Intrepid Travel, the world’s largest adventure travel company and a leader in responsible tourism, has hosted its first ever media famil in Cambodia with the goal of attracting more travellers to the country.

The seven day trip which took place last month consisted of five days in Siem Reap and an overnight stay in the riverside town of Battambang. Highlights included a sunrise visit to the Angkor Complex, a local boat tour discovering the floating villages of Tonle Sap Lake, a cycling tour through the villages of Battambang’s countryside and various food experiences uncovering Cambodia’s unique food culture. 

Famil is a term used to describe a promotional trip offered by travel wholesalers or airlines to promote new destinations and services.

The group also visited Intrepid’s Foundation partner Cambodia Rural Student Trust for a first hand look at their work in breaking the poverty cycle through educating and empowering the new generation in Cambodia . 

The famil group consisted of eight journalists from top tier Australian and New Zealand media outlets with the aim of generating media coverage to drive more travellers to explore Cambodia. 

Aye Mya Mya Soe, Intrepid Travel’s General Manager of Cambodia, says, “We were thrilled to host our very first media trip in Cambodia and showcase our country’s rich culture and unique experiences. Intrepid has an ambitious goal to double the number of travellers visiting Cambodia and we hope the stories generated from this tour will inspire readers to visit our beautiful country.”

Intrepid currently employs 20 staff and 30 local tour leaders in Cambodia and anticipates it will operate 700 group trips in 2024, bringing nearly 10,000 travellers to explore Cambodia in a conscious manner.

This media trip follows Intrepid’s World Tour visit by co-founder and Chairman Darrell Wade. To demonstrate their commitment to their global teams, Intrepid’s most senior leaders travelled to all 27 country offices this year to meet with teams and stakeholders and introduce the company’s 2030 Strategy.

Intrepid’s 2030 Strategy includes the ambition to double its global customers to 600,000 (320,000 in 2023), achieve revenues of $1.3bn (AUD 621M in 2023) and contribute 1 per cent of revenue to Purpose initiatives by 2030. It plans to deepen its vertical integration to expand into areas including accommodation and grow its presence in key countries including Cambodia.