Travel Sales & Operations Assistant

Summary

Exeter Latin America is U.S.-based luxury tour operator specialized in custom, private journeys in Latin America. We are growing fast and looking to bring on additional Travel Sales & Operations Assistants to join our small but fast-paced remote team and help spread our passion for Latin America! Ideal candidates will be highly detail-oriented, have perfect English skills, flexible and a self-starter.

About Us/Who We Are

Exeter Latin America is U.S. based luxury tour operator founded in 2016 and specialized in custom, private journeys in Latin America.  Our clients are high net worth individuals, couples, groups of friends and families from North America looking to experience Latin America through fully personalized, privately-guided tours, exclusive experiences, and the best hotels, trains, and cruise ships in the region.

Our clients come to us via the top travel agencies in the U.S. and Canada, as well as directly via word of mouth or find us in the press including Conde Nast Traveler and Travel + Leisure magazine, both of which list our co-founder Joe Sandillo as a travel expert for Latin America.

We are currently a team of 4, with 3 of us based in different cities the U.S. and 1 based in Ecuador and Spain. Our office hours are Monday-Friday 9 AM - 6 PM Eastern US time, and we seek to hire remote workers within 1 hour of Eastern Time zone.

About the Role

Exeter Latin America is growing fast, so the role will evolve and change over time.  This means it’s a great opportunity for someone who is flexible and ok with a variety of tasks, rather than a rigid job description. This is great for those who enjoy variety, learning new things, and the opportunity to grow professionally.  

Please note that while a successful hire will eventually have some opportunities for travel, this is not the key element.  This job is first and foremost administrative and operational in nature, as a key part of helping our company shine through flawless travel experiences for our guests!

Target start date for this role is early January 2025

Primary Responsibilities

Trip Proposal Creation

You will play a key role in helping the Travel Designer build our trip proposal and price quote, based on all the information the Travel Designer has gathered from the clients as well as existing availability.

• Communicate professionally and in a timely manner with hotels, cruises and other suppliers/partners in verifying availability, pricing and any other necessary details.

• Price out client trip proposals in our Tourcube CRM system accurately and in a timely manner.

• Build beautiful, professional and accurate trip proposals in our Tourcube CRM, as well as Axus and Safari Portal

• Proofread all

• Use Asana to receive and share updates with Travel Designer, as well as monitor emails on which you’re copied.

Confirmed Trip Operations

Once clients have accepted our proposal, you will provide key support to the Travel Designer in bringing the trip to life with a laser-like attention to detail.

• Process all guest forms received into our system and ensure all data entered into our CRM is 100% accurate without typos or mistakes.

• Convert the quote to a booking in our system, and set up all related tasks in Asana.

• Assist Travel Designer in booking in-country services and hotels, based on the trip proposal accepted by clients once trip deposit is received

• Make restaurant reservations

• Verify all flight details from travelers are correct

• Create vendor payment requests in our CRM to ensure all hotels and other suppliers are paid on time.

• Create client final itinerary and related travel documents, with proofreading for mistakes and doublechecking all details.

• Use Asana to receive and share updates with Travel Designer, as well as monitor emails on which you’re copied.

• Complete pre-arrival entry forms when required by a country.

Database Management

• Update and maintain accurate client records in our CRM

• Log all new client inquiries

• Build product in our CRM for tour and hotel descriptions

• Maintain all vendor and supplier records accurately

• Enter into CRM hotel and other supplier contracted rates with perfect accuracy

• Upload photos related to hotels and experiences in Tourcube, Axus and Safari Portal.

Creation of Product and Collateral Materials

• Manage annual collection of contracted rates with hotels, etc. in the destinations on which you work.

• Maintain our library of destination-specific travel tips and restaurant lists using Canva as well as in Axus and Safari Portal

• Create and maintain sample itineraries in our CRM, Axus, Safari Portal, and on our website using Wordpress

• Create other collateral as needed including fact sheets

General Office Support

• Answering phone and email inquiries from prospective and existing clients - fluency in English is essential

• Assist in organizing and maintaining Dropbox folders and other document libraries

• Generating and compiling sales reports for the Co-Founder

• Providing general administrative support for the Co-Founder

What to Expect / Working Style

This job is 100% remote, working with Travel Designers and our Co-Founder initially but our goal is to have you work primarily with just 1 Travel Designer.

