Tour Planner

TOUR PLANNER - TRAVEL SPECIALIST 

Job Duties

Travel planners help their clients make the best decisions about travel arrangements. They make suggestions on where to go, methods of transportation, car rentals, hotel accommodations, tours to take and attractions to see. They advise clients about their chosen destinations, including weather conditions, local customs, attractions, necessary documents and currency exchange rates. Travel planners sometimes visit resorts, hotels and restaurants to evaluate the quality and make informed recommendations. A travel planner's job also includes marketing travel packages and services offered by her travel office.

Make reservations for planned travel, including hotels and airlines

Follow up with clients about travel plans and make adjustments as needed

Coordinate the use of bonus miles and other rewards that clients want to use

Organise large-scale events, including conferences and retreats, with up to 200 attendees

Resolve scheduling conflicts and other issues as they come up

Advise current and prospective clients about destination options, including pros and cons of each

Coordinate with client’s point-of-contact in days leading up to event or arrangement

KEY OUTPUTS:

 Calm and professional interaction with both suppliers and travel planners, telephonically & via email

Creative and out of the box planning and designing of itineraries

Handling reservation requests either email or telephonic

Processing of reservations from quote to finalising, including reservations, invoicing and travel documents

Professional servicing of our dynamic direct guests

Proactive selling of our products and services ensuring the best possible safari for the guest

 Saturday duty and cell phone duty on a rotation basis

 Public holiday duty and cell phone duty on a rotation basis

Working hours – shift work required (07:00 – 15:30 & 09:30 – 18:00) on rotation basis

Backup for colleagues when they are away from the office

Expanding product knowledge by attending training sessions

 An independent, curious and “can do it” nature

Upholding the cornerstones of &Beyond ... Care of the people, Care of land, Care of the wildlife

KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED:

Good knowledge on any of the destinations that &Beyond promote – Tanzania, Kenya, Zanzibar, Zambia, South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Uganda, Seychelles

Good knowledge of FIT and Groups policies and procedures

Good knowledge of &Beyond Safari Offers

Communication skills and a good command of the English language Tourplan reservations system added advantage

SKILLS REQUIRED:

· Time & desk management

· Computer aptitude

· Understanding of travel industry

· Attention to detail

· Elaborating in writing explanations or descriptions

· Exceptionally customer focused

· Creativeness, flexibility, high energy and patience

· Saturday duty and cell phone duty on a rotation basis

· Public holiday duty and cell phone duty on a rotation basis

· Working hours – shift work required (07:00 – 15:30 & 09:30 – 18:00) on rotation basis

· An independent, curious and “can do it” nature

· Good knowledge on any of the destinations Tanzania, Kenya, Zanzibar, Zambia, South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Uganda, Seychelles

· Tourplan reservations system

· Creativeness, flexibility, high energy and patience

· Must have at least 3 years reservation experience preferably in a tour operating environment, no hotel, car rental reservations

EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

· Must have at least 3 years reservations experience preferably in a tour operating environment