Sales Travel Operations Manager

Preferred starting date: September 15, 2026 (negotiable)Application deadline: August 31, 2026 THE POSITION The Sales & Travel Operations Manager will lead the end-to-end client journey, from sales and itinerary design through operations, in-destination support, and post-trip follow-up. The role includes supervising a growing team of Travel Planners while managing selected client accounts, developing supplier relationships, and supporting commercial negotiations. Reporting directly to the Founder, the successful candidate will progressively assume greater leadership and decision-making responsibility, with the long-term objective of becoming the Founder’s second-in-command for Sales and Travel Operations. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES Sales and travel-planning leadership: Lead, support, and coach the small but growing Travel Planning team.Assign and prioritize new inquiries according to workload, expertise, and commercial potential.Review and validate itineraries, proposals, and quotations.Ensure that every proposal reflects the client’s interests, expectations, travel style, and budget.Supervise response times, client follow-ups, sales pipelines, and CRM discipline.Monitor conversion, sales performance, profitability, and lost opportunities.Conduct regular sales meetings, pipeline reviews, and individual one-to-one meetings.Help team members improve their destination knowledge, written communication, consultative selling, and closing ability. Personal client management and sales: • Personally manage and sell a selected portfolio of luxury-travel inquiries and bookings. • Communicate professionally and warmly with international travelers and travel advisors. • Design creative, personalized itineraries for Costa Rica and Panama. • Prepare and present accurate quotations and proposals. • Manage revisions, follow-ups, negotiations, and closing. • Develop lasting relationships with clients and selected travel partners. • Maintain an appropriate balance between personal sales responsibilities and team leadership. Operations and concierge leadership:Supervise the handover of confirmed bookings from Sales to Operations.Coordinate and support the Operations/Concierge team.Ensure that reservations, supplier arrangements, special requests, and client documentation are complete and accurate.Monitor clients traveling in destination and ensure proactive, attentive support.Guide the team in resolving changes, service issues, and emergencies calmly and effectively.Protect the company’s reputation and service standards at every stage of the client journey. Supplier relations and negotiations:Build and maintain strong, professional relationships with hotels, transportation providers, guides, tour operators, activity providers, and other tourism partners.Work with suppliers to secure favorable rates, value-added benefits, booking conditions, payment terms, cancellation policies, and other commercial advantages.Participate in seasonal rate and contract negotiations, initially alongside the Founder and later with progressively greater autonomy.Evaluate existing and prospective suppliers based on quality, reliability, safety, responsiveness, commercial conditions, and suitability for Costa Adventures’ clients.Monitor supplier performance and address recurring operational or service-quality concerns.Resolve supplier-related problems fairly and firmly while protecting the client experience, Costa Adventures’ commercial interests, and valuable long-term partnerships.Keep the Sales and Operations/Concierge teams informed about supplier updates, product changes, special conditions, and relevant contractual details.Participate in site inspections, supplier meetings, product presentations, and industry events in Costa Rica and, when required, Panama.Identify new properties, services, and experiences that could strengthen the company’s product offering. Team and quality management: Provide direct operational leadership to an initial team of approximately four professionals across Sales and Operations/Concierge.Prepare the department’s working methods and structure for future team growth.Establish clear priorities, responsibilities, and performance expectations.Balance workloads across the Sales and Operations/Concierge teams.Provide ongoing coaching and constructive performance feedback.Identify training and development needs.Maintain consistently high standards in itinerary quality, communication, accuracy, responsiveness, profitability, supplier selection, and client care.Work with the Head of Human Resources on recruitment, onboarding, staff development, and formal performance matters while preserving a clear operational chain of command. REQUIRED EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS Candidates should meet the following requirements:At least three years of relevant experience as a Travel Planner, Travel Designer, or similar professional within a destination management company.At least two years of successful experience supervising or managing a team.Strong professional experience in luxury travel, destination management, or high-end hospitality. Candidates without substantial experience in at least one of these areas should not apply.Experience as a hands-on manager who remains directly involved in clients, sales, or operations while leading a small team.Proven experience developing tourism-supplier relationships and negotiating rates, commercial terms, service conditions, or contracts.Excellent knowledge of Costa Rica’s principal tourism regions, accommodations, experiences, and supplier network.Knowledge of Panama’s tourism products and supplier network is strongly preferred but not mandatory.Full professional fluency in written and spoken English and Spanish.Bachelor’s degree in Tourism, Hospitality Management, Business Administration, or a related field.Experience using CRM platforms, itinerary-building software, reservation systems, and standard office productivity tools.Experience with TourPlan is highly desirable.Demonstrated ability to manage sales pipelines, review quotations, protect margins, and supervise client follow-up.Availability for occasional site inspections, supplier meetings, and travel within Costa Rica or Panama—approximately four to six trips per year.Legal authorization to work in Costa Rica.A valid driver’s license and access to a vehicle are preferred but not mandatory. Candidates coming from luxury hospitality rather than a DMC environment may be considered if they demonstrate exceptional transferable experience in high-end guest service, commercial management, operations, destination knowledge, supplier relations, and team leadership. THE PERSON WE ARE LOOKING FOR The successful candidate will be: • Warm, polished, and highly attentive when communicating with clients. • Commercially minded without sacrificing honesty, relationships, or service quality. • A confident and diplomatic negotiator who can protect the company’s interests while maintaining positive, long-term supplier partnerships. • An excellent writer and communicator in both English and Spanish. • Meticulous, organized, and comfortable managing multiple priorities. • Calm, resourceful, and decisive when plans change or problems arise. • A supportive but accountable team leader. • Motivated by the opportunity to lead a small, growing team while remaining personally involved with clients, sales, operations, and suppliers. • Confident making decisions while knowing when an issue requires escalation. • Passionate about Costa Rica, Panama, travel, hospitality, and authentic local experiences. • Comfortable working in an established, owner-led company during a period of growth and progressive delegation. • Humble enough to learn Costa Adventures’ methods and standards, while experienced enough to help strengthen them over time. WORKING ARRANGEMENT • Full-time position based in Costa Rica. • Hybrid arrangement, primarily remote, with an average of one to two days per week at the San José office. • Normal schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., plus two Saturdays per month until 12:00 noon, within the company’s established 42-hour weekly schedule. • Participation in the rotating after-hours emergency-phone schedule. Emergency coverage is normally assigned for one week at a time and shared among approximately three to four qualified team members. • Occasional travel within Costa Rica and Panama for site inspections, training, supplier meetings, negotiations, and product-development activities. COMPENSATION Costa Adventures offers a three-part compensation structure: Competitive fixed salary. Commission on the manager’s personally generated and managed sales. Performance bonus based on defined team sales, quality, profitability, leadership, supplier management, and operational objectives. Exact terms will be discussed with shortlisted candidates and will reflect the successful candidate’s experience and qualifications. • A personalized cover letter explaining your interest in the position. • Your salary expectations. • Professional references. • Your written response to the following question: “Please describe a specific situation in which you resolved a complex issue for a high-end traveler while coordinating several team members or suppliers. What was the situation, what actions did you personally take, and what was the final result?” Costa Adventures welcomes applications from Costa Rican nationals and foreign residents who already possess valid legal authorization to work in Costa Rica. Postúlate directamente en CazVid.