Operations Executive

Location: Market Harborough - Leicestershire (office based)

Hours: Full Time, 37.5 hours per week - Monday – Friday 9:00 – 17:30 (1-hour unpaid lunch). 

Job Type – Permanent

Operations Executive

Arena Travel have been providing high-quality special-interest tours and holidays for more than 40 years. We continue to build our reputation of delivering a wide range of escorted quality holidays and river cruises including tours in the special interest hobby areas. Having recently formed part of the Leger Shearings Group, we are excited to bring some new team members on board to grow the brand.

We are currently recruiting for an Operations Executive to assist with the preparation of our cruise & rail and First for Bridge division, offering European, Worldwide and UK special interest holidays. In summary, this role will be responsible for contracting and setting up tours to ensure we deliver holidays in line with our customer satisfaction strategy.

Please note that any submitted personal data may be retained on file confidentially, for a period of 6 months, following which it will be destroyed.

Key duties & responsibilities

• Liaise with product team to ensure the successful delivering of tours
• Set up tours on in-house system
• Book tour components including rail, hotels, ferries, excursions (entrances), tour managers and flight bookings
• Prepare and update suppliers on customer numbers
• Finalise tour information in preparation for departure including customer, supplier and tour manager documentation
• Initiate and communicate any tour changes with Customer Services
• Participation on out of hours on call rota
• Liaise with reservations team on meeting customers requests
• Occasional presence on tour may be required
• Supplier visits
• Recording of financial tour costs to enable the Operations Manager and Financial Controller to sign off tour costs ensuring budgets and profit targets are achieved

Key relationships

• Will report into the Operations Manager
• Will work closely with the operations and product teams
• Will work closely with the reservations and customer service teams ensuring they are prepared and well informed for handling customer enquiries when booking and liaising with clients interested in our cruise & rail holidays

Key skills & experience required

Essential;

• Excellent organisational and administration skills – to meet required deadlines
• Excellent attention to detail – accuracy & efficiency
• Good problem solving
• Negotiating
• Good communication skills – written and verbal
• Decision making
• Relationship building skills (with suppliers)
• Team player – to work together to achieve the same end goal
• Can work using own initiative where required

Desirable (not essential):

• Experience in working within the travel industry