As our new Group Travel Advisor, you will lead the development of group travel at Little Emperors, from securing preferential rates with our hotel partners to managing every group booking through to completion. This is a newly created role at the heart of our growth plans, giving you the opportunity to build strong hotel relationships and shape how we serve group travellers.
Key Responsibilities
- Negotiate and contract group rates with hotel partners for weddings, family celebrations, corporate retreats and other group travel.
- Manage group bookings from initial enquiry through to confirmation, ensuring accuracy in room allocations, rates and any special requirements.
- Build and maintain strong relationships with hotel partners to secure the best possible group terms and added value benefits for members.
- Liaise with LE Members and MyLER's to understand group requirements and turn these into tailored proposals.
- Track group booking deadlines, deposits, rooming lists and final payments to ensure smooth delivery for every group.
- Identify and develop new group travel opportunities, working closely with the wider team to grow this area of the business.
- Stay up to date with group rate structures, contracting terms and hotel policies across the Little Emperors hotel portfolio.
- Resolve any issues that arise before, during or after a group's stay, liaising with hotels and members as needed.
Requirements
- Minimum 5 years' experience in group travel, hotel contracting, luxury travel advisory or high-end hospitality, including prior experience as a travel advisor within a luxury tour operator or similar.
- Experience booking with DMCs, cruises, flights, and tailor-made itineraries and packages.
- Confident negotiator with strong commercial acumen and hotel relationship-building skills.
- Excellent organisational skills, comfortable managing multiple group bookings and deadlines at once.
- Exceptional communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to manage expectations across members, guests and hotel partners.
- Experience with GDS (Amadeus), CRM and hotel contracting systems.
- Strong knowledge of luxury hotels, destinations and group travel dynamics such as weddings, incentive travel or family celebrations.
- ABTA knowledge desirable but not essential.