Product Manager, Shore Excursions

Job Description

Holland America Line has been exploring the world since 1873. Our ships offer innovative features and enriching experiences focused on destination exploration and personalized travel, inviting guests to savor the journey.

We are looking for a Product Manager, Shore Excursion Product Development & Operations. The Product Manager, Shore Excursion Product Development & Operations has responsibility for overseeing product demand, viability, utilization, and profitability of tours. The position will develop, implement, and evolve a diverse shore excursion program guided by our brand framework across a broad spectrum of ports with a primary focus on value, delivery, and guest satisfaction.

This role will typically be challenged with ensuring the best-in-class tour programs, meeting the needs of our demographic, ensuring sufficient capacity to accommodate demand and to secure optimal program spread. This role is also challenged to maintain competitive product costs and stay abreast of new trends to optimize sales.

Here’s a summary of what Holland America Line is looking for. Is this you?

• Product Management & Development
  • Use online bidding database to proof content of and direct marketing in messaging of tour descriptions to ensure online content is accurately marketed to guests. Adhere to a series of non-financial deadlines and year-round product openings. In addition to managing tour product, this role will determine overland products offered based on corporate deployment plans.
  • Sourcing of tour operators and new programs and keeping informed of competition initiatives and advantages
  • Research, creation, and development
  • Cost negotiations, comparisons, and bidding
  • Content management, updates, accuracy
  • Analyze historical tour data, booking trends/product performance across brands and individual ships
  • Recommend and review retail pricing for all tour products to ensure profitability and demand.
• Operations
  • Maintain and actively monitor lines of communication with the On-Board Revenue department, Tour Operators, and seagoing Shore Excursion teams in order to troubleshoot and problem-solve operational issues, including but not limited to guest incidents, guest service issues, program revision (political issues, strikes), guests visa issues, port changes or cancelations. Serve as the escalation point for product and service issues - delegate and follow through to resolution.
  • Monitoring waitlists (find creative solutions to accommodate demand)
  • Tour adaption driven by port limitations
  • Last minute port changes, cancelations
  • Operational challenges
  • Guest issues
  • Incidents on tour and reporting
  • Keeping informed of any major events that may impact delivery of the published program
• Sourcing and Cost Management
  • Select, evaluate, and manage vendor partnerships. Use these relationships, along with data analytics, to solve problems and achieve business goals. Negotiate competitive rates with vendors and adhere to company developed procurement standards.
  • Reviews vendor selection based on costing and service delivery
  • Participate in bidding
• Leadership
  • Communicate business requirements and expectations to develop strategic direction for both the shoreside and onboard teams. Guide and delegate responsibilities to Specialists in overall process of product development and provide mentoring.
  • Coach onboard teams with (product/issues/incidents/reporting)
  • Mentor Tour Operators on framework requirements, brand initiatives, new set up.

• Scope:
  This role will typically be challenged with ensuring the best-in-class tour programs, meeting the needs of our demographic, ensuring sufficient capacity to accommodate demand and to secure optimal program spread. This role is also challenged to maintain competitive product costs and stay abreast of new trends to optimize sales.
• Problem Solving:
  Assist with Itinerary Planning by providing information on desirable ports, dates, timings, or clashes. Focus on the financial and commercial aspects of the shore excursion product development. Maintain focus on nominated ‘high volume ports’ for each trade and prioritize development time accordingly. Monitoring waitlists (find…