Tour Consultant

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Tour Consultant to join our client’s team based in Kigali, Rwanda. This role involves overseeing the entire customer journey for various client segments including foreign tour operators, direct retail clients, and group tours. You will be responsible for creating, managing, and delivering tours offered via Kingfisher Journeys, designing quality itineraries based on your knowledge of Rwanda's tourism sector.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage full life-cycle customer satisfaction for foreign tour operators, retail clients, and group tours associated with Kingfisher Journeys.
• Create publicly available tours and ensure content generation for multiple international travel agents.
• Design high-quality itineraries leveraging expertise in Rwanda's accommodations, National Parks, and cultural/adventure activities.
• Prepare accurate tour quotations considering platform commissions and internal charges.
• Support clients with professional advice and precise information.
• Manage tour delivery, ensuring adherence to sustainability commitments and client requests.
• Handle supplier relationships including reservations, bookings, invoicing, payments, and verifying all arrangements (rooming, dietary needs, etc.).
• Communicate proactively and regularly with clients pre-tour, during the tour to resolve any issues, and post-tour to gather feedback.
• Maintain ongoing communication with suppliers like hotels, guides, transport providers, and activity suppliers.
• Administer bookings, cancellations, changes, and complaint resolutions.
• Collaborate with colleagues and suppliers to assist in delivering tours, provide guides with accurate instructions, confirm service delivery, gather feedback, and manage trip budgets effectively.
• Strive for consistently high review scores to encourage repeat business and referrals.
• Conduct customer experience reviews after each tour to recognize successes, address mistakes, and propose improvements.
• Maintain and manage online booking systems accurately including activity bookings, itineraries, and tours in coordination with the Activities Manager.
• Work independently and efficiently, managing company online systems and procedures with speed and accuracy.
• Stay updated with local and international tourism trends and developments, especially relating to sustainable adventure travel.
• Conduct inspections on behalf of the company when requested and keep the tourism product database current.
• Ensure all bookings, invoices, and payments are recorded accurately, maintaining compliance with tax laws and company procedures.
• Exhibit strong team collaboration and assist others to achieve quality results.

Qualifications and Experience

• 1 to 3 years’ professional experience as a Tour Consultant preferred.
• Extensive knowledge of Rwanda’s tourism sector including accommodation, National Parks, and cultural/adventure activities.
• Fluency in Kinyarwanda, English, and French is essential; knowledge of an additional European or Asian language is advantageous.
• Demonstrated ability to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines with creative problem-solving skills.
• Strong attention to detail and organizational capabilities.
• Excellent verbal communication and telephone etiquette.
• Computer literate with proficiency in MS Office (Word, Excel, Outlook) and preferably Google Workspace apps like Google Sheets.
• Strong commitment to sustainability and ethical professional standards.

Success Metrics

• Respond to client inquiries within 2 hours of receipt.
• Achieve targeted sales conversion rates: 70% from foreign agent enquiries, 25% from retail and direct OTA enquiries, and 5% from public leads.
• Ensure 90% of tours meet customer requests accurately on the first attempt (except changes initiated by clients).
• Obtain customer satisfaction feedback from 80% of tours within two months and maintain 90% of tours rated 5 stars with no review below 4 stars.
• Manage bookings promptly and accurately, maintain competitive pricing and profitability.
• Fulfill sustainability objectives and minimize occurrence of issues.

Terms and Conditions

This is a full-time, permanent position based onsite with standard office hours from Monday to Friday. Occasional out-of-hours or weekend work may be required to meet client needs or operational demands.