Meet the Diversity Travel team: Rowan Burnett

This month’s travel team focus is on our Supplier Relations Executive, Rowan Burnett. He talks us through some of the steps involved in gaining the best fares for our clients and also gives a brief insight into his fascinating travel past.

What does your job involve?

Working within the Supplier Relations team ultimately involves negotiating with airlines, hotels and rail providers to ensure our clients have access to the most cost-effective and flexible rates, with a particular focus for academic, humanitarian and missionary specialist fares.

It’s not just the cost that we consider when selecting our air, hotel and transport partners, quality, reliability and service remain key factors.
We have close relationships with most global air and hotel providers as well as the smaller, more niche ones, which is something non-specialist travel companies don’t offer. I feel that our extensive airline and hotel expertise helps our clients to book in confidence.

What are you working on at the moment?

At the moment I’m looking into increasing our accommodation offering. We’re always adding to our existing list of providers in order to deliver a wider spread of hotel options.
On a daily basis, my role requires me to keep all our teams within Diversity Travel updated about further enhancements to existing, as well as new exclusive contracts we have negotiated for our customers. I work very closely with Operations and our Reservations team, so for them, it could be anything from announcing new routes to launching specialist fares.

What do you enjoy most about working at Diversity Travel?

At Diversity Travel, although we are a TMC based in the UK, we operate globally and it’s great to be able to genuinely contribute towards our success and make my mark. I really enjoy having the opportunity to make decisions that can have a company-wide impact and then working with the teams to implement them.
It’s a pleasure to work with clients that are involved in such worthwhile projects, it acts as extra motivation to know my efforts are going even a small way to assist with these endeavours.

What is the best destination you have travelled to?

Can I only choose one?
Probably Central and South America. I was lucky enough to have the chance to volunteer in Costa Rica teaching English. Staying with locals (who essentially adopted me!) gave an amazing insight into their culture and allowed me to perfect my Spanish. I love languages, they open up so many doors for travellers! (I’m working hard not to lose the lingo while based in Manchester)
I also travelled through Brazil which is one of the most incredible places. We took a trip out fishing in the Pantanal where I soon found myself swimming with caiman… it’s something I would advise against!

If you were stranded on a desert island and could only take three things, what would they be?

No brainer. I’d take a cloth, a lamp and a genie that could grant unlimited wishes.