We communicate via Skype as a team, and also use Asana task management software, but need everyone on our team to be available during most of our business day. We operate on the U.S. Eastern time zone (9 AM – 6 PM ET, Monday-Friday) and prefer everyone be within +/- 1 hour from Eastern time. to facilitate collaboration particularly in your first 6 months.

There may be very limited evening or weekend work in this role when items are urgent/time-sensitive given our clients’ travel is not limited to business hours.  To advance in the company beyond this role, should you wish to do so, will require a willingness to go above and beyond for our clients.

We have two Team Meetings weekly via Zoom, and you can expect to have regular video or voice calls with your colleagues (Skype or Zoom) related to specific tasks and projects you’re working on. You can also expect a weekly check-in call with your supervisor review tasks for that week, share feedback, etc.

Software we use that you must be experienced with or able to learn to use well:

• Microsoft 365

• Skype

• Zoom

• Asana for task and project management

• Dropbox

• Tourcube CRM for tour operators

• Axus

• Canva

• 8×8 VOIP telephone

• Safari Portal

• Dashlane for secure password management and sharing

Onboarding and Training

We are a small company and very hands-on and fast-paced. We have a folder of How To documents on our share drive as well as some cheat sheets, but as a small company much of your learning is by shadowing your colleagues, taking great notes, and then doing yourself. We are in the process of creating more SOPs with video, but to be successful as part of our team you must be flexible and able to learn on the fly.

Long Term

Our goal is for you to thrive and grow with us in a way that makes sense based on your unique skills and interests, and to support the needs of the business.  That means the opportunity with time to become a Travel Designer if you love sales and have perfect English skills, or perhaps take a lead role in our Operations team supervising and training our team of assistants. And of course once you’ve mastered the nuts and bolts of the job, there is the potential for some travel, including annual team gatherings as well as possible travel to one or more of our destinations in Latin America.

Who You Are

Who is your ideal candidate? Who are you looking for that will fit in well with the company and the team? What kind of personality would work best? What are they passionate about?

Requirements:

• Perfect written and spoken English and Spanish. Brazilian Portuguese is a plus, but not critical.

• Travel industry experience - tour operator, DMC, hotel, cruise or train.

• Demonstrated success in providing exceptional administrative and operational support.

• A passion for travel to and the cultures of Latin America

• Laser-like attention to detail

• Ability to prioritize various competing tasks and projects without letting things fall through the cracks.

• Be a self-starter and proactive

• Team player willing to help out where needed and offer help without being asked.

• Comfort working in a fast-paced environment and learning on the go

• Commitment to excellent customer service

Nice to Have:

• Skill with social media account management and content creation

• Experience with SEO and Wordpress

• Fluency in Brazilian Portuguese

Hiring Process

Initial video call screening of applicants will be conducted on a rolling basis through early- to mid-December, with those who pass initial screening being invited to a 2nd in-depth video interview with members of our team.

Our goal is to have 1-2 candidates hired and begin work during the first half of January 2025.

What’s in it for you?

• Remote work - we simply ask that you be available and responsive during the bulk of our business hours (+ or - 1 hour of Eastern time) and get high quality work done

• After a 90-day probationary period, receive 20 paid days off per year (including the following US holidays: January 1, Memorial Day (May), July 4, Labor Day (September), Thanksgiving, Black Friday (day after Thanksgiving), and December 25. Also, half-day holidays on December 24 and 31. These 20 days are for use however you wish including vacation, sick days, etc.

• Your birthday off!

• Discover Latin America - experience our incredible travel industry firsthand and spend your days learning all about the many incredible travel experiences possible in our destinations.

• Possibility of travel after 1 year of work with us.

Come work with us!