Skift Power Rankings: James Thornton

James Thornton’s father instilled a sense of wonder in him from a young age. His father was a manufacturing engineer for different car companies, came home once every three to four months with stories about the different cultures and people he had met.

“From a young age, I could recite obscure capitals,” Thornton says. After a quick stint in private client asset management, he realized that wasn’t the world for him. “I didn’t want to spend the next 40 years of my life making rich people richer,” he said. He found a sales role at a small Australian adventure travel company. “Now more than 19 years later, I’ve never once regretted that move.” 

That small company was Intrepid Travel, a global tour operator specializing in sustainable, small-group adventure travel experiences. Since that first job in 2005, Thornton, now 42, has made his way up the ladder. In 2017, he became CEO. Intrepid Travel now serves around 300,000 customers annually. 

Intrepid under Thornton has become a leader in the world of responsible travel, championing community projects and expeditions designed specifically for women. 

He has led the company to achieving B-Corp certification, which verifies that the company is committed to high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability. Intrepid became the largest company in the travel industry to achieve this certification.

Thornton also helped it to become the first global tour operator to commit to Science-Based Targets for carbon reduction. Thornton also removed 4,000 internal flights from Intrepid’s itineraries and replaced them with local transport options.

“We try and get under the skin of a destination,” he said. “And so the very nature of who we are is to have as limited an impact as we possibly can on the environment, and the most positive impact we can on the communities.”

More recently, he expanded the company’s remit to include a select number of eco-lodges and other accommodations. “We want these accommodations to be locally relevant,” he said. Under Thornton’s leadership, the company also launched a series of unique experiences like women-only expeditions. 

Looking ahead, he’s trying to figure out the best way to handle the rise of AI and ChatGPT. “Intrepid is all about having immersive experiences on the trip and in the destination. It’s about meeting local people,” he said. “We want people to put away their phones and help them to combat the loneliness pandemic. That’s really where we focus our time and attention.”

James Thornton at Skift Global Forum