The Intrepid team (l-r):
Christian Wolters, Marketing Manager;
Jason Kucherawy, Owner/Guide, Urban Adventures Toronto;
Steven Ziegler, Adventure Specialist, Intrepid Travel
The gang enjoying some beers at Mill St. Brew Pub
(l-r): Travel writers Maureen Littlejohn, Cathy Stapells and Lucy Izon
The travel industry has witnessed countless city tour operators come and go for a variety of reasons, but the likeliest of causes perhaps is the difficulty in gaining market share and the ability to deliver an engaging product. In view of this, Urban Adventures and Intrepid Travel have teamed up to take a crack at the historically unstable city tour market.
Thus far their city tour project has experienced significant growth, with 78 destinations and 160 different itineraries signed on in just eight months. In addition, another 40 itineraries and 22 destinations are expected to come online by the end of August.
"The strong sales from the travel industry is one of the reasons we are finding it easy to attract new operators. Our operators are already seeing the benefit of being part of a global network that provides global distribution channels," said Mark Robson, Urban Adventures’ G.M.
With all the growing interest in these tours I was fortunate to be able to experience one of them for myself. Last Monday in Toronto, Urban Adventures and Intrepid treated a few staff and travel writers to their “Beer Makes History Better” Urban Adventure in Toronto’s Market District.
The tour featured visits to a number of sites that helped tell the story of Toronto’s development into one of North America’s largest and most vital cities. Stops along the tour included some local pubs where we were schooled on Canadian beer history and the recent rise in popularity of the local micro brewing scene. The tour ended fittingly in the Distillery District, a unique area of Toronto that has successfully preserved some of the city’s industrial history.
I’ve lived in Toronto virtually all my life and I learned a ton of unique facts about my home city. The Urban Adventure Tours are based on helping visitors discover the historical and cultural aspects of a city that helped shape its development and current way of life. For the traveller who is looking to go beyond the same old sights and popular photo opportunities in some of the world’s most interesting cities, Intrepid’s Urban Adventures are more than worthy of consideration.
