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Group Tour & Waterfront Coordinator — Part-Time

The Thames River Heritage Park Foundation (TRHPF) is looking for a talented individual who can handle a variety of responsibilities throughout the year and who will have a visible role in our growing non-profit organization. TRHPF is a collection of national and historic sites on two sides of the Thames River in Groton and New London, CT, linked by a water taxi that tells the stories that shaped our nation. It’s a new kind of state park — one without boundaries.

You will be on the front lines of our water taxi and boat tour operation promoting and coordinating boat and land tours Memorial Day Weekend through mid-September and growing our Group Tour business in the off season.

RESPONSIBILITIES

In Season (May through September)

Coordinate all group and boat tours.

Liaison with boat operator, tour group, restaurants, historic partner sites and tour guides
on the day of tours.

Make sure tours run smoothly and troubleshoot any logistical issues that may arise with schedules.
Oversee all online and point-of-sale ticket sales, refunds, reconciliations and cancellations, and respond to customer inquiries. Coordinate with boat operator for cash sales reconciliation.

Schedule and oversee volunteer docents for land tours at our three landing sites in Groton and New London.

Make sure boat operator has TRHPF materials on boats. Provide boat operator with any weekly sponsorship or other signage changes and instructions.

Off Season (October through April)

Build our group tour business by identifying and selling prospects, building relationship with tour operators and other tour groups and maintaining relationships with group leaders. You will:
Assist in creating tour materials and send to groups throughout New England/NY/NJ. Follow up on materials sent.

Locate, connect and build relationships with tour operators.

Build database of groups/operators for tours.

Send information to and follow up with area businesses and organizations for group tours, water taxi rides and boat charters.

Schedule tours, get deposits, get contracts signed, liaison with the group leaders, schedule tours at historic sites and coordinate and schedule TRHP tour guides and boat operator.

Maintain all tour schedules.

Coordinate with non-profit heritage and cultural partners for their tour/boat needs, as well as other initiatives.

Support Sponsorship, Membership and other marketing efforts and administrative needs.

QUALIFICATIONS & SKILLS

You must have:
Excellent interpersonal and communication skills and enjoy spending time outside.
Excellent organizational and management skills.
Some IT skills and good working knowledge of MS Office.
Some experience with boating and an interest in American history a plus.
Good customer service skills.

The right candidate must be able to ride on the boats and have experience working with the public or in tourism or travel trades preferred.

This position reports to the Executive Director.

The Thames River Heritage Park Foundation is a 501©3 non-profit organization whose mission and purpose is to develop, promote, coordinate, and help preserve a new type of Connecticut state park known as the Thames River Heritage Park. The park include sites of national and historical significance along the Thames River in and around the City and Town of Groton and New London, located across from each other near the mouth of the river. The Foundation carries out its mission in collaboration with the State of Connecticut, the United States Coast Guard, the United States Navy, local municipalities and regional authorities, and the numerous heritage sites within its area.

A primary role of the Foundation is the oversight and operation of a water shuttle system designed to transport visitors to and from sites of significance on both sides of the Thames River.

To apply for this position, please email your resume and cover letter to Cara MacDonald.

To borrow a quote from House Stark in Game of Thrones “Winter is coming.” With the shorter days and colder temperatures, the summer of 2018 is already a distant memory. But a very good one. Thousands rode the water taxi to visit sites and local restaurants, attend events and just get out on the water.

Now that our boats are out of the water and protected from the elements until May it’s time to start planning new initiatives for next season, tweaking some existing ones, and continuing to build the Park experience. A significant component to this is our Partner collaboration. Read more about it here. 

A Wonderful Holiday Gift Just Arrived

I am thrilled to share that the Park has received a $30,000 grant from the Panoram Foundation for operational and administrative support to continue to build the Park experience through collaboration with Partners, the water taxi operation as well as the development of historic boat tours. Read more.

Survey says . . .
For the 3rd consecutive year our water taxi riders rated us 4.8 out of 5. Find out what else we learned from our passengers.

Water Taxi and Boat Tour Operator Wanted
We are requesting proposals from licensed commercial tour boat operators to provide water taxi shuttle service and boat tours linking our historic sites along the Thames River Memorial Day weekend through mid-September 2019 – 2021. Read more.

Fort Tours coming in 2019

With the success of the tours led by Friends of Fort Griswold’s David Rose this past summer we plan to expand our tour offerings.

Tis the Season to Support the Park
With your support we can continue to build a thriving waterfront through the development of programming and events to create a historically rich visitor experience. Your donation – no matter the size – allows us to keep our history alive. Please give to the Park today.

We are Grateful
A hearty thank you to our 2018 sponsors whose support is so valuable to our success. Sponsorship is a great way for area businesses and organizations to get in front of new and potential customers. To find out about sponsorship opportunities please drop me a note. We’re happy to tailor it to your goals.

Best wishes for a happy, healthy and safe holiday season and New Year.
Cheers,

Amy Perry
Executive Director

Since its inception, the TRHP vision has been to engage the public with programming and events that promote heritage and culture. With a host of historic and cultural sites in the park we have a plethora of opportunities to build the Park experience through collaboration.

We are now doing just that. Seventeen historic, cultural and heritage sites in New London and Groton have signed on as TRHP Partners to collaborate on programming, events and a host of initiatives to create a Park experience that is diverse, robust, memorable and fun for the whole family. There are two categories of TRHP Partners: Site Partners which have a heritage or cultural location within the Park open to visitors, and Institutional Partners which are committed to preserving and promoting our culture and history which may not have a site such as historic associations, “Friends” organizations, and educational institutions.

Here is the list of those who have signed on as TRHP Partners that will work together to develop and promote a TRHP experience that will attract a broad audience to the region. You’ll be hearing a lot more about this collaboration as programming efforts take shape.

The Park has received a $30,000 grant from the Panoram Foundation for operational and administrative support to continue to build the Park experience through collaboration with Partners, the water taxi operation as well as the development of historic boat tours.

“The Panoram Foundation has believed in the Park from the beginning by providing the funding that allowed the Yale Urban Design Group to complete the Park plan in 2015. Since that time it has continued to support our growth as demonstrated by this generous grant, which is the second consecutive five-figure grant they have awarded us,” said Executive Director Amy Perry. “They are a key partner not unlike the heritage sites and cultural institutions that play an essential role in our growth and success. We are thrilled and grateful for the confidence they have in us today and for our future.”

TRHP Board President Marian Galbraith added, “Panoram’s vision and commitment to our historic institutions has proven to be a true asset to our community.”

We conducted our third annual Water Taxi Rider Survey to find out how people heard about the Park, where they got their weekend activity information, where they were from, their ages, and what they visited while they were here. We also asked for a rating of their experience. This data helps us to make better and more strategic decisions about our marketing, the visitor experience and promotions. It will also provide good insights for our partner sites about where people are choosing to visit. We are happy to report that we garnered an average 4.8 star rating (5 being the highest) for the third consecutive year from the 101 surveys we received representing
328 passengers. Take a look!