Assistant General Manager - Tours & Travels Industry - East Africa at Achyutam

The Assistant General Manager (AGM) - Tours is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operational leadership of the Tours Division while driving long-term growth, efficiency, profitability, and strategic scalability. Serving as the department s operational backbone, this role ensures seamless execution across inquiries, quotations, reservations, costing, allocations, supplier coordination, and client servicing.

The ideal candidate is a commercially minded, system-driven, and operationally robust leader. Working closely with the General Manager, the AGM takes full ownership of departmental structure, team performance, CRM discipline, costing tool optimization, and strategic service recovery.

Key Responsibilities

Department Leadership & Operational Oversight

• Lead and manage the day-to-day operational workflow of the Tours Division.
• Ensure flawless coordination across the entire booking lifecycle: quotations, costing, reservations, confirmations, logistics, and documentation.
• Drive operational discipline, accountability, efficiency, and service consistency across all operational teams.
• Act as the primary operational escalation point for complex itineraries, service recovery, and high-level client concerns.
• Continuously evaluate and optimize departmental workflows, task allocations, and structures.

Team Management & Leadership Development

• Supervise, mentor, motivate, and develop the competencies of the travel consulting and operational support teams.
• Allocate workloads effectively, monitoring team productivity, accuracy, and quotation turnaround times.
• Foster a performance-driven culture focused on quality, client responsiveness, and commercial awareness.
• Identify performance and training gaps; implement continuous learning and development initiatives.
• Mitigate operational dependency on specific individuals through cross-training and robust Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) compliance.

Tour Operations & Commercial Execution

• Oversee the design, costing, confirmation, and execution of domestic and international tour itineraries.
• Personally manage high-value, complex, VIP, corporate, MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, Exhibitions), or highly sensitive bookings.
• Guarantee absolute accuracy in itineraries, costings, service vouchers, supplier contracts, and field documentation.
• Monitor profit margins and commercial viability across all proposals and live movements.
• Ensure timely closure and financial reconciliation of trip files post-execution.

CRM & Costing Tool Management

• Own the deployment, management, and optimization of the company CRM and central costing tools within the division.
• Enforce strict data discipline to ensure all inquiries, quotes, follow-ups, client preferences, and supplier interactions are logged accurately.
• Audit system utilization regularly to ensure the team leverages technology consistently for pricing, margin control, and automated tasks.
• Collaborate with IT, system vendors, and internal stakeholders to upgrade templates, reporting capabilities, and system features.
• Leverage data analytics (conversion trends, pipeline movement, turnaround times) to identify operational gaps and track team performance.

Sales Conversion & Business Development Support

• Partner with the sales and consulting teams to improve quote-to-booking conversion rates.
• Participate actively in high-value client negotiations, proposal refinements, and key account management.
• Take direct ownership of strategic or enterprise-level inquiries from the initial pipeline stage through to flawless execution.
• Coordinate with the Sales and Marketing departments to identify market gaps, emerging travel segments, and revenue growth opportunities.

Strategic Contribution & Scalability

• Support the General Manager in executing the broader strategic direction, revenue targets, and growth roadmap of the department.
• Drive process-improvement initiatives to eliminate operational inefficiencies and maximize profitability.
• Participate in departmental forecasting, budget planning, and strategic scaling discussions.
• Build sustainable, automated, and scalable operational models capable of handling high seasonal volume.

Product Development & Innovation

• Drive the continuous refinement, diversification, and modernization of the tour product portfolio.
• Guide the team in designing experiential, destination-rich, and differentiated itineraries tailored to varying traveler demographics.
• Champion innovation in route planning, seasonal offerings, niche interest travel, and premium/luxury concepts.
• Constantly benchmark product offerings against evolving global traveler expectations and competitive market standards.

Supplier Management & Contract Optimization

• Cultivate strategic, high-value relationships with key suppliers (hotels, transport providers, local guides, ancillary services).
• Support commercial negotiations to secure competitive rates, preferential terms, value-adds, and flexible cancellation policies.
• Monitor supplier performance against service level agreements (SLAs) and implement corrective actions or vendor shifts when necessary.

Quality Control & Compliance

• Enforce strict adherence to company SOPs, margin guidelines, internal approval limits, and documentation compliance.
• Implement preventative quality control checks to minimize operational errors, pricing mistakes, and client complaints.
• Maintain structured operational reports, financial audit readiness, and risk-management protocols.
• Ensure operational fluidity and service excellence during peak travel seasons and high-occupancy periods.

Market Intelligence & Competitive Analysis

• Track destination trends, competitor pricing models, shifting traveler behaviors, and global industry regulations.
• Provide structured feedback and data-driven recommendations to Senior Management regarding market shifts.
• Swiftly adapt product positioning and operational strategies to maintain a competitive market edge.

Qualifications & Experience

• Education: Bachelor s degree in Hospitality, Tourism Management, Business Administration, or a related field [(Master s degree or relevant certifications preferred)].
• Experience: Minimum of 8 years of progressive experience in tour operations, outbound/inbound travel management, or DMC operations, with at least 3 years in a senior supervisory or managerial capacity.
• Technical Proficiency: Advanced knowledge of tour-costing software, major CRM systems, travel booking engines, and Global Distribution Systems (GDS) or equivalent inbound platforms.
• Commercial Acumen: Proven experience in managing departmental P&L elements, margin optimization, and large-scale budgeting.

Key Competencies

• Strong leadership capabilities with a track record of scaling high-performing operational teams.
• Exceptional organizational, logistical, and workflow-mapping skills.
• High-level negotiation and relationship-building skills with international clients and suppliers.
• Analytical mindset with the ability to interpret data insights to optimize conversion metrics.
• Calm under pressure; outstanding crisis-management and service-recovery skills.