melbourne's inner-city suburb of Fitzroy, the company founders don't sound like they are tired of the work yet.

"Every now and then there is a 9/11, or a SARS or a terrorism attack or whatever," Mr Manchester said when asked about problems they faced.

"But that is the new business as usual," he added.

The pair met at university, where they were studying commerce, and after a stint in the private sector started Intrepid in 1989.

The company has spread out from its Asian focus in the past few years so that its tours are not concentrated in one region.

That lowers the risk of being exposed to a particular area in the event of a political or natural disaster that could unsettle travellers.

Intrepid now employs about 1,000 staff and has offices in 25 countries.

"If there is a trouble spot somewhere, we can be somewhere else and we can shift demand and moderate out the cash," Mr Wade said.

They say being an adventure travel operator has advantages, because clients aren't so picky if something minor goes wrong.

"They buy an adventure holiday, so they don't necessarily expect it to be as smooth as silk," he said.

- AAP