Leigh Barnes ranked 14th on CMOs of the Year list

Intrepid Travel’s Managing Director, Americas, and former Chief Customer Officer, Leigh Barnes, has ranked 14th in leading marketing and digital trade publication Mi3’s first-ever CMOs of the Year list.  

Joining a group of 25 prominent CMOs from across Australia, Barnes was recognised for being one of Australia’s most innovative and strategic marketing leaders, driving business transformation, achieving commercial success, and setting new standards in leadership. 

Highlights of Leigh’s tenure as Chief Customer Officer include: 

• Driving Intrepid’s best ever performance in 2024, including an all-time record revenue result of $625m and a world-class NPS of 81.5. 

• Growing aided brand awareness by 21%, underpinned by a shift to brand-led marketing and two global brand campaigns (Good Trips Only and Only Intrepid), which collectively reached 100 million people.  

• Achieving all-time high D2C bookings through intrepidtravel.com, acquiring 10,000 customers in January 2025 alone, and a record $80.3m sales month in November 2024. 

• Designing principles for sustainable marketing and growth to help CMOs deliver their organisation’s sustainability agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals as a member of the UN Global Compact’s Marketing Think Lab.  

• Strengthening partnerships with trade, tourism boards, and media (generating 9,280 pieces of coverage in 2024 globally), amplifying Intrepid’s reach and impact.   

• Championing greater diversity, equity and inclusion among the marketing profession, including launching the industry’s first ever Ethical Marketing Guidelines.  

• Advocating on behalf of the ‘business for good’ movement as a member of the global B Corp community.  

“I’m humbled to be named on the CMOs of the Year list and in the company of such influential and impactful Australian marketing leaders. Marketing isn’t just about fluffy campaigns – done strategically, it can play a transformative role and drive business growth and impact. We’ve seen this at Intrepid and continue to double down our approach to values-led brand marketing," he said.

Barnes took up the role of Intrepid’s President of the Americas in November 2024, relocating to Seattle, USA earlier this year.