UH Reservations - Reservationist

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Ultimate Hikes in Queenstown is hiring a Reservationist to be the welcoming first contact for prospective walkers, manage bookings from inquiry to arrival, and support guest services and administration from the Duke Street office. You’ll report to the Guest Services Manager and HR & Administration Manager, with no financial authority but involvement in payments, invoicing and banking per policy. Essential: proven guest-service and reservations experience, proficiency with reservations systems, strong communication and teamwork, solid spreadsheet and numerical accuracy, and the right to work in New Zealand. Desirable: outdoors or tourism interest and familiarity with booking engines. In your application, show high-volume reservation success, peak-season resilience, collaboration across teams, and alignment with the Tiaki Promise, plus a brief note on how you would maintain service standards from booking to departure.

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Ultimate Hikes are the exclusive operators of multi day guided walks on the famous Milford & Routeburn Tracks. The tracks are New Zealand's most iconic of the Great Walks, and along with the Greenstone Track, showcase the majestic nature of Fiordland and Mt Aspiring National Parks. We combine the opportunity to inhabit these great locations and challenging hiking tracks with the comfort of private lodges and unique hospitality in the most remote of locations. Over the season we employ a range of people who work together to make our guided walks the most memorable experience for our guests.


Position Description – Reservationist

Ultimate Hikes are the exclusive operators of multi day guided walks on the famous Milford & Routeburn Tracks.

The tracks are New Zealand's most iconic of the Great Walks, and along with the Greenstone Track, showcase the majestic nature of Fiordland and Mt Aspiring National Parks. We combine the opportunity to inhabit these great locations and challenging hiking tracks with the comfort of private lodges and unique hospitality in the most remote of locations.

Over the season we employ a range to people to work together to make our guided walks the most memorable experience for our guests.

Purpose
The Reservationist is responsible for providing clear and concise information to prospective walkers, correspondence via phone and email, making reservations and assisting in general administrative duties. In season, the Reservationist will ensure continuity of care, by assisting Guest Services and the wider Ultimate Hikes teams in relation to individual and collective guest experience.
Location
The role is based in the Queenstown Ultimate Hikes office on Duke Street.
Relationships
The Reservationist reports to the Guest Services Manager and HR & Administration Manager, and works closely with the Ultimate Hikes office staff and Ultimate Hikes Centre staff.
Authority Level
This role has no financial authority – all expenditure must be pre-approved.
Key responsibilities

Reservationists play a significant part in Ultimate Hikes successfully providing an excellent experience for our guests. We expect our team to approach each working day in a positive and enthusiastic manner. Reservationists’ tasks include but are not limited to:

Reservations
• First point of contact for prospective guests via phone and email, providing professional and friendly advice and information on all aspects of Ultimate Hikes’ products and services.
• Ensure our guests’ experience from booking to arrival at the Ultimate Hikes Centre meets or exceeds our service standards.
• Manage internal communication system for guest information during the season, ensuring any individual issues or guest requests are actioned, communicated and shared to the appropriate people in a timely manner.
• Provide follow up communication with guests following their return, including distribution of group photos and communicating with “did not complete” walkers.
• Check all online bookings as they come in and manually book guests reservations via telephone and email.
• Monitor and report system maintenance requirements and booking engine development in liaison with Intouch and Ultimate Hikes management.
• In conjunction with the Guest Services Manager, work with the Communications Manager to ensure all walker communications and common enquiry responses are relevant and updated as required.
• Ensuring a seamless connection between the website and booking engine, via the Communications Manager.
• Support the Guest Services Manager in ensuring relevant business reports are produced, payments are processed, invoicing is actions and banking is carried out in accordance with financial and accounting requirements.

Ultimate Hikes Centre
• Coordinate with the Guest Services Manager and HR & Administration Manager, the recruitment of seasonal UHC staff.
• Maintain and update comprehensive training manuals for UHC staff.
• Provide assistance to Ultimate Hikes Centre, as required.

Other
• Assist in general administrative and other duties as required.

Health and Safety
All Ultimate Hikes staff are required to take reasonable care of their own health and safety, and ensure their behaviours do not adversely affect the health and safety of other people as per Ultimate Hikes Health & Safety plan.
You are also required to identify and report hazards within the workplace, and comply with all equipment training.

