Intrepid Travel has announced changes to its North American leadership team; these moves include current Chief Customer Officer Leigh Barnes moving into the role of president of the Americas, and Christian Wolters being appointed to a newly created role of president of Canada.
Barnes has been with the company for over a decade and his current remit includes leading the company’s customer strategy to deliver revenue growth. He will move into his new role from January 2025 and be responsible for leading all aspects of the region, including operations, sales and marketing.
Barnes led Intrepid’s North American team during a record period of growth between 2015 and 2018 before being named the company’s first Chief Purpose Officer in 2019. In this role, he embedded impact further into Intrepid’s model and its approach of balancing purpose and profit.
“Intrepid’s brand has grown exponentially in North America—from our first tiny office in California over 20 years ago to our fastest growing region globally,” said CEO James Thornton. “Under this new structure, the Americas will play a key role in our ambitious growth strategy for 2030.”
The announcement marks other changes to the Americas management team.
Matt Berna, current president of Americas, will transition to become senior vice president, U.S. sales & operations and global B2B external sales. He will focus on the development of Intrepid’s domestic operations, including Intrepid-owned Wildland Trekking, U.S. B2B sales and global business development for Intrepid’s DMC network. Berna has been pivotal in Intrepid’s growth, including developing the company’s North American strategy. He remains president of the Americas until January 2025.
Meanwhile, Christian Wolters returns to Intrepid in the newly established role as president of Canada and general manager, North America marketing, effective July 1, 2024. Wolters is an established leader, most recently as chief marketing officer at TourRadar where he also led the North America team for the past nine years. Notably, Wolters was a founding team member of Intrepid in Canada from 2008 to 2015 culminating as general manager and VP of sales.
The move marks a new opportunity for Tom Smith who will be taking over the role of general manager, Central America & Mexico. Smith will report to managing director of Latin America Gary Cohen, a member of Americas leadership team, alongside Berna and Wolters, and other key functional leaders, who will all report to new Americas President Leigh Barnes effective January 1, 2025.
For more information, visit www.intrepidtravel.com.
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