Full Time – 38.5 hours per week
The Company
Experience Oxfordshire is the Destination Management Organisation (DMO) for the county and trading arm of the parent company Experience Oxfordshire Charitable Trust. We are the lead organisation for promoting and developing leisure, business, and cultural tourism in Oxfordshire. Operating to not-for-profit principles, Experience Oxfordshire is a partnership organisation, actively engaged on a local, national, and international level to grow the visitor economy.
The Visitor Economy is vitally important to Oxfordshire. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic each year Oxfordshire welcomed over 30 million visitors to the County who spent £2.5 billion in the local economy which supported over 40,000 jobs – 12% of all jobs across Oxfordshire. Experience Oxfordshire work with businesses to grow and develop the Visitor Economy and promote Oxfordshire as a great destination to live, work, visit and do business.
The organisation is funded in part by its Partners who come from all sectors of the Oxfordshire economy including hotels, retail, events, transport and restaurants and more. We work with our Partners to collectively promote their products and services and grow the visitor economy across Oxfordshire through a variety of B2B and B2C channels. The organisation derives the rest of their income from providing a variety of services such as group travel, conference desk and consultancy as well as operating the award-winning Oxford Official Walking Tours.
For more information on Experience Oxfordshire go to;
experienceoxfordshire.flywheelstaging.com
experienceoxfordshire.flywheelstaging.com/partner
experienceoxfordshire.flywheelstaging.com/venues
www.oxfordofficialwalkingtours.org
The Role
To manage the day-to-day operation of Oxford Official Walking Tours (OOWT) as we embark on a period of significant growth and recovery post pandemic. In order to be the operations manager, you will have significant experience in a similar role including staff management, OTA and affiliate contracting and working to and exceeding income targets. The role will be responsible for managing the OOWT team members and managing the freelance guides that deliver the walking tours service. You will have a good working knowledge of online booking platforms and all MS Office packages. With excellent organisational skills and the ability to multi-task, you will excel in this role. The ideal candidate will have great written, verbal, presentation and communication skills and be able to liaise with a wide range of individuals on a daily basis. The individual will need to be innovative, a self-starter and be able to be reactive to challenges and opportunities.
Communication
Internally: Chief Executive and all internal departments.
Externally: Experience Oxfordshire partners, guides, affiliate and OTA contacts.
Main Responsibilities
- To be responsible for the management of the OOWT operation.
- To manage the tours team co-ordinator and ensure timely and accurate planning and tour allocations are taking place.
- To act as a liaison, point with the freelance guides ensuring that they are working to the OOWT code of conduct at all times.
- To produce monthly reports on sales and income and report against KPI’s.
- To work with the marketing team to ensure the tours are promoted appropriately ensuring they receive regular product updates.
- To work closely with the finance administrator on monthly reporting including guide payments and OTA and affiliate sales.
- To work across the team to ensure OTA and affiliate sales are increased.
- To provide cover for the tours team co-ordinator as required.
- To provide emergency weekend support for guides.
- To oversee new guide recruitment and training.
- To monitor looking system performance.
- Deal with customer queries and complaints as appropriate.
- Work with the team to continuously review and develop the OOWT product offering.
- Liaise positively and professional with colleagues, clients, suppliers and visitors.
- To be amiable, professional and approachable at all times.
- To carry out all duties in line with Equal Opportunities policies in operation.
- To undertake any such duties commensurate with the post as may be required.
Further Details
Responsible to: Chief Executive of Experience Oxfordshire
Direct Reports: Tours Team Co-Ordinator and Product Manager (temporary short-term contract)
Location: Langford Locks, Kidlington, Oxfordshire OX5 1HZ
Hours: 38.5 hours per week DOE
Salary: up to £30k FTE DOE
All enquiries about the role and applications should be made direct to kelly@strongrecruitment.co.uk