Operations ManagerCore responsibilities

1. Consistency check: verifying the itinerary before starting to book

  • Hotels booked: first of all, check that the primary has already booked all the hotels. Hotels are critical — availability is limited and prices change often — but booking them is the primary's responsibility, not the Operations Manager's. The Operations Manager does, however, check that the rooms have been booked correctly: twin or double as requested, and that the group has all the rooms it needs. In addition, if a hotel was booked through Stuba or GoGlobal and the booking exceeds €1,000 (whatever the hotel category), or if it is a 5-star, the Operations Manager sends a direct request to the hotel to check whether we can book directly.
  • Geographical consistency of the programme: supervise the designer's work and catch inconsistencies — e.g. an excursion scheduled in Paris while the hotels show the client in Nice that day.
  • Opening days and closures: check that sites and museums are actually open when the visits are scheduled — e.g. the Vatican booked on a Sunday, when it is closed, is an error to catch.
  • Internal consistency of each day: the timings must add up — travel time plus visit time must leave real room to do everything. (Hotel → Vatican, hours at the Vatican, Vatican → Colosseum, hours at the Colosseum, then back to the hotel or on with the day.)
  • Every transfer defined and every distance checked: for every move from one point to another it must be clear how the traveller gets there — on foot, by their own means, or with a transfer with a driver provided by us. It is never left to chance. Distances must always be checked: a distance that looks short on paper may not be short on foot, and a transfer may be pointless if the destination is just a few steps away.
  • "Location changed" services: if a service is flagged in TripMade as "Location changed" (pick-up or drop-off changed by the Travel Designer), immediately check that price and description are still correct (see section 6).
VIT 4 TRAVELConsistency checkCheck the itinerary right after assignment, before booking.01HHotels and roomsCheck that the primary has booked allthe hotels: number and type of roomsmust match the request.02Geographical consistencyHotels, visits and services must be inthe right places on the planned dates.03Opening days and closuresCheck that museums and sites are openon the day and at the time of the visit.04Realistic timingsTravel and visit times must leaveenough time to complete the whole day.05Transfers and distancesFor every leg, make clear how thetraveller moves: on foot, by own meansor by transfer. Check the distances.06Location changedIf pick-up or drop-off change, recheckthe service price and descriptionright away.HDirect check with the hotelStuba or GoGlobal booking over €1,000, or a 5-star hotel:ask the hotel whether we can book directly.Validate the descriptions tooTravel Library descriptions must be adapted to the trip and checked against reliable sources.Check complete → OM VALIDATE → TAKEN → Bookings

Once the consistency check is complete, including the validation of descriptions (section 4), the Operations Manager sets the trip file to OM VALIDATE. Only after that, with the TAKEN command, does booking begin (see section 6).

The grey zone with the Travel Designer

The Operations Manager is operational and corrective: small adjustments are theirs to make. But there is a threshold. When there are too many errors, or the itinerary is left too open, it is not their job to rebuild it.

The right moment to notice this is the consistency check: if the trip file has too many errors, the Operations Manager does not validate it (no OM VALIDATE) and returns it immediately to the Travel Designer, asking for a revision and specifying precisely what is wrong and what is missing. Work only moves forward once the file comes back correct.

VIT 4 TRAVELCorrect or return?The consistency check decides the next step.Consistency checkFile corrected: new checkSmall adjustmentsOPERATIONS MANAGERCorrects the details and completesthe consistency check.Only after the checkOM VALIDATE → TAKENValidates the file, then starts the bookings.Too many errors orundefined itineraryTRAVEL DESIGNERThe Operations Manager returns the fileimmediately and states precisely what iswrong and what is missing.Ask for a revisionDO NOT set OM VALIDATEThe Travel Designer corrects and completes the file.The OM corrects, they don’t rebuild the itinerary.Work moves forward only when the file is correct, complete and consistent.

The Travel Designer cannot leave everything undefined: "train from Milan around 9" is acceptable; just "train from Milan on 26 May" is not — a minimum indication is always needed.