Intrepid Travel has unveiled a new-look North American leadership team and that includes current Chief Customer Officer Leigh Barnes moving into the role of President of the Americas and Canadian travel industry stalwart Christian Wolters being appointed to a newly created position of President of Canada.

Barnes has been with the company for more than 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 is currently based in Intrepid’s global head office in Melbourne, Australia, and will relocate his family to the Pacific Northwest US.

Meanwhile, Christian Wolters returns to Intrepid in the newly established role as President of Canada and General Manager, North America Marketing, effective July 1. 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, he 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 General Manager North America Tom Smith who will be taking over the role of GM, Central America & Mexico.

Other changes to the Americas management team include current President of Americas, Matt Berna, transitioning to Sr. VP, US Sales & Operations and Global B2B External Sales.

“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.”