Intrepid Indochina: Real Life Experiences

In 2005, Intrepid Indochina commenced operations, becoming the eighth tourism joint venture in Vietnam. The company, a joint venture between Vietnam’s Thien Minh Travel Co. Ltd and Australia’s Intrepid Group, marked a turning point in the development of the Vietnamese tourism market at a time when the entire Southeast Asian tourism market was being affected by the SARS epidemic. Intrepid provides Real Life Experiences in travel or adventure travel that has been developed with a vision and plans for this untapped potential tourism market.

Customers are the most important factor for the survival and development of a company. Customer satisfaction is a gauge of product and service quality that can determine the success or failure of a company. In the tourism industry, this factor is even more important because hardly any other industry has as long a continuous and direct contact with customers as the hospitability industry. Therefore, to be more successful, Intrepid Indochina has focussed on building better service quality administration to satisfy all customers.

 

Intrepid pledges to provide complete and perfect travel packages for customers, from information finding to tour completion.

 

Intrepid Indochina hopes to become a reliable and supportive companion of all customers. Apart from assisting customers with information finding, bookings, visas, accommodation, transport and activities, Intrepid also has professional, knowledgeable and experienced staffs with a high command of foreign languages to help travellers throughout the tour. Focusing on adventurous travel, Intrepid Indochina organises tours in small groups. This increases the value of local interactions and cultural experiences for participants.

 

Another element to win the customer’s hearts is the ease with which they can find the trip that is best for them. All trip expenses and styles are updated and explained. Customers always have sufficient financial and itinerary information before making a decision. This is a part of Intrepid Indochina’s philosophy.

 

To maintain service quality, Intrepid Indochina also pays attention to human resource development. In addition to the development strategy of the board of directors, the company always has the best service of professional staff. Mr. Tran Trong Kien, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Intrepid Indochina, said: “I always have perfect support from my staff. They are very young, dynamic, creative, flexible and adaptable to economic changes. They always know how to update and improve themselves through different periods.”

 

Thanks to sound orientation and strategy implementation, the number of customers grew from 3,000 people in 2005 to more than 17,000 people in 2008. At present, the customer network of Intrepid Indochina is being expanded and the company has established business ties with potential partners throughout the globe. Up to 98 per cent of customers say they are satisfied with travel with Intrepid Indochina, much higher than the average in Vietnam.

 

Quality administration not only enables Intrepid to satisfy customers’ needs but also speeds up the growth and success of Intrepid Indochina. In its first fiscal year from 2005 to 2006, Intrepid Indochina made total revenue of VND31 billion and pre-tax profit of VND4.4 billion. In 2006 – 2007, the company recorded VND79 billion in revenue, up 150 per cent year on the previous year, with VND7.3 billion in profit. In 2008, amid unfavourable economic situations in Vietnam, Intrepid Indochina is still maintaining this growth rate with revenues expected to double from the previous year. Apart from direct tax contributions to the State Budget, the company creates an indirect income source for society, which is measured to be three times greater than the direct amount.