Intrepid Travel on the hunt for CMO as Leigh Barnes heads to US
Travel company Intrepid Travel is now on the hunt for a chief marketing officer, as chief customer officer, Leigh Barnes, prepares to head to the US.
The CMO role has been specifically created due to Barnes’ appointment as president of the Americas, effective immediately, and will see him move from Melbourne to the Pacific Northwest in early 2025.
On Friday, Intrepid said the CMO role will ideally be carried out in Melbourne or London and “will play a critical role in driving this strategy forward and realising the company goals”.
“Intrepid’s chief marketing officer is a senior leadership role, reporting to me, with responsibility of bringing our 2030 strategic aspiration of ‘the world needs more Intrepid people’ to life,” Thornton told Mumbrella.
“It’s a super exciting time in Intrepid Travel’s growth trajectory and this role has a huge opportunity to make an impact across brand, product (experiences), marketing and PR and deliver our customer experience and sales on a global scale.”
Leigh Barnes
The move from Australia to the US is a natural one for Barnes, who led Intrepid’s North American team between 2015-2018, before becoming the company’s first chief purpose officer in 2019.
Thornton added: “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.
“Under this new structure, the Americas will play a key role in our ambitious growth strategy for 2030.”
The news comes ahead of next week’s Mumbrella Travel Marketing Summit, which will include an appearance from Intrepid’s general manager – global brand, Natalie Placko.
Click here for more details.
Keep up to date with the latest in media and marketing
Got a tip?
Neil Griffiths is the Managing Editor of Mumbrella. He joined the company in October 2023.
Linkedin
Have your say