Luxury Travel Designer

Academie des Arts de Vivre (AAV Luxury Travel); Chiswick; Hybrid; GBP 34,000 - 42,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days holiday + bank holidays

Birthday day off

Workplace pension

Tool training

Client ownership from day one

Job summary

Académie des Arts de Vivre in London is seeking a Luxury Travel Designer to turn enquiries from American travellers into unforgettable trips across France and Western Europe. You will own each client from first contact to final proposal, designing itineraries, costings, and guiding them to book, in close collaboration with our CEO and operations team.

The role requires 3+ years selling luxury travel, strong France/Western Europe knowledge, flawless English, and excellent organisational skills.

Qualifications

• At least 3 years selling luxury or tailor-made travel.
• First-hand knowledge of France and Western Europe.
• Excellent written and spoken English with a polished, warm style.
• Accurate and highly organised, comfortable with numbers and deadlines.
• Eligibility to work in the UK.

Responsibilities

• Respond to new enquiries quickly by email, phone and video call.
• Run discovery calls to understand client interests, pace, style and budget.
• Design day-by-day itineraries using our house format and Travefy, with costing.
• Request rates from hotels, guides and partners and build the costing.
• Present proposals with care and follow up until the client decides.
• Hand sold trips to our operations team with complete, accurate details.
• Build lasting relationships with returning clients.
• Proactively reengage past clients and inactive leads in HubSpot.

Skills

Luxury travel sales

France & Western Europe knowledge

English communication

Attention to detail

Right to work in UK

Tools

HubSpot CRM

Job description

Luxury Travel Designer, France and Western Europe

Location: London office, full time.

Salary: £34,000 to £42,000 depending on experience, plus commission (OTE £50,000 to £60,000).

About Académie des Arts de Vivre

For more than 20 years, Académie des Arts de Vivre has designed private, tailor made journeys through France and western Europe for discerning American travellers. We know our destinations intimately: France above all, as well as the UK, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Belgium. We favour boutique, independent, characterful hotels, private guides and experiences our clients could never find alone. We are a small, close team based in London, and we are growing.

The role

You will turn enquiries from American travellers into unforgettable trips. You will own each client from the first conversation to the final proposal: understanding what they want, designing the itinerary, working with our partners to cost it, and guiding them to book. You will work closely with our CEO and with our operations team, who book and manage every trip once sold, and you will be trained on our tools and internal processes.

What you will do

Selling to our clients:

• Respond to new enquiries quickly and warmly, by email, phone and video call.
• Run discovery calls to understand each client's interests, pace, style and budget.
• Design day by day itineraries in our house format, using our itinerary software (Travefy).
• Request rates and availability from hotels, guides and partners, and build the costing.
• Present proposals and follow up with care, never pressure, until the client decides.
• Hand sold trips to our operations team with complete, accurate details.
• Build lasting relationships with returning clients.
• Proactively reengage your own past clients and inactive leads in our CRM (HubSpot) with thoughtful, personal outreach.

Building our partner network and know how:

• Contact and vet potential new guides, drivers, transport companies and hotels.
• Find new experiences, activities and ideas for client trips.
• Continually enrich our CRM (HubSpot) and Travefy with what you learn about partners, places and clients.

What you will bring

Essential:

• At least 3 years selling luxury or tailor made travel (ideally 5 years or more), with a track record of converting enquiries into high value bookings.
• First hand knowledge of France and western Europe.
• Excellent written and spoken English, with a polished, warm style suited to affluent clients.
• Accuracy and organisation: you are comfortable with detail, numbers and deadlines.
• The right to work in the UK.

Desirable:

• A second language spoken in one of our destinations (French, Italian, Spanish or Dutch).
• Experience with American clients.
• Experience with a CRM, ideally HubSpot.

Working pattern

Five days a week in our London office for the first months during your onboarding, then hybrid: 3 to 4 days in the office and 1 to 2 days from home. As our clients are in North America, some calls take place in the late afternoon or early evening UK time.

What we offer

1.Base salary of £34,000 to £42,000 plus uncapped commission on the trips you sell.

• 25 days' holiday plus bank holidays, and a day off on your birthday.
• Workplace pension.
• Training on our tools and internal processes, and real ownership of your clients from day one.