Sue Badyari, Chief Executive Officer, World Expeditions

Sue Badyari, is CEO of the World Expeditions Travel Group, operator of small group adventure tours all over the world. 

World Expeditions is Australia’s longest established adventure travel company and offers more than 500 stand-alone itineraries, escorted by expert leaders and meticulously designed for those travellers who want to take the ‘paths less travelled’.  

Under her leadership, the group has grown from a single brand company when she took up the helm in 1999 to a multi brand operator and distributor of travel products. She has been the driving force behind its many achievements, including:

  • Establishing Australia’s first Charity Challenge with the Fred Hollows Foundation
  • Acquiring Tasmanian Expeditions and the UK based Sherpa Expeditions and establishing the UTracks self-guided travel division
  • Conducting the negotiations and due diligence for purchasing Adventure South New Zealand (2010); Trail Journeys (2017) and the Blue Mountains Adventure Travel Company (2018)
  • Developing the World Expeditions’ domestic brand, Australian Walking Holidays and creating the award winning semi-permanent campsites on the Larapinta Trail
  • Becoming the first-ever commercial operator of the full Nepal 1700km traverse of the Great Himalaya Trail ( recognised worldwide as an outstanding operational achievement) and over-seeing the establishment a network of permanent campsites in the Everest and Annapurna regions
  • Developing the World Expeditions Community Project Travel program and establishing the World Expeditions Foundation, which became a pivotal fundraising portal in the wake of the devastating Nepal earthquakes in 2015.

In recognition of her pioneering work in adventure travel, Sue is a regular speaker at international tourism and travel events, including the IIPT World Symposium (Johannesburg, South Africa), NZ Adventure Travel Trade Association event (Auckland, NZ), Global Eco Tourism Conference Asia/Pacific (Sydney, Australia). 

Travel media regularly seek comment from Sue about issues pertaining to the adventure travel industry.

Sue travels extensively and believes that the most authentic travel experiences occur when travellers get off the beaten track. Her main priority is to develop tourism that goes hand in hand with the local community and protects the natural environment.

Responsible and sustainable travel is core to her philosophy and deeply imbedded in all aspects of the World Expeditions Travel Group’s activities.

Under Sue’s leadership, World Expeditions offers a flexible work environment to enable parents with children to continue to work and to progress with their careers.

Evidence of the long term retention, progression and satisfaction at World Expeditions can be seen by the proportion of employees who have reached 10+ years of service to the organisation.

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