Tour Operator

Join to apply for the Tour Operator role at Travelbound – Educational Tours.

With more than 30 years’ experience, Travelbound are the industry leaders in high quality, subject‑led tours for schools, universities, colleges, and clubs. We offer bespoke itineraries to incredible worldwide destinations, including our exclusive Chateau du Molay in Normandy. Whether it’s a History Trip to New York & Washington, introducing Art & Design students to Paris, or organising orchestra and choir performance tours in Italy, every detail is taken care of to create a truly tailored, inspiring learning experience.

The role

This position involves responsibility for bookings to specific destinations, from confirmation of the reservation to the completion of the tour and post‑tour follow‑up. The role is organisational and customer‑service focused, reporting to the Senior Tour Operator. It requires you to develop itineraries into detailed, often complex, tailor‑made plans, manage supplier and customer relationships, maintain commercial and safety requirements, and ensure customers receive a high level of personalised service.

What you’ll be doing

• Planning and booking detailed travel itineraries according to groups’ requirements
• Working closely with the party leader to piece together a “unique educational travel experience”
• Dealing with all client file administration and telephone and e‑mail queries to specific destinations
• Negotiating rates with suppliers and ground service agents as required
• Ensuring all final itinerary details are prepared and given to the group at least four weeks in advance of travel
• Co‑ordinating with overseas suppliers and internal staff to ensure Health & Safety audit requirements are complete and accurate
• Financially taking responsibility for checking and authorising tour payments to suppliers within the tour budget
• Collaborating with the Sales team to ensure tour requests are handed over accurately
• Liaising with other departments to maintain credit control with both internal and external customers
• Participating in the internal on‑call rota system
• Traveling overseas as required, attending fam trips and roadshow visits to keep product knowledge up‑to‑date
• Checking costings to match booking details and protect the margin on your bookings
• Being willing to work additional hours during peak seasons

What we are looking for

• Excellent customer service skills with good written and spoken English and numeracy (GCSE Mathematics)
• Commercial acumen, adaptability, reliability, and flexibility, with a responsible attitude and the ability to cope under pressure and meet tight deadlines
• Basic knowledge of Word and Excel
• Desirable: good level of spoken and written French

Some of the benefits

• Hybrid working pattern between our office and homeworking
• Opportunities to travel overseas on familiarisation trips
• 25 days of annual leave plus public holidays and a bonus day off for your birthday; a tenure‑based additional up to five days depending on length of service
• Global recognition and reward programme
• Access to extensive online learning resources
• In‑house training opportunities
• Various employee discounts and offers, including discounted trips with our brands

We believe that people are happier and perform best when they can be their true selves and that diverse teams deliver better results. We are committed to building an inclusive culture and embracing diversity in all its dimensions, inspiring change through increasing awareness of unconscious bias, and cultivating a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment where everyone can flourish.