Business Development Manager

Explore is an adventure travel expert focused on sustainable, small group holidays which create stories to tell for a lifetime. From classic group tours and family adventures, to walking, wildlife and cycling trips. With around 100 countries to choose from, our customers explore the world with us. Join us on our journey, creating extraordinary travel experiences for all.

At the heart of all of this, is a passion to travel responsibly. We aim to always be welcomed back, for communities and cultures to benefit, and wildlife to flourish. In a complicated world that's full of potential, we strive to be better than yesterday.

We put people at the heart of everything we do and are proud of the extensive benefits we offer.

Our team is based in Toronto, but this role can be remotely based anywhere in Canada. This is a full-time position, however work life balance is important to us and so we are open to discussion on flexible working patterns (minimum 4 days per week).

Salary: $75,000 - $80,000 + bonus    

About the role:

We are looking for an ambitious and dynamic Business Development Manager to join our growing team and help us support the growth of our travel agency partners in North America. As the face of Explore in the market, you will be responsible for promoting our destinations, growing existing business and developing new sales opportunities. A self-motivated sales professional, you will create and apply an effective sales strategy, offering unparalleled support to our agency partners, collaborate with other teams around the business and add to the continued success of the Explore brand. If you are passionate about adventure travel and have plenty of incredible travel stories to share, then this could be the role for you!

3-4 days a week you will be making sales calls by appointment (virtual and in-person) with targeted agency partners. This will involve sales updates, marketing discussions and training with a sales objective for each meeting which will be followed up in a timely manner. 1-2 admin days each week will involve making thank you calls for new bookings, creating and answering social posts, Canva marketing activity, responding to trade emails and planning. Full responsibilities will be:

• Develop relationships with existing and new partners to assist in growing trade sales.
• Plan, create and implement a strategic call cycle to optimize sales growth.
• Engage with the retail agency network and home workers to deliver innovative training and product knowledge via face to face (in-store) and online platforms.
• Represent Explore at industry conferences, trade shows and consumer expos.
• Assist in the implementation and maintenance of a social media and email strategy for agency partners.
• Brochure inventory control and system updates.
• Assist in the development and implementation of trade campaigns and promotions and incentives. 
• Monitor and combat competitor activity. As part of this, develop a thorough product knowledge and an understanding of all competitors’ products. 
• Monthly reporting on sales growth and activity. 
• Manage an allocated expense budget.

Am I the right person? 

This is a fantastic opportunity for a trustworthy, personable, positive, and customer-focused person with a can-do attitude. To be successful in this role you will have business development experience or have worked with travel agents in some capacity previously. You will bring an existing travel industry network and be able to develop and maintain excellent working relationships while using your initiative to increase demand across our 500+ trips worldwide. You must be willing to work flexible hours to support
extensive travel, predominantly within Canada and the U.S. with some international as required.

We aim to be better than yesterday and our values will be close to your heart.

Diversity is to be celebrated. Life would be dreary, and change would be slow, if we all thought the same way. We challenge our ideas, each other, and our business partners - always with respect and kindness.

Explore is part of Hotelplan Group, a well-established and diverse family of specialist tour operators, with a long tradition of developing and operating market-leading experiences. The family comprises ski, walking and Lapland holidays with Inghams and Santa’s Lapland; adventure travel with Explore; and self-guided holidays with Inntravel. Sustainability and responsible tourism is at the core of everything we do, and should be a passion for everyone employed by the group.