Travel Operations Specialist

Audley Travel Ltd.; Witney; Hybrid; GBP 25,000 - 35,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading travel services company based in Witney is looking for a Travel Operations Specialist. This role focuses on ensuring smooth operations and client satisfaction by managing the behind-the-scenes details of travel itineraries. The ideal candidate should have strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and be capable of multitasking in a fast-paced environment. The position offers a collaborative working environment with various perks, including holiday benefits and health plans.

Benefits

25 days holiday, rising to 30 days

A day off for your birthday

Healthshield health cash plan

Enhanced pension scheme

Discounted Audley trips

Wellbeing platform access

Sabbatical leave

Long service awards

Qualifications

• Proven ability to achieve KPIs regarding attention to detail, work rate and speed of response.
• Experience in managing high volumes of work in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to multitask.

Responsibilities

• Oversee the booking process to ensure all elements of a client's itinerary are confirmed.
• Ensure accurate final travel documentation is prepared for clients.
• Communicate effectively with internal and external stakeholders.

Skills

Attention to detail

Time management

Clear communication

Multitasking

Customer service mindset

Job description

Overview

Audley Travel is seeking a Travel Operations Specialist based at the Witney office in Oxfordshire. The role requires a minimum of 3 days per week in the office. Work pattern: 9:00–17:30 Monday to Thursday and 9:00–17:00 on Friday.

About us

Audley Travel is an award-winning, consistently recognised tour operator that specialises in tailor-made travel in over 80 countries. Our clients come to us because we are the true experts of the region and use our knowledge to provide meaningful travel experiences. Our employees are passionate about travel and exploring other cultures. In 2021, we proudly celebrated serving our travel clients for 25 years. Take a look at our video below to get a real taste of who we are and what we love doing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-AhWeqsvds

The role

As a Travel Operations Specialist you will be responsible for the behind-the-scenes management of client’s itinerary once they have chosen to book with Audley. This role focuses on administrative tasks and the end-to-end operation of trips ensuring a smooth and trouble-free journey for our clients from the moment of booking confirmation until their return home. Your duties will include overseeing the booking process, issuing final documentations, and managing any incident that may affect the trip.

You will work closely with our sales teams (Country Specialists), other Audley teams (Operations, Product, Finance and Ticketing), and our partners on the ground (Ground Handling Agents or GHA) to deliver a high standard of quality, service and trip satisfaction. Your role is critical in ensuring that our Country Specialists have the time they need to focus on advising clients on the perfect itinerary while you handle the operational details. Although the role is not client facing, it involves liaising with various internal and external stakeholders, including Country Specialists and our grand agents worldwide.

Key responsibilities

• Oversee the booking process to ensure that all elements of a client’s itinerary are booked as per their quotation. Ensure prompt follow up where a service is not initially available for booking to ensure all elements of the trip are confirmed at the correct time (including flight bookings)
• Where a client or supplier makes changes to a trip post booking, work with the Country Specialist and GHA to modify the booking and ensure the itinerary is up to date and correctly confirmed
• Follow documented process to double check bookings (including flight bookings) once complete and authorised in our system
• Ensure that the booking is correctly confirmed with any errors corrected and any follow up actions required correctly diarised
• Ensure the final booking record is accurate including checking all costs and resolving any errors
• Prepare final travel documentation for the client, ensuring that the information is accurate and personalised to enhance client experience
• Resolve all supplier invoice discrepancies in respect of bookings you have operated
• In partnership with the GHA and Country Specialist, ensure all booking and flight details are up to date and finalised ahead of the client’s departure, cross checking existing confirmations where applicable
• Any other administrative duties as may be required to successfully operate a trip

About you

You will have a proven ability to achieve and exceed set KPIs regarding attention to detail, work rate and speed of response. The role is fast-paced and requires managing high volumes of work so speed and the ability to prioritise is key. You will also possess a strong desire to get things right, you must be a natural organiser who is able to multitask.

Additional experience required:

• You’ll be a confident and clear communicator with a keen attention to detail
• The role involves working with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders, so communication is key to ensure speed of response and accuracy
• You’re resilient to change and setbacks in a fast-moving environment with an ability to stay motivated, remaining calm and clear minded
• You’ll be able to work independently to given timescales
• With a strong track record of delivering excellent service, you’ll have a great understanding how important customer service is, appreciating what it’s like being an Audley client and understanding expectations
• You embody the Audley values of being positive, being the difference, being one team and being passionate about travel
• Experience of working in the travel industry would be an advantage, but not essential

What you’ll get in return

• Holiday - 25 days rising to 30 days with length of service
• A day off for your birthday
• A day off for volunteering to support a charity, local support group or community work of your choice
• Healthshield health cash plan - money back for costs associated with everyday healthcare (including optical, dental, medical, prescriptions, physio), and access to medical and wellbeing resources such as a GP service, employee assistance programme and counselling
• Enhanced family leave
• Enhanced pension scheme
• Life insurance
• Discounted Audley trips (for you and your friends & family) and exclusive access to staff travel discount websites
• WellHub – a wellbeing platform that gives you unlimited, discounted access to top gyms, studios, and wellbeing apps
• Benefits Platform – a reward scheme that gives you discounts and cashback with hundreds of retailers
• Sabbatical leave
• Long service awards

We believe it\'s our people that make the difference and who build Audley into the success it is today. We pride ourselves on enabling people to reach their full potential through promoting and celebrating a diverse and inclusive working environment.