USTO comprises two sister brands Europe Express and YMT Vacations, each providing decades of experience in custom independent and group travel for North American travelers throughout Europe and other popular destinations around the world.
Together they are a $100 million+ revenue business, a significant and strategically important part of the $1 billion+ Travelopia portfolio.
Established in 1990, Europe Express provides high-quality, custom travel to Europe.
The company serves both private groups and FIT leisure markets, working exclusively with travel advisors to book everything from air and rail to hotels and sightseeing tours.
YMT is an industry-leading guided tour specialist.
Since 1967, the company has offered affordable land, cruise, and river cruise tours to the most popular destinations globally.
Location : The job is based in the Barcelona branch of Travel Services Europe.
Scheduling : This is full-time, 40 hours a week.
Monday - Friday 10:00 am- 7:00 pm (1-hour lunch).
Position Summary : The Product Manager manages a portfolio of travel programs and is responsible for product planning and development, inclusive service contracting, costing, and pricing, sales performance measurement, and revenue management.
The Product Manager is responsible for the entire product lifecycle of assigned portfolios from planning to guest experience.
The Europe Product Manager's portfolio consists primarily of the European land tour series and European ocean cruises.
The Product Manager will successfully manage revenue, occupancy, and margin to achieve company goals.
The Product Manager has to work diligently to monitor sales pace, tour occupancy, and other KPIs to ensure we are on track.
When critical, this role will influence marketing activities to address issues using all available tools including but not limited to discount management, tactical activity recommendations, sales incentives, tour capacity, and inventory management.
Major areas of responsibilities include: Product Planning : Proactively plan, develop, own, and manage YMT tours through the product lifecycle while remaining in line with business timescales.
Contracting : Negotiate contract rates and terms: hotels, transportation, DMCs, cruise lines, sightseeing vendors, and museums while remaining in compliance with the company safety management system and other relevant regulations.
Portfolio Management : Lead and maintain vendor relationships along with contract administration.
Collaborate with the Marketing department to align promotions, brochures, and optional products.
Provide tour set-up for the reservation system (Softrip).
Write and maintain the accuracy of appealing tour itinerary descriptions.
Pricing & Business Performance Management : Manage your pricing and set costs by analyzing historical performance, market influences, and budget requirements; define assumptions; and propose selling prices.
Monitor sales against budget and pace using available data sources and reports.
Manage tour capacity and inventory.
Continuously develop recommendations and implement initiatives to improve product P&L.
Quality Assurance & Product Expertise : Work with Tour Operations to define operational delivery standards.
Assist with supplier performance management as required.
Provide training to sales and reservations staff on tour products and destinations.
Participate in Emergency Phone rotation.
Skills and experience: 3+ years of management experience in the travel industry; product management, contracting, and pricing experience required.
A strong and creative negotiator.
Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in travel, business, marketing, or related field.
Advanced analytical skills with demonstrated ability to work through the development of complex business solutions.
Familiarity with MS Office (Excel) and a data warehouse.
Strong communicator, both written and verbal, with the ability to direct the actions of others.
Flexible and adaptable to changing priorities while working under pressure to meet immediate deadlines.
Collaborative nature with the ability to interact with a variety of employees at all levels, including significant interaction with the executive team.
Willingness to travel occasionally (domestically and/or internationally) for trade shows, product contracting, planning, and destination familiarization.
An entrepreneurial spirit that can identify achievable business goals, initiate projects, and implement change.
Our values: Passion : We exceed our customers' expectations by listening and asking the right questions.
We delight our customers by crafting inspirational itineraries.
We have a desire to succeed and provide outstanding value.
Partnership : We exist as a team to support each other and deliver the best customer experience.
We care about the long-term well-being of our employees, customers, and suppliers.
We support and value our colleagues.
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