TRAVEL SALES MANAGER
CAPE TOWN — HYBRID WORKING
COMPETITIVE SALARY + BONUS STRUCTURE
Join a Cape Town DMC specialising in tailor-made travel across Southern and East Africa. As Travel Sales Manager, you’ll design and manage your own itineraries while guiding the consultants and helping ensure every booking is delivered to a high standard.
▌ Do you?
Love creating exceptional tailor-made African itineraries and seeing every detail through from the first enquiry to your clients’ return? Do you have the destination knowledge and commercial eye to quote complex trips confidently, protect margins and keep bookings running smoothly?
Perhaps you’re already guiding other consultants, or you’re ready to take that next step. If you enjoy sharing your knowledge, checking the detail and helping a team deliver consistently excellent service while managing your own bookings, this could be the role for you.
▌ Our Customer
Our client is a Cape Town-based destination management company entering a new chapter as it joins a UK travel group. The DMC will handle African bookings for the group’s UK travel business, creating and operating tailor-made journeys across Southern and East Africa.
They are looking for a Travel Sales Manager to manage their own portfolio of bookings and support the General Manager in overseeing the Cape Town consultants and the day-to-day reservations and operations function.
▌ The Role
In this role, you will manage your own portfolio of tailor-made African bookings while supporting the team’s output, service standards and day-to-day office operation.
– Manage a portfolio of B2B enquiries — checking availability, designing, costing, quoting and operating complex African itineraries
– Support the allocation of enquiries and bookings according to workload, expertise and priority
– Review selected quotations and booking files for routing, rate, margin and accuracy before release
– Oversee the booking lifecycle and ensure supplier deposits and pre-payments are paid before deadlines
– Act as a point of support for the sales team, sharing knowledge and helping resolve complex queries
– Feed back to the General Manager on team performance, workload and product gaps
– Help manage escalations, in-travel issues and supplier disputes, keeping UK stakeholders informed
▌ Experience Required
– At least 5 years’ experience in African inbound travel, preferably within a DMC, safari operator or specialist tour operator
– Strong destination and product knowledge across Southern Africa; East Africa knowledge also desirable
– Expertise in complex luxury FIT itinerary design, costing, reservations and on-the-ground operations
– Good commercial understanding of rates, margins, mark-ups, supplier terms, currencies and payment risk
– Experience managing consultants or a reservations team in a supportive way
– A proactive, supportive approach, with the confidence to take ownership and know when to escalate
▌ Benefits
– Competitive salary with a bonus structure
– Hybrid working
– Opportunities for educational trips and destination visits
– A supportive team environment
– Opportunity to develop within a growing specialist DMC
▌ Frequently Asked Questions
What is the salary for this Sales Manager role?
A competitive salary with a bonus structure. Ambitions Travel Recruitment will share the full package details with shortlisted candidates.
What does hybrid working look like in this role?
The role is based at the Cape Town office with hybrid working. Ambitions Travel Recruitment can confirm the exact structure with shortlisted candidates.
Is African travel / DMC experience required?
Yes — at least 5 years’ experience in African inbound travel is required, ideally within a DMC, safari operator or specialist tour operator.
What does a Sales Manager role at a DMC involve?
Managing a personal portfolio of tailor-made bookings while supporting a General Manager with the team’s day-to-day reservations, service standards and commercial accuracy.
How do I apply through Ambitions Travel Recruitment?
Apply via this page. Ambitions Travel Recruitment reviews every application personally — no automated screening. Register at ambitionstravelrecruitment.com to be considered for future roles.
Who are Ambitions Travel Recruitment?
Ambitions Travel Recruitment is the leading global recruitment agency dedicated exclusively to leisure travel. We place exceptional professionals at every level, from entry-level roles to C-suite appointments, across tour operating, luxury and tailor-made travel, safari, expedition and adventure travel, ocean and river cruise, ski, and UHNW concierge businesses. Our specialist leisure travel recruitment services cover the UK, South Africa, the GCC, Asia and North America.
Click here to apply for this Travel Sales Manager job, which is being recruited by Ambitions Travel Recruitment.
Ambitions Travel Recruitment places professionals across all areas of leisure travel, including tour operators, tailor-made travel, safari companies, expedition and adventure travel, ocean and river cruise lines, ski operators, and UHNW concierge businesses, in the UK, South Africa, GCC, Asia, and North America. With over 100 combined years of industry experience, we are trusted by global corporations, independent travel businesses, and growing operators to source hard-to-find specialists through a headhunting approach that reaches candidates who never appear on job boards.
▌ IMPORTANT
– If this role ticks your boxes and you’ve got the relevant experience, then click and apply
– If this role isn’t for you but you’d be keen to receive suitable job alerts, then register with us now www.ambitionstravelrecruitment.com
– Due to the massive number of applications, we receive, we’re usually only able to reply to candidates whose requirements meet our customers’ needs. We’re super grateful that you take the time to apply, and we will save your CV and be in touch for other suitable roles
– Please visit our website www.ambitionstravelrecruitment.com for our full privacy policy which explains how we store and access your personal data and our candidate promise to never share your details with an employer without your prior consent etc.
