Destination Specialist in Portland, Oregon at Avanti Destinations

Avanti Destinations is an industry leading Travel Company with expertise in customizable travel to Europe, Central &

South America, Asia, and the South Pacific including air, rail, cars, hotels, sightseeing, transfers, and other experiential

travel options. We specialize in providing hand-picked, locally owned hotels in large and small cities, as well as hard-tofind

options for experienced travelers at the best value. Avanti is rapidly growing; breaking barriers and using innovative

technologies to make sure travel advisors continue to book vacations through our travel consultants.

Job Profile and Description

The primary duty of a Destination Specialist for Central and South America is to sell customized vacations to Central and

South America. In this sales position, highly qualified leads from our network of travel advisors located throughout the

United States are directed to our inbound call center.

As a Destination Specialist you will be responsible for designing and executing bespoke travel itineraries to your

specialist destinations. You will leverage your expertise and knowledge of specific destinations to create unforgettable

experiences and increase sales and conversion rates within these countries. Your role will have a direct impact on the

success of the department and company goals.

Our competitive work environment requires Destination Specialists to be able to listen to the customer’s request,

position products, and close sales. Responsibilities of a Destination Specialist include but are not limited to:

 Designing customized itineraries for Travel Advisors.

 Using the company’s propriety software to build and price itineraries but also given independence to provide

itinerary options that may be outside of the normal company product portfolio and processes.

 Be responsible for the relationship with the Travel Advisor from the beginning of the quote process through the end

of the booking process, taking full ownership of the booking through to the travelers return.

 Communicating via phone calls and emails, sending follow-up communications on active bookings by email, and

providing exceptional external and internal customer service.

 Drive sales by identifying opportunities to upsell and cross-sell additional services or experiences that enhance the

clients’ travel experience.

 Responsible for creating small group bookings and managing profitability by understanding pricing fluctuations

between group product and FIT product.

 Expected to independently work with Destination Product Managers, sharing market trends, competitor offerings to

determine product solutions based upon technical knowledge and customer interactions.

 When required assist in developing relationships with the marketing team to Travel Advisors to raise awareness of

the specialist destinations.

 Representing the company as an ambassador for sales to the regions internally and externally while on educational

destination trips.

This Full-Time position is eligible for participation in a comprehensive company benefits & perks program. Avanti

offers low-cost medical and dental coverage, paid-time off, paid holidays, reduced cost Tri-Met passes (benefit

eligibility begins at the beginning of the month following 60 days of employment).

Requirements, Skills and Experience

 Advanced knowledge of Central and South America.

 Proven history of successfully meeting sales goals in a retail or other sales environment

 Experience and passion for delivering exceptional internal and external quality customer service

 Skilled ‘relationship builder’; enthusiasm for making a difference in the customer experience

 Excellent communication skills: verbal, listening and written

 Polished telephone etiquette, upbeat and friendly personality

 Demonstrate a professional and polished demeanor with a positive, upbeat, and friendly personality

 Previous call center experience preferred

 Strong computer skills (MS Outlook, MS Word, MS Excel, MS Teams, Internet, etc.)

 Excellent problem solving, complaint resolution and negotiation skills

 Highly organized and detail-oriented

 Able to adapt to changing policy and product in a fast-paced performance-driven culture

 Demonstrate exceptional habits of dependability and attendance

 Able to work any shift time during hours of operation (6:00 am - 5:30 pm Pacific, Monday - Friday)

 Available for overtime hours, holidays, and weekends as needed

 Passion for travel; European, Asian, and South Pacific travel and/or geography knowledge a plus

Education and Qualifications

 Have high school diploma or GED equivalent

 Must be available for travel for 2 – 4 weeks of the year to relevant destinations to build up product knowledge.

 Must have a valid passport to allow travel outside of the USA.

Performance Measurements

 Accurate and complete information about Company products and services is provided to customers.

 Good working relationships and coordination exist with customers, staff, and management. Supervisor is

informed of activities.

 The Company's professional reputation as a leader in the travel industry is conveyed and maintained.

Business Relationships

Avanti’s Destination Specialists (all disciplines) exceed Company objectives by working closely with supervisors to

ensure accuracy, quality, exceptional customer service and business goals/standards are met.

Physical Activities and Requirements

 FINGER DEXTERITY: Using primarily just the fingers to make small movements such as typing, picking up small

objects, or pinching fingers together.

 TALKING: Especially where one must frequently convey detailed or important instructions or ideas accurately, loudly,

or quickly.

 AVERAGE HEARING: Able to hear average or normal conversations and receive ordinary information.

 AVERAGE VISUAL ABILITIES: Average, ordinary, visual acuity necessary to prepare or inspect documents or products

or operate machinery (copy machine, keyboard, etc.).

 PHYSICAL STRENGTH: Sedentary work; sitting most of the time. Exerts up to 10 lbs. of force occasionally.

Mental Activities and Requirements

 REASONING ABILITY: Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out detailed but uninvolved instructions

and to deal with problems involving a few variables.

 MATHEMATICS ABILITY: Ability to perform very basic math skills including adding, subtracting, multiplying, and

dividing two-digit numbers; the four basic arithmetic operations with money; and operations with units such as inch,

foot, yard; ounce, and pound (or their metric counterparts).

 LANGUAGE ABILITY: Ability to use passive vocabulary of 5,000-6,000 words; read at a slow rate; and define

unfamiliar words in dictionaries for meaning, spelling, and pronunciation. Ability to write complex sentences, using

proper punctuation and using adjectives and adverbs. Ability to communicate in complex sentences, using normal

word order with present and past tense and good vocabulary.

In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, it is possible that physical and mental requirements may be

modified to reasonably accommodate disabled individuals. However, no accommodations will be made which may pose

serious health or safety risks to the employee or others or which impose undue hardships on the organization.

OUR MISSION

Avanti Destinations connects the components for customized international travel utilizing our technology and educated

staff. Working exclusively with travel advisors, we deliver a unique vacation experience to individuals and groups.

OUR VISION

Connecting the past, present and future through international travel sales.

Avanti Destinations’ vision is to connect customers with the past, present, and future for their international travel

events by delivering amazing and unique experiences. This is done through selling our expert service, selling our diverse

products, and promoting our people. This is accomplished with EVERY employee at Avanti Destinations being part of the

sales cycle. Regardless of your position we all have a role to play in our companies’ success. Each interaction you have

with a vendor, supplier or travel agent impacts the health and growth of Avanti. You are selling the company and our

integrity with every interaction you have. Anytime someone asks you “where do you work?” or “what do you do?”, you

are selling the Avanti brand to this person with the answer you give. Marketing will make use of our individual and

collective expertise as we promote Avanti to the travel trade.