Business Development Manager, Travel Advisor Channel
About The Position
EF Go Ahead Tours is seeking a driven, relationship-first Business Development Manager to expand its Travel Advisor channel. This is a foundational role responsible for the entire lifecycle, from identifying and securing new advisors to facilitating their first booking and fostering long-term growth. The position involves acting as the primary point of contact for the travel advisor community, blending sales, education, and entrepreneurial territory management. This is a B2B role where the successful candidate will contribute to building the strategy, tools, and processes necessary to scale the Travel Advisor program nationwide. It offers a unique chance to influence a growing priority channel and shape partnership strategies with advisors for sustained success.
Requirements
- 5+ years of B2B sales or business development experience within the travel industry (e.g., tour operator, cruise line, Destination Management Company, or similar).
- Proven ability to prospect and close new accounts, beyond just managing existing relationships.
- In-depth knowledge of the Travel Advisor distribution channel, including consortia (Virtuoso, Ensemble, Signature, Travel Leaders), host agencies (Fora, Nexion, Outside Agents), and independent agencies.
- Self-motivated individual capable of building a territory from the ground up with minimal supervision and comfortable working in ambiguous environments.
- Excellent presentation and communication skills, adept at training groups of advisors or pitching to consortium executives.
- Willingness to travel up to 40%, including overnight stays and occasional domestic and international travel for company events.
- Must possess at least 4 years of relevant work experience or a 4-year degree.
Nice To Haves
- Existing relationships with travel advisors, agency owners, or consortium contacts.
- Experience with guided tour operators (e.g., escorted touring, river cruise, or similar product categories).
- A passion for travel and personal experience with international destinations.
- Proficiency in Salesforce.
Responsibilities
- Prospect, sign, and activate Travel Advisors and agency accounts within their assigned territory.
- Implement a territory plan including call cadences, agency visits, trade shows, consortium events, and virtual presentations.
- Achieve monthly and quarterly new-activation targets.
- Reactivate dormant advisors and convert them into consistent booking producers.
- Manage booking volume for their active advisor portfolio and meet quarterly revenue quotas.
- Serve as the main contact for top-producing advisors, providing training, promotional support, and account-level plans, including co-op marketing.
- Attend industry events such as tradeshows, consortium events, and conferences.
- Collaborate with Marketing to equip advisors with co-op materials and booking incentives.
- Maintain accurate CRM data, tracking pipeline, activities, and booking attribution.
- Report on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) weekly.
- Contribute to the advisor program playbook, portal requirements, and commission tier design as a founding member of the channel.
Benefits
- Commitment to professional growth with a robust monthly calendar of trainings and workshops.
- Four weeks paid vacation in the first year.
- Ten paid holidays.
- Two floating holidays.
- Exciting business travel opportunities.
- 25% company match on 401(k) contributions.
- Market-leading medical, dental, and vision coverage.
- Options for life and disability insurance.
- Accident and hospital insurance.
- Legal insurance.
- Pet insurance.
- Dependent care, healthcare, and commuter Flex Spending Accounts (FSAs).
- Access to fertility care and family-building support.
- Wellness benefits including a yearly fitness reimbursement.
- Frequent social and learning events.
- Access to employee-run resource groups.
- Robust Employee Assistance Program.
- Tenure-based sabbatical eligibility.
- EF Product Discounts (on travel, international language schools, Au Pair program, etc.).
- Discounts at local venues and businesses.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
Education Level
Associate degree
