Product and Contracting
The Product Department is responsible for the products that go on sale. Whether this is within a wholesaler and pulling together the various elements to create a package or choosing which airlines to negotiate contracts with to sell to the public or choosing which hotels are sold within the programme. It is a Contractors role within the product department to negotiate rates for hotels, flights, car hire and transfers and often involves overseas travel. The product department often provide pricing and margin targets to the database loaders in order to produce brochures or web content along with copy writing. C&M Travel Recruitment work with many of the major travel companies as well as airlines, tour operators and cruise companies across Australia to provide product staff solutions. There are a number of roles that C&M Travel Recruitment recruit for in the Product sector including:
Product Manager will feed information through to the contractor or themselves go and secure contracts with suppliers within specified countries. This involves monitoring sales performance for products within the contracting remit. The Product Manager will price all products and set capacity levels, with ongoing yield management to ensure high load factors and profitability for the company.
Product Co-ordinator/Executive will assist the Product Manager in their day-to-day duties often to an assigned destination. Researching, copywriting, entering product information into reservations system and liasing with suppliers are all aspects of the product executive position. Destination knowledge is desirable when applying for a Product Executive position.
Head of Product takes complete responsibility for the product department. It generally includes product development and planning, yield management, pricing and & financial control. Head of product will seek new product innovation and product development.
The Contractor will negotiate and agree all contracts whether flights, car hire, or accommodation to sell to the public. The Contractor will secure the best possible rates, conditions and inventory with the various suppliers and must have a good knowledge of revenue management and extensive travel industry knowledge. Language skills are a bonus for this role as extensive overseas travel is often required.
Contracts Assistant will assist the contracts department in the contracting of hotels and developing relationships with them. Generally it also involves loading information onto in-house systems and managing any erratas that arise. The Contracts assistant will also assist in the management of allotment and allocations.
Contracts Manager will ensure that the product is effectively contracted, negotiated and costed and securing the best inventory possible. You will need good commercial experience and be a strong negotiator. You will also ensure minimum financial exposure and ensure that all health and safety checks are carried out to required standards as well as liaise with other departments to source special offers from the airlines and hotels for tactical offers. A contracts manager is usually assigned to a geographic region.
