Senior Travel and Tours Manager

TITLE OF POSITION: Senior Travel and Tours Programme Manager

REPORTS TO: General Manager (UK)

STH UK is looking for an experienced Senior Travel & Tours Programme Manager to join our growing team.

The Senior Travel & Tours Programme Manager will form part of the STH UK Senior Leadership team and will be responsible for the planning, co-ordination and delivery of all travel and tour direct to consumer operations, across multiple sports events within the STH UK portfolio.

The role is responsible for ensuring not only that adequate processes are in place and extensive planning has been undertaken to ensure that all services are delivered correctly and efficiently, but the customer experience both pre-travel/tour and during customers journey/tour is second to none.

KEY RELATIONSHIPS:

INTERNAL:

• General Manager
• Senior Leadership Team STH UK
• STH functional areas including Finance, Legal, Marketing, Ticketing
• All Staff

EXTERNAL:

• STH UK Customers
• Official Travel Agents
• Stakeholders / Rightsholders / Shareholders
• Suppliers and Service providers

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

ROLE SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES:

Strategy

• Participate in the leadership of the business by contributing at Senior Leadership Team level to shape the development and delivery of plans, strategies, budgets/forecasts, resources and reviews of effectiveness across the direct-to-consumer travel programme.
• Monitor industry sales and event trends for sports leading to a comprehensive understanding of target market to inform product and package development.
• Responsible for ensuring all international travel regulations are adhered to within the sales, marketing and delivery of travel and tour programmes and products.

Product Development

• Development of a range of innovative and profitable travel packages for direct-to-consumer travel and tour products that inspire and motivate fans to purchase.
• Development of focussed sports tours which resonate with the travelling fan for direct-to-consumer sales.

Operational Delivery

• Responsible for the smooth planning, implementation and operational delivery of the travel and tours programmes in line with the organisation’s policies, procedures and all relevant regulations and legislation.
• Managing the customer journey, creating comms plans to provide pre departure information and itineraries, collect client requirements, manage enquiries, cancelations, amendments and post-event surveys.
• Develop robust procurement and inventory management plans to maximise profitability and minimise financial exposure for all package inclusions (hotels, travel, merchandise, experiences) in line with sales.
• Maximise profitability and manage risk through robust budgets, purchasing and ‘hand back’ processes.
• Take ownership of customer satisfaction, and systematically seek and act on feedback from customers.
• Support the design & delivery of all collateral and merchandise for each travel / tour product as required in line with procurement policy and social impact pledge.

Leadership and Management

• Develop a recruitment and training plan, taking into account the short term nature of event time roles, for the successful delivery of operational plans.
• Motivate and inspire staff and create a positive customer-focused culture, ensuring that employees have a clear sense of purpose, know what they are accountable for, receive regular feedback, and are developed to provide excellent service.
• Support and encourage innovation, the creative use of resources and the generation of ideas to improve quality of service, processes and reputation of the organisation.
• In conjunction with General Manager, agree performance objectives and targets for direct reports that delivery the organisations visions, core objectives, values, priorities and policies, including providing regular monitoring, feedback, coaching, mentoring and development.

KEY COMPETENCIES/SKILLS:

• Experience in travel, group tours and major sports event delivery is essential.
• Travel experience with knowledge of global travel regulations.
• Ability to think, plan and act strategically and corporately, with a creative and innovative approach to problem solving and delivery in testing circumstances and with competing priorities.
• Strong written and numerical skills and a rigorous attention to detail.
• Proven ability work in multi-functional teams to create improvement in service delivery and working practices.
• Excellent client-facing and internal relationship management skills
• Strong organisational and project management skills
• A strong understanding of how to create and deliver a robust event delivery plan.
• Proven and demonstrable customer service skills.
• An inclusive manager who can foster partnerships, work collaboratively and achieve results through others.
• A strong and effective leader, who leads by example and is an effective communicator, determined, positive and approachable.
• Computer literate across Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and appropriate project planning, inventory management and CRM applications.
• Proven ability to work and deliver under pressure

PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES:

• Ability to work well within a team
• Highly articulate
• Well-developed interpersonal skills
• Assertive
• Strong drive for results
• Excellent attention to detail
• Presentable
• Motivational
• Dedicated
• Ability to work under pressure
• Commercial awareness
• IT skills
• Solutions-focused
• Passion for sport would be beneficial