Intrepid opens a search for a United States president
Intrepid Travel is recruiting a president to lead its United States business. The Melbourne operator revealed the search in a Travel Daily report published 2 October 2026. The recruit reports to Leigh Barnes, president, North America.
"The USA is central to our growth ambitions through 2030 and to get there, we need a leader focused entirely on this market," Barnes said. "We are looking for someone ambitious who makes decisions and cares about people."
The remit covers key network partnerships and brands. That half of the role runs through white label sales and industry partnerships across Intrepid's North, Central and South America business.
The figures Intrepid gives for the US
Intrepid states that the US generates around US$100 million in annual revenue and is supported by a team of around 100. It states the goal is to grow revenue to over US$350 million by 2030. Both figures reach the trade from the operator through the Travel Daily report, and Intrepid has published neither as an audited figure.
The US$350 million target appears elsewhere with a different measure and a wider scope. TravelAge West quotes Barnes setting a target of "US$350 million in bookings for North America by the end of the decade", and the Travel Daily report gives the figure as revenue for the US.
At group level, Intrepid's own release on its 2023 results states the 2030 strategy as 600,000 customers, revenue and earnings of over $1.3 billion, and 1 per cent of revenue contributed to purpose.
Where the trips go
Barnes has been based in Seattle for almost two years. He told Travel Weekly that outbound travel from the US is performing strongly, with growth in premium customers and higher spending on experiential travel. Inbound travel to the US is softer on his account, with fewer Australians, Canadians, Britons and Germans arriving.
Domestic travel and national park visits offset part of that decline. More than 90 per cent of Intrepid's US trips visit a national park in some capacity, and the operator has launched a series of Activism trips built around the parks. Barnes said one departure sold out in less than 10 minutes.
Barnes framed the market's size as the operating constraint. "It's such a big market, and you need to be incredibly focused from a travel perspective on what you do and don't do because you can chase your tail a lot from all the opportunity that does exist in the market," he told Travel Weekly.
Intrepid publishes its releases and leadership pages at intrepidtravel.com/us/newsroom.