Senior Travel Designer at The Wilderness, Apply now!

Job Details

📌 Job Title: Senior Travel Designer
🏢 Company: Wilderness
💼 Department: Business Development
🌍 Industry: Leisure, Travel and Tourism
📍 Location: Johannesburg or Cape Town, South Africa
🕒 Job Type: Permanent

Company Overview

Wilderness is a leading luxury travel company that creates unforgettable safari and travel experiences across Southern and East Africa. The company is recognised for combining world-class hospitality with a strong commitment to sustainability, wildlife conservation and community development.

Wilderness offers guests exclusive journeys through some of Africa’s most spectacular destinations while maintaining a deep respect for nature and local communities. Employees are encouraged to bring creativity, passion and exceptional service to every guest experience.

Job Overview

The Senior Travel Designer will create and manage tailor-made luxury travel itineraries for guests and travel agents. This role requires a strong understanding of luxury travel, exceptional customer service skills and the ability to design unique journeys across Southern and East Africa.

You will work closely with travel agents, operations teams and sales specialists to deliver personalised experiences while ensuring that bookings are profitable, accurate and aligned with Wilderness standards.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and deliver customised luxury travel itineraries
• Build strong relationships with travel agents and guests
• Provide prompt, professional and solution-focused service
• Recommend and upsell additional experiences to enhance guest journeys
• Create travel plans based on guest interests, preferences and budgets
• Prepare accurate quotations and maintain detailed booking records
• Ensure all bookings and travel arrangements are executed correctly
• Coordinate closely with operations and reservations teams
• Monitor booking margins, bed nights and financial performance
• Stay updated on Wilderness camps, lodges and travel experiences across Southern and East Africa
• Use internal systems and travel technology to manage bookings efficiently
• Communicate clearly with all stakeholders throughout the travel process
• Resolve travel or booking issues quickly and professionally

Qualifications

Education

• Matric with Mathematics (Standard Grade or higher)
• Tertiary qualification in Travel and Tourism, Hospitality or a related field

Experience

• 4 to 5 years of experience in a senior travel design, reservations or travel consulting role
• Proven experience in itinerary planning, customer service and travel sales
• Experience working with travel booking systems and managing high-end travel arrangements

Skills

• Strong knowledge of Southern and East African travel destinations
• Excellent customer service and relationship-building ability
• Strong sales and upselling skills
• Excellent organisational and administrative ability
• Exceptional attention to detail
• Strong communication skills in English
• Additional European language skills will be advantageous
• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines
• Passion for wildlife, travel and conservation

Systems Knowledge

• Tourplan
• Microsoft Office
• Familiarity with Wilderness Window, WETU and Smartbox systems will be advantageous

CV Tips

To improve your chances of being shortlisted:

• Highlight your experience creating luxury or tailor-made travel itineraries
• Include examples of successful travel sales, upselling or high-value bookings
• Mention any knowledge of Southern or East African destinations
• Clearly list the travel reservation systems and software you have used
• Emphasise your customer service, communication and relationship-building skills
• Include any language skills, especially European languages
• Tailor your CV to show your passion for travel, wildlife and conservation

Benefits of Joining the Company

• Opportunity to work for one of Africa’s leading luxury travel companies
• Be part of a team passionate about conservation and wildlife
• Gain deeper knowledge of Southern and East African destinations
• Access to ongoing training and familiarisation trips
• Work in a supportive and collaborative environment
• Opportunity to create memorable travel experiences for guests
• Career growth within a respected international travel brand

Company Policy

Wilderness is committed to creating an inclusive, supportive and environmentally responsible workplace. The company values diversity, creativity and equal opportunity and welcomes applications from suitably qualified candidates from all backgrounds.

Wilderness is dedicated to sustainable tourism, wildlife conservation and community empowerment, and all employees are expected to support these values in their daily work.