Tour Guide Partnership Specialist

We're recruiting on behalf of our client, a globally recognized brand operating in the tourism sector. We are looking for a highly capable Local Partner Acquisition Specialist to oversee and drive their local partner acquisition operations.

The position requires a profile capable of sourcing, vetting, and onboarding top-quality tour guides while building strong relationships with individual guides, local guide associations, and university tourism departments. It is essential that the candidate possesses a strong commercial and relationship-building mindset together with excellent outreach, structured interviewing, and pipeline management skills.

Key Responsibilities

• Proactively find tour guides through local directories, social media, guide marketplaces, university tourism programs, tourism offices, and referrals.
• Engage tourism departments, faculty, and student tourism clubs to identify emerging guides and program alumni.
• Investigate each candidate’s background, tour offerings, language skills, certifications, reviews, and social proof.
• Conduct outreach and run structured screening interviews to assess professionalism, storytelling ability, route knowledge, safety practices, and guest service.
• Score candidates against defined criteria, e.g., local knowledge, guest ratings, availability, language ability, and maintain a ranked pipeline.
• Prepare concise profiles and recommendations; present shortlisted guides to management with pros/cons and fit-for-market notes.
• Negotiate basic commercial terms, pilot partnerships, and assist with onboarding logistics including contracts, scheduling, and pricing guidance.
• Test new sourcing channels such as community groups, tourism job boards, alumni networks, and events to refine outreach plays.
• Maintain accurate records, track candidate conversion metrics, and maintain a rigorous reporting discipline for weekly pipeline health.
• Gather guide and guest feedback from pilot phases and share insights to improve selection criteria and partnership terms.

Qualifications

• 1–3 years of experience in business development, recruiting, partnerships, or hospitality/tourism operations.
• Ability to adapt to an international corporate environment with a professional and global mindset.
• Strong outreach and interviewing skills; comfortable with field outreach and phone/video interviews.
• Familiarity with local tourism ecosystems and university structures is highly preferred.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Organized, detail-oriented, and able to manage multiple candidate pipelines effectively.
• Comfortable negotiating basic commercial terms and documenting agreements.
• Experience working with tour operators, DMCs, travel marketplaces, or university career services is preferred.
• Multilingual capabilities or direct experience evaluating multilingual guides.
• Experience onboarding independent contractors or freelance talent.
• Familiarity with local licensing and certification requirements for guides.
• Results-oriented, accountable, and proactive working approach.
• Flexibility to balance remote work with fieldwork and travel for evaluations.