Relationship Director, Hotels

Position Overview:

Reporting to the VP, Partner Relations, the Relationship Director, Hotels will be responsible for cultivating and managing relationships with key hotel partners to drive revenue growth and optimize hotel partnerships.  This is a critical role in ensuring Travel Edge extracts maximum value from preferred hotel suppliers.  By driving the use of preferred contracts, negotiating favourable terms, and proactively seeking additional value, the Relationship Director will be instrumental in achieving better financial terms for Travel Edge.   The RD also needs to ensure that Travel Edge is securing the right rates and amenities with the right hotel properties to satisfy the demand from the IC community and their client base. This role requires a blend of strategic thinking, negotiation skills, relationship management and a deep understanding of the travel and hospitality industries.

Responsibilities:

• Key point of contact for hotel chains, individual properties, hotel groups and representation companies.
• Act as an advocate for Travel Edge’s booking platform, ADX.
• Identify opportunities to expand business with existing hotel partners, including new room offerings, special promotions, and seasonal campaigns.
• Lead efforts to onboard new hotel partners, negotiating contracts, pricing models, and ensuring proper integration of properties into the travel network.
• Serve as a second level escalation point of contact on matters where higher level of customer service or intervention is required with hotel partners.
• Work one on one with advisors to support them on developing their business models and enhancing their value to their customers.
• Leverage Travel Edge’s tools, support teams and relationships to further develop our value proposition to our advisors.
• Work closely with cross-functional teams (operations, marketing, finance) to resolve issues that require coordinated efforts from multiple departments.
• Deliver on company strategies, goals and KPIs and operational objectives. 
• Examine financial data/statements and utilize them to improve profitability.
• Develop, design, and execute analysis to support critical business decisions.
• Regularly updating senior management with reports on the performance of hotel partnerships, including successes, challenges, and opportunities for improvement.
• Regular Travel (approx. 20-30%) required (networking, partnership meetings, supplier events etc).

Key Attributes:

• Excellent organizational, time management and prioritizing skills. Able to set and manage priorities judiciously.
• Ability to represent Travel Edge to ICs, clients, and suppliers in a positive and professional manner consistent with company standards.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong negotiation and relationship-building skills, with the ability to drive preferred contract adoption and maximize value from hotel suppliers.
• Strong initiative to seek out new opportunities for value creation, with a relentless focus on achieving and surpassing financial targets.
• High level of critical and logical thinking, analysis, and/or reasoning to identify underlying principles, reasons, or facts.
• Ability to lead by example, inspiring both internal teams and hotel partners.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, ever-changing, collaborative environment.
• Passion for understanding customer needs and delivering exceptional service.
• The ability to create and execute strategies that benefit both Travel Edge and its hotel partners.
• In-depth knowledge of the travel and hospitality sectors, including trends, technologies, and competitive dynamics.

Qualifications:

• 10+ years industry experience.
• Bachelor’s degree in business, Marketing, Hospitality Management or related field an asset. 
• Proven experience Strong knowledge/relationships with hotel properties and preferred hotel partners.
• 3-5 years of proven leadership experience in a manager capacity, in leisure Travel. Preferably in the hotel industry
• Strong understanding of Leisure travel management economics.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, ever-changing, collaborative environment.
• Computer proficiency, including Microsoft Suite products, and the ability to quickly learn new systems
• Experience with Sabre and Client Base an asset. 
• Solid analytical, finance, and problem-solving abilities.