Travel Contracting Manager (Luxury DMC) Full Time Job

Travel Contracting Manager (Luxury DMC) – Cape Town.

An established luxury travel company is looking for an experienced Travel Contracting Manager to strengthen its supplier network and secure the commercial agreements behind exceptional African travel experiences.

This is a hands-on role for someone who knows the DMC environment, understands the value of strong supplier relationships, and is confident negotiating rates, benefits, overrides, and bednight commitments.

You will work closely with hotels, lodges, transport providers, activity operators, and internal teams to ensure supplier agreements are commercially sound, competitive, and aligned with guest expectations.

The role suits someone who enjoys the balance of negotiation, relationship management, commercial analysis, and improving how contracting processes are managed.

DMC and tourism experience is essential, and applicants must already be living in Cape Town.

Start Date: As soon as possible

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Build and maintain strong relationships with hotels, lodges, transport providers, activity operators, and other tourism suppliers.
• Negotiate competitive rates, exclusive benefits, value-added offers, and favourable commercial terms.
• Manage contracts from negotiation through to implementation, working closely with the Rates Team to ensure agreements are accurately captured and applied.
• Negotiate override agreements, bednight commitments, and other commercial opportunities that improve revenue potential and strengthen the travel offering.
• Identify opportunities to improve supplier terms, product competitiveness, and overall commercial performance.
• Work closely with internal teams to ensure supplier agreements support business priorities, market demand, and exceptional guest experiences.
• Monitor supplier performance, profitability, contract outcomes, and agreed commitments.
• Analyse commercial data and provide clear recommendations to improve supplier and contract performance.
• Use travel systems, data, AI, and automation where appropriate to improve contracting processes and reduce unnecessary manual work.
• Maintain professional, trusted relationships with both supplier partners and internal stakeholders.

Requirements:

• You must currently be based in Cape Town.
• A Degree or Diploma in Tourism, Commerce, Contracting, or a related field.
• A minimum of 3 to 5 years of experience in procurement, contracting, or supplier management within a DMC environment.
• Strong knowledge of the tourism industry and supplier contracting process.
• Proven experience working with hotels, lodges, transport suppliers, activity providers, or similar travel partners.
• Experience using a travel booking system.
• Strong commercial understanding, including rates, margins, supplier performance, and profitability.
• Excellent negotiation skills with the confidence to secure commercially beneficial agreements.
• Strong analytical skills and confidence working with systems and data.
• An interest in using AI and automation to improve efficiency.
• Strong interpersonal and relationship management skills.
• The ability to influence suppliers and internal stakeholders while maintaining constructive working relationships.
• Excellent attention to detail and the ability to manage multiple contracts, deadlines, and priorities.

If you are an experienced DMC contracting professional who wants to play a direct role in shaping high-quality African travel experiences, this is an opportunity to put your commercial knowledge and supplier relationships to meaningful use.