Space travel a launchpad for establishing Intriq brand
In January 2024, Virgin Galactic completed its first spaceflight of the year and 11th mission to date. ‘Galactic 06’ flight marked the first time all four seats aboard VSS Unity were occupied by private astronauts.
At the time, Michael Colglazier, CEO of Virgin Galactic, said: “The success of ‘Galactic 06’ and the Company’s other commercial spaceflights in recent months only increases our confidence in the repeatability of our product and our ability to deliver a superlative experience to our customers. With the production of our next-generation Delta-class ships underway, we look forward to expanding our flight capacity with testing expected to start next year and commercial service in 2026.”
With a waiting list of customers, it is unclear when her Singapore customers, who have paid a deposit, will have their turn at the space flight. “But it’s something worth waiting for if you really want to go to space and experience three minutes of weightlessness,” said Yap.
Yap sees the association with space travel and the Virgin Galactic events as a way of establishing the Intriq brand. “We started from zero. We set up our company in January 2020, and three months later Covid came upon us. So we want to build up our brand as the go-to for custom holidays to exotic, off the beaten path destinations.”
Yap said that while starting a travel company three months before Covid shut borders may not be good timing, in some ways it was a blessing. “We were just starting out, it gave us time to do things properly and well. We relooked at the financials and were more financially prudent. We started with a team of 10 and did not let anyone go while other companies with full teams had to.
“There were moments when we doubted ourselves – it was a long dark period – but we ploughed on. We did what we could to stay afloat – virtual travel, staycations, kept customers informed.”
Specialisation and use of technology keep Intriq relevant in age of AI
Intriq’s customers are the “silver gems” – “baby boomers, 50s and above, who are retired or semi-retired, kids have left and they have time and money to explore”.
It’s a segment that’s growing in Singapore, Hong Kong and China, its three main markets, with an ageing population.
“This generation’s appetite is strong for exotic destinations such as Algeria, Ethiopia, Iran and Pakistan which we are redoing after an absence of 20 years. They’ve done the Maldives, Europe, Australia and New Zealand and want experiential travel and they are comfortable going with people who know what they are talking about and been there themselves.”
This specialization is what protects Intriq from what has been the increased digitization of travel, said Yap. “We are more travel advisors, we do everything from beginning to end, we plan bespoke and tailor made private journeys and there is a need for such a service. People think it’s easy to plan a trip, with technology, but it’s not that easy especially when it’s more complex itineraries and experiential travel.
“Technology is a natural progression of things. If you don’t embrace it, you will be left behind. It happened to a lot of traditional travel agents in Singapore.”
She is watching Generative AI closely. “We are in the midst of exploring how we can use it meaningfully in our business, how we can achieve efficiencies, remove the laborious processes. We are talking to some service providers on some aspects of tour planning. We are taking baby steps.”
One positive trend is the growth of the experiences sector seen in the growth of companies such as Klook. Said Yap, “Ultimately, our target audience is different. You can buy hotels and experiences off Klook, so you are still the ones doing it. With us, you just leave everything to us.
“Yes, you can argue, who doesn’t know how to plan a holiday these days especially with AI? We tried generating itineraries with AI but when we studied them in detail, we said, this isn’t possible, that isn’t possible, because we know the details and specifics which AI does not.
“So people who value their time will still want to deal and pay for a human travel advisor. Technology hasn’t replaced the human knowledge when it comes to complex and deeper itineraries, it may come one day.
“Within our team, we have 300 to 400 years of travel experience. Our business is so niche, it takes years to get to know the destination.”
Asked what were her biggest challenges, she said, “How to pass knowledge to the next generation – our youngest team member is 22 – and how to really keep up with tech and embrace it faster.”
by Yeoh Siew Hoon
