Guest Experience Liaison at Wilderness

Detailed Responsibilities

General 

• Create seamless service delivery through regular correspondence with guests and agents during travel. Delighting them with high attention while focusing on the intricacies of the guest's journey.
• Maintain effective communication with all journey stakeholders to ensure a smooth & friendly service delivery whilst ensuring all requirements are communicated effectively and efficiently.
• Deal promptly and efficiently with any queries and resolve guest queries during travel.
• Operating according to and in compliance with – WS standards of operations, company policies and procedures, and WS code of conduct. 
• Offer highly personalised guest touch-points which generate significant real and perceived value through strong relationships with trade partners. 
• Have extensive knowledge of all regions we package, attending all training sessions and site inspections where necessary. 
• Analyse guest feedback and provide solutions to ensure continuous improvement towards guest satisfaction and thus positively impacting future travel.
• Pre-Travel 
• Send a welcome introduction to all guests out of country prior to their international flight into Africa.
• Proactive communication with the guest using a WhatsApp/email (text-based platform) to maintain effective communication and introduction of their support team including EAH services. 
• In collaboration with the Reservations team, use the guest information on the WW, updating the CRM database where necessary, upholding POPI & GDPR compliance from guests. 
• Acquiring final flight schedules and monitoring for any last minute tracking changes. Updating if any land arrangements are affected by delays or additional services added. 
• Looking for opportunities to enhance itineraries pre-trip, working closely with Guest Ops & AP supplier offerings.   
• Ensure guests have the latest updated travel regulations/itinerary changes from the reservations team prior to departure, should any changes happen during travel, work on corrective updates to ensure seamless changes on the ground. 
• Ensure advance reconfirmation of services 3 days prior to guests' departure. Ensuring all booking information has been received from the Operations team and is in order with all suppliers. 

During Travel 

• Resolve and action all issues during travel ensuring constant communication with the internal stakeholders providing support, offering solutions to guests quickly and efficiently, with the focus of enabling Wilderness to offer an elevated guest experience at each touch point of the trip. For all cost changes work closely with the Reservations teams to keep the booking updated and they will then update the agents where necessary.
• Updating EAH for any after-hours service requirements (evening and weekends) 
• Acting as a conduit to ensure the updated guest information/feedback is collected and shared with all relevant parties (WS & DMC offering).
• Using all opportunities to “Surprise and delight” guests through extra care and attention to detail.
• Constant monitoring of flight schedules/tracking for up-to-date connections.
• Working closely with M&G teams, Tours and transfer guides with guests arrival/departure details or any guest itinerary changes. 
• Encourage the use of Social Media posts during the guest’s trip and tagging Wilderness where possible. 
• Work closely with the Wilderness24 incident management team should one of your guests be negatively impacted by an event/issue. Flag and raise any concern around a hazard or incident raised by the guest and not reported elsewhere with Wilderness24. Follow the W24 procedures and be available where necessary once incidents are at play. 
• Flag and raise any concern around a complaint raised by the guest to the relevant Reservations Manager, Sales Managers, EAH and Travel Analyst teams. 

Post Travel 

• Ensure guest profile information / Feedback is accurately captured and updated in all relevant systems in line with POPI and GDPR compliance. 
• Any/All Feedback to be relayed to the necessary stakeholders within the business i.e. Country Operations, Reservations, Sales, Travel Analysts, and Owned Agencies. 
• Handover of any action items to Reservations to engage with Trade partners  

CANDIDATE PROFILE

Qualification:

• Tertiary certificate in Travel & Tourism/hospitality. 

Experience:                    

• 3-5 years’ experience at a Senior level in Reservations.  
• Experience in handling customer relationships and developing & promoting product and services in the inbound travel industry. 
• Computer Literate (Microsoft Office, email, Internet) 
• Proven English literacy.  
• Working knowledge of TourPlan and WISH or similar booking/operating system. 
• General destination knowledge on Southern & East Africa.  
• Personal and work travel experience in Southern and East Africa.  
• Problem solver and good with guest interaction  
• Excellent attention to detail.