Intrepid Travel continues their commitment to community development around the world as the adventure travel company confirms a new partnership with Australia’s Olkola people, who just last week welcomed the return of their traditional land.
The partnership will support tourism in Australia’s newest protected area – the 269,830 hectare Aboriginal owned Olkola National Park, located in Cape York in Australia’s Far North East.
The newly created Olkola National Park will protect ancient cultural sites including newly discovered rock art, extensive wetlands and river systems rich in aquatic life, vast tracts of open savannah and rainforest pockets.
“As a global tour operator on all seven continents we recognise the importance of supporting local communities in the destinations we visit,” says Christian Wolters, Deputy General Manager of Intrepid Travel in North America. “We’re thrilled to congratulate the Olkola people on the historic return of some of their ancestral homelands and Intrepid Travel fully supports Olkola plans for sustainable tourism in the area.”
Intrepid Travel will be working in partnership with Olkola Aboriginal Corporation to develop tourism on country.
“Intrepid’s founders acknowledged the importance of distribution in our industry. We look forward to working with Olkola and supporting the sustainable future of the land and people.” adds Wolters.
Amanda Hogbin, CEO Olkola Aboriginal Corporation, says: “The Olkola people want to develop sustainable livelihoods on country. We’re in a remote area of Cape York, and so we recognise that we need to be smart about it. That means working with an established business while we develop our expertise and our business. We chose to work in partnership with Intrepid Travel because of the company’s investment in responsible tourism, and we’ll be looking to work with companies with similar values in the future.”