Vice President - Africa

Goway Travel; Old Toronto; On-site; CAD 80,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a dynamic and innovative travel company as the Vice President for Africa, where you will lead strategic growth and profitability initiatives. This exciting role involves developing business plans, driving revenue, and enhancing customer service. You'll be responsible for overseeing sales and marketing, managing promotional campaigns, and fostering high-performing teams. With a focus on exceptional client experiences and market competitiveness, you'll play a pivotal role in shaping the future of travel. If you're passionate about travel and ready to inspire others, this is the perfect opportunity for you to make a significant impact in a supportive and collaborative environment.

Benefits

Competitive Salary

Paid Personal Days

Birthdays Off

Ongoing Training

Comprehensive Health Benefits

Qualifications

• Minimum three years in a management role within the travel industry.
• Proven superior sales and negotiation skills essential for success.

Responsibilities

• Lead strategic growth and profitability for the Africa region.
• Develop and execute annual and multi-year business plans.

Skills

Sales Skills

Negotiation Skills

Leadership

Customer Service

Strategic Planning

Education

Management Experience in Travel Industry

Bachelor's Degree in Business or Related Field

Tools

CRM Software

Microsoft Office Suite

Job description

Division/ Department: Trade
Location: Toronto
Reporting to: SVP Trade Division

Goway Travel was founded in Toronto in 1970 by Bruce Hodge, a young Australian economist who moved to Canada to follow his dreams. From there, we have established ourselves as a global influence with offices in Toronto, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Sydney, and Manila. While the travel industry endured major challenges, our strong foundations allowed Goway to forge ahead. We continually innovated, invested in new technology, and challenged the status quo.

Still owned and operated by Bruce, with the support of his leadership board, our mission has always been to help our clients realize their travel dreams. Today, we are an industry-leading, global travel company with over 600 employees. Our team of experts utilizes cutting-edge technology to tailor-make 4 and 5-star travel experiences in over 100 countries around the world.

At Goway Travel, we're not just a company; we're a family of dreamers and doers, inspired by our founder’s incredible journey. If you’re passionate about travel and innovation, we invite you to be a part of our exciting journey!

The Role:

As the Vice President for Africa, you will lead the strategic growth and profitability of the region, driving revenue, delivering exceptional customer service, and enhancing market competitiveness. Key responsibilities include developing and executing annual and multi-year business plans, identifying opportunities for expansion, and negotiating favorable partnerships to improve margins. You will oversee sales and marketing initiatives, manage promotional campaigns, and ensure accurate and up-to-date product offerings. Additionally, you will lead staff training programs, foster high performance, and maintain rigorous reporting to track progress against targets. This role demands a strong strategic vision, excellent negotiation skills, and the ability to inspire teams to exceed goals while upholding the brand's standards across the region.

Key Responsibilities

• Meet and exceed budgeted pre-tax income
• Drive departments to provide exceptional customer service as a way of doing business and putting the company ahead of the competition
• Drive cost reductions through process improvement to maximize profitability and margins
• Focus on growth opportunities e.g. U.S. market, high end clients, new product lines
• Reduce cyclicality of business and unprofitable quarters
• Maximize recoveries from tourism boards, suppliers, complementary organizations and airlines to fund promotions budget
• Prepare annual business plan and budget
• Prepare and forecast a business plan for 1 year, 3 years and 5 years plans
• Integrate acquisition targets to grow business and profitability

Sales, Promotions, and Trade Presentations

• Monitor and optimize sales leads, opportunities (Quotes) and booking conversion rate
• Initiate & coordinate promotional co-op marketing campaigns with tourism boards, suppliers airlines and travel agents
• Create presentations for all relevant department product as contracted by the company
• Effectively make presentations to the retail trade and consumers on an ongoing basis
• Organize promotional shows and exhibitions
• Monitor and follow-up agency sales reports to generate sales leads in conjunction with the Director of Sales
• Coordinate weekly and monthly promotions, e.g. flyers, eZines and press releases
• Ensure all website product is always accurate, up to date and is matched by the operating system (Ivector)
• Consistently monitor the goway.com visitor experience to ensure all pages remain interesting and enticing
• Liaise with all Goway departments to identify sales opportunities and action
• Monitor and approve all promotional expenditure, incl. shows, advertising, FAMS, mailings & e-blasts

Training

• Provide training and resources to your sales team on an ongoing basis, including new staff training
• Drive RISE program to maximize staff’s knowledge, sales, efficiency and customer service skills
• Training and support selling staff through monitoring client interactions
• Enhance training quizzes and “Expert” exam
• Liaise with suppliers to maximize training opportunities
• Maintain and update all product oriented training material
• Identify weak areas for individual staff members and set up ongoing training for them
• Inspire staff to be Experts (the best in the industry)

Product & Costing For Business Units

• Negotiate best pricing to gain competitive advantage and maximize margins
• Cost air & land packages for air-inclusive getaways on an ongoing basis
• Prepare up-to-date air-inclusive costings for web specials
• Assist the Product Managers with product selections, negotiating marketing support, costings and copy writing.
• Coordinate with product & marketing departments on all product merchandising to ensure correct and up-to-date product and pricing is in place in the system & web

Daily/Weekly/Monthly Reporting On All Responsible Business Units

• Report monthly on profitability per income statement vs budget
• Report weekly on gross booked sales including by destination, revenue type, region and staff vs budget and prior year and take corrective action as required. This is key to making travelled margin and operating budget
• Report monthly on quotes, leads (including campaign leads), lead source & conversion rates
• Monitor and increase conversion rates and enforce follow-up policy
• Gather competitor information and analyze data and react accordingly
• Monitor and review monthly commission sales targets with the Team leads/Reservations managers to ensure that targets as set by the department are understood and achieved on a monthly basis
• Ensure margins are maintained at minimum levels
• Monthly Manager’s Report to be submitted to SVP
• Monthly report to include performance against gross bookings budget and enquiries/conversions by region/destination/staff

Administration/Staffing

• Lead, manage & motivate sales teams as a pyramid
• Work with HR in change management, recruiting of staff for the departments
• Administer performance reviews (ensuring staff meet minimum sales targets)
• Work with executive team and HR to maintain and update department efficiency policies, procedures and the company code of conduct
• Oversee the organization of Fam trips and Prize Winner itineraries & arrangements
• Handle customer complaints & refunds

The Goway Ways

• Understand and advocate the Goway Ways by practicing them on a continual basis
• Promote and enthuse staff to embrace the Goway ways

Required Skills and Qualifications

• Full understanding of business ‘bottom line’ requirements
• Minimum three years working in a management capacity within the travel industry
• Proven superior sales and negotiation skills
• Must possess in-depth knowledge of our destinations
• Ability to motivate and lead incentive-driven team to sales success
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Able to travel domestically & internationally

The Goway Advantage:

At Goway Travel, we’re more than just a company—we’re a close-knit family that values inclusivity, diversity, and innovation. We offer a competitive salary with added support incentives, and we believe in taking care of our team with paid personal days and birthdays off. Plus, we provide ongoing training to help you stay ahead in the industry, and a comprehensive health benefits package to ensure you’re well-supported.

You’ll also have the chance to grow within the company, working with diverse teams in different locations and building a rewarding career with us.

How to Apply:

If you want to be part of an innovative and results-oriented team and work alongside supportive and knowledgeable staff, we encourage you to apply to Goway today and help us deliver the world to the Globetrotters in our midst. Let’s grow together. Click Apply Now!

*All candidates will be afforded equal opportunity through the recruiting process, but please be advised that only those candidates selected for interviews will be contacted.