Person specifications
This part of the position description defines the key elements of our Reservationist. These descriptors of what success would look like will assist Ultimate Hikes in a variety of ways including:

• Setting a benchmark for leadership
• Assisting in the identification and recruitment of our guest services team
• Assisting in the retention of our team members

To keep the Success Profile simple, a framework comprising three components has been created. The details of each component are outlined in the following pages.

Person specification

What I have done (experience)
To be successful as a Reservationist, it is expected that the individual will have been exposed to experiences that shape their future responses to sometimes challenging situations.

Essential experience:
• Experience in a guest service and reservations role is required
• Proficiency in using reservations systems
• Experience working in a collaborative team environment
• Must be able to demonstrate effective communication skills, ensuring staff and clients understand our products, policy and/or requirements
• A demonstrable knowledge of speadsheets, with great numerical skills, high attention to detail and accuracy
• You must have the right to work in New Zealand

Desirable experience:
• Working in a people facing role
• Working in a tourism business
• Working for Ultimate Hikes or an affiliated Trojan Holdings company

What I know (knowledge)
Our team needs to know their stuff! This will ensure they deliver excellence and will contribute to their personal credibility.

Essential skills:
• A passion for providing excellent customer service
• Ability to show resilience when dealing with difficult situations
• Demonstrable examples of ways in which you have sought knowledge growth and applied new learning and skills by seeking and using feedback
• Knows what they don’t know, i.e. high awareness of limitations, and a determination to learn and improve
• Ability to control their outward behaviour especially under pressure
• Great attitude and a strong team player, and have a willingness to go the extra mile to get the job done.

Desirable skills:
• A love of the outdoors, tramping and hiking
• Confidence in speaking to medium sized groups

What am I capable of (personal characteristics)
These competencies define clusters of behaviours, knowledge, and motivations that are related to success or failure within our highly performing Guest Services team, and ones that we would like you to aspire to.

Driven By Achieving Results
• Ability to meet a challenging workload in high-pressure situations
• Competitive and has the will to succeed
• Seeks challenging performance opportunities
• Prepared to go the extra mile to get the job done

High-Speed Learning
• Continually challenges their own ability
• Has a desire for new learning – is constantly learning and seeking ways to improve
• Quickly applies learning to achieve results
• Seeks opportunities in learning

Self-Awareness
• Is clear on others’ expectations of them
• Understands the impact their behaviour has on others
• Challenges their own ability
• Remains humble
• Continually seeks feedback from colleagues and management
• Regularly challenges their own professional knowledge and skills

Passion/Tenacity/Resilience
• Working as a Reservationist is more than just a job
• Passion drives a strong work ethic
• Never lets up despite obstacles and setbacks
• Ability to achieve results through hard work, perseverance and high energy
• A ”can do” attitude with strong concept of the “team”


Specific to the people industry
Trust & Integrity
• Is direct and truthful
• Keeps confidences
• Doesn’t misrepresent themselves for personal gain
• Builds empathy
• Operates with integrity
• Ability to foster mutual trust and respect as a key component of creating honest one-on-one conversations

Adaptability
• Sees others’ views and tailors behaviour and messages appropriately
• Ability to maintain effectiveness when experiencing changes in processes, requirements, environments or cultures


Specific Characteristics
Building & Maintaining Relationships
• Relates well to all kinds of people
• Builds rapport well
• Uses diplomacy and tact when needed
• Has the patience to listen to others
• Remains open to ideas
• Supports others
• Well developed judgement and sense of integrity to deal with sensitive issues
• Ability to resolve conflict

Manages the Work
• Ability to multi-task with proven time management, prioritising and organisational skills
• Makes preparations so that own and others work can be done effectively
• Schedules to avoid conflict
• Leverages resources to complete work efficiently
• Stays focused to ensure completion

Planning & Prioritising
• Sets clear and realistic outcomes
• Zeros in on critical aspects and puts the trivial aside
• Breaks down work into objectives and process steps; relentlessly focussing on detail when necessary
• Anticipates and adjusts for roadblocks
• Evaluates performance against objectives

Continuous Improvement
• Encourages boundary breaking
• Suggests new possibilities
• Seeks new ways of delivering effective programme support


Ultimate Hikes are guardians of the environment we operate in. We are leaders in the safety and education of visitors to the region and we are responsible for the health, safety and wellbeing of the people who live and work there on our behalf.
We take this commitment very seriously and pledge that everything we do will be in keeping with our own Tiaki Promise - caring for people and place.