Trafalgar River Charter & Tour Groups Business Development Director

The Travel Corporation; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 220,000; Full time

Job summary

The Travel Corporation seeks a seasoned Business Development Director to grow Trafalgar River Charter & Tour Groups in the USA. This fully remote role reports to North America leadership and focuses on river charter, group sales, and strategic partnerships.

You will lead end-to-end opportunities from prospecting to contracting, driving revenue and expanding direct and travel-trade channels across the region.

Qualifications

• Five+ years of sales and business development experience in river cruise sales.
• Proven contracting and negotiation experience with charter agreements.
• Track record of revenue growth and client relationship building.
• Experience expanding accounts across direct, trade, affinity, or custom group channels.

Responsibilities

• Deliver passenger and revenue growth across Trafalgar River and Trafalgar Tours in the USA, with emphasis on river charter opportunities.
• Develop and expand group business across direct, travel trade, affinity, MICE and emerging channels.
• Identify and convert full-ship charter opportunities for Trafalgar River and applicable TTC products.
• Lead charter and group opportunities through qualification, commercial proposal development, negotiation, contracting and conversion.
• Generate new-to-brand revenue through strategic partnerships, proactive prospecting and market expansion.
• Build and grow relationships with national partners, including host agencies and affinity organizations.
• Identify whitespace opportunities across customer segments, destinations and product offerings.
• Maintain a strong, visible sales pipeline and use Salesforce and reporting tools to monitor activity, conversion and performance.
• Partner cross-functionally to align opportunities with product availability, commercial priorities and operational capabilities.
• Provide senior leaders with clear insights into group performance, market trends and emerging growth opportunities.

Skills

River cruise sales

Business development

Contracting

Negotiation

Strategic partnerships

Lead generation

Cross-functional collaboration

Salesforce

Tools

Salesforce

Job description

All Jobs > Trafalgar River Charter & Tour Groups Business Development Director

Trafalgar River Charter & Tour Groups Business Development Director

Fully Remote United States Sales

Full-time

Description

At The Travel Corporation, we are Enriching lives by connecting people and places.

For over 100 years, we’ve been bringing the world closer together by crafting journeys that create lasting memories, lifelong friendships and meaningful cultural connections. Across more than 70 countries and our award-winning brands, we design and deliver travel experiences that go beyond sightseeing. They change perspectives.

Behind every unforgettable journey is a passionate team making it happen. That’s where you come in.

Our Values

• Value Every Voice. We put people first.
• Act with Integrity. We do what is right.
• Explore Beyond Boundaries. We are driven by curiosity.
• Own the Outcome. We take responsibility for our decisions.
• Succeed Together. We have each other’s backs.

The Role

This is an exciting opportunity for an accomplished commercial leader to shape and grow Trafalgar River's charter and tour group business across the USA.

Reporting to the Vice President of Groups, North America, you will be responsible for growing charter, river and tour group passenger volume and revenue across Trafalgar in the USA with a particular focus on developing the full-ship charter channel. You will identify new distribution opportunities, build strategic partnerships and lead complex opportunities from initial prospecting through negotiation, contracting and conversion.

More than an account management role, this position offers the opportunity to build a high-performing group sales channel, influence Trafalgar’s broader North America Groups strategy and create meaningful commercial growth across direct and travel trade markets.

What Will You Do?

• Deliver passenger and revenue growth across Trafalgar River and Trafalgar Tours in the USA, with an emphasis on river charter opportunities.
• Develop and expand group business across direct, travel trade, affinity, MICE and emerging channels.
• Identify and convert full-ship charter opportunities for Trafalgar River and applicable TTC products.
• Lead charter and group opportunities through qualification, commercial proposal development, negotiation, contracting and conversion.
• Generate new-to-brand revenue through strategic partnerships, proactive prospecting and market expansion.
• Build and grow relationships with national partners, including host agencies and affinity organizations.
• Identify whitespace opportunities across customer segments, destinations and product offerings.
• Maintain a strong, visible sales pipeline and use Salesforce and reporting tools to monitor activity, conversion and performance.
• Partner cross-functionally to align opportunities with product availability, commercial priorities and operational capabilities.
• Provide senior leaders with clear insights into group performance, market trends and emerging growth opportunities.

Requirements

About You

• At least five years of sales and business development experience in river cruise sales.
• Proven experience negotiating and contracting charter agreements, supported by strong commercial acumen.
• A successful track record of driving revenue growth and building long-term client relationships.
• Experience developing new business and expanding existing accounts across direct, trade, affinity or custom group channels.
• Strong knowledge of the North American direct and travel trade landscape, including host agencies.
• Experience working cross-functionally to bring complex group opportunities to market.
• Strong communication, influencing and commercial negotiation skills.
• Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, target-driven sales environment.
• Experience with complex group, charter, MICE or high-value partnership opportunities.
• Experience using Salesforce or similar sales reporting and pipeline management tools.

The Travel Corporation is committed to creating an inclusive workplace where everyone is valued and supported. If you require an adjustment during the recruitment process, please let our Talent Acquisition team know.