Position: Trade Marketing Coordinator (TMC) (x2 vacancies)
Division: Destination Marketing
Reports to: Trade Manager
Location: Rarotonga, Cook Islands
Deadline: 15 July 2026, 12pm (CKT)
Application to: Trade Manager, [email protected]  

This is an exciting opportunity for organised, energetic, people-focused professionals who love tourism, marketing, partnerships, travel trade, and all things Cook Islands. If you enjoy bringing people together, coordinating memorable experiences, supporting campaigns, working with industry, and helping showcase our little paradise on the global stage, this could be the role for you.

As Trade Marketing Coordinator, you will support the Trade Manager in building strong connections between our global trade partners, offshore market teams, local tourism industry, media, and stakeholders. You will help promote the Cook Islands tourism product, support trade and industry initiatives, coordinate familiarisation programmes, assist with marketing campaigns, and help ensure our destination continues to shine in key international markets.

This is a hands-on, people-facing, fast-moving role for someone who can juggle multiple projects, build great relationships, think ahead, and bring positive energy to the team.

About the role

The Trade Marketing Coordinator supports the Trade Manager to capitalise on global trade opportunities, connect these opportunities with Cook Islands industry stakeholders, and promote the Cook Islands tourism product internationally.

You will play an important support role in delivering activities that help achieve Cook Islands Tourism’s corporate and marketing objectives. This includes coordinating immersive familiarisation programmes for trade partners, media associates, and industry professionals, supporting market offices with campaigns and materials, assisting with trade training, and helping build stronger destination representation globally.

In simple terms, you will help make sure the right people know the right things about the Cook Islands, and that they feel excited, informed, and confident to promote our islands to the world.

What you will be doing

In this role, you will support a wide range of trade, marketing, industry, and stakeholder activities. 

Your work may include:

• Supporting global market offices

You will assist Cook Islands Tourism’s market offices and representatives across key international markets by helping provide marketing materials, destination updates, campaign support, product information, and other resources needed to promote the Cook Islands effectively.

This may include supporting campaign development, coordinating collateral, helping gather product information, and making sure market activity aligns with Cook Islands Tourism’s broader marketing goals.

• Coordinating familiarisation programmes

You will help organise and manage engaging familiarisation itineraries for trade partners, media, and industry professionals.

These programmes are an important way to showcase the Cook Islands first-hand. You will help coordinate with local industry to create smooth, memorable, and meaningful experiences that highlight our culture, activities, accommodation, people, and unique island offering.

You will also help collect feedback from participants and report learnings to support continuous improvement.

• Supporting trade and industry promotions

You will assist with the development and delivery of trade and industry promotions, incentives, co-marketing activity, and partnership initiatives.

This includes helping maintain strong relationships with trade and industry partners, supporting campaign execution, monitoring activity, and helping ensure initiatives are delivered on time and within budget.

• Helping deliver trade training and education

You will support the Trade Manager with trade education activity, including gathering product updates, preparing information, supporting workshops and webinars, and helping ensure trade partners have the knowledge they need to confidently sell and promote the Cook Islands.

At times, you may also be asked to support or present in workshops, webinars, or training sessions.

• Supporting trade and consumer shows

You will assist with planning and coordination for trade shows, exhibitions, and other market-facing events.

This may include preparing materials, supporting logistics, helping showcase the destination, coordinating with partners, and making sure the Cook Islands is represented in a professional, engaging, and memorable way.

• Creating and maintaining marketing materials

You will help create, update, and maintain trade marketing materials, product information, point-of-sale materials, brochures, displays, signage, and digital resources.

Attention to detail is important, our materials need to be accurate, up to date, useful, and inspiring.

• Supporting product and market insights

You will keep across product and service developments within the Cook Islands tourism industry and help identify gaps, opportunities, and useful updates for trade partners and market teams.

You may also support market research, trend monitoring, data analysis, reporting, and recommendations that help strengthen tourism marketing and product development.

• Building strong stakeholder relationships

This role works closely with many people, including the Destination Marketing team, global offices and representatives, the local tourism industry, market representatives, finance, destination development, Pa Enua offices, suppliers, media, digital agencies, publication agencies, travel wholesalers, government partners, and visitors.

You will need to be confident, professional, friendly, and able to build trusted working relationships with a wide range of people.

What success looks like

You will be successful in this role when you are helping deliver strong, organised, and effective trade marketing support across the business.

Success may look like:

• Familiarisation programmes are well coordinated, engaging, and positively received
• Trade partners and market offices receive useful, accurate, and timely information
• Marketing materials and product updates are kept current
• Trade and industry promotions are delivered on time and within budget
• Stakeholders feel supported, informed, and connected
• Campaigns, workshops, webinars, trade shows, and events are well coordinated
• Reports, feedback, and insights are shared in a timely and useful way
• You contribute to a positive, collaborative, and motivated team environment

About you

We are looking for people who are organised, proactive, warm, confident, and ready to get stuck in.

You may already be working in tourism, marketing, communications, events, business development, hospitality, or stakeholder engagement. You might be someone who loves planning, coordinating, building relationships, solving problems, and helping others succeed.

You do not need to know everything from day one, but you do need to be curious, reliable, professional, and willing to learn.

You will be someone who can balance detail with big-picture thinking. One day you might be helping coordinate an itinerary, the next you might be gathering product updates, supporting a webinar, preparing materials for market offices, or following up with industry partners.

This role will suit someone who enjoys variety and can stay calm and organised when several things are happening at once.

What you will bring

The successful applicant will demonstrate:

• A strong understanding of marketing principles and practices
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Strong organisational skills and attention to detail
• The ability to manage multiple projects and meet deadlines
• Confidence working with stakeholders, partners, and industry members
• A professional and friendly approach in person, by phone, and online
• The ability to work independently with limited supervision
• A positive, solutions-focused attitude
• Strong written communication and proofreading skills
• Confidence supporting workshops, webinars, events, or presentations
• The ability to remain professional and impartial when managing different views or competing priorities
• An interest in market research, data, insights, and reporting
• A genuine passion for the Cook Islands and our tourism industry

Experience in event coordination, destination marketing, travel trade, airline, tourism, or hospitality environments would be an advantage.

Qualifications and experience

Applicants should have:

• A tertiary degree, or equivalent level of learning, in a related field such as tourism, marketing, or business management
• At least three years’ experience in one or more of the following areas:
  • Tourism marketing
  • Problem solving
  • Multi-tasking
  • Business development
  • Communications
• Familiarity with the airline industry or travel trade is a bonus
• Competency in speaking and writing in English, Cook Islands Maori a bonus

Why join Cook Islands Tourism?

It is a chance to contribute to the future of tourism in the Cook Islands.

You will be part of a team that works locally and globally to share our destination with the world. You will support meaningful projects, connect with people across the industry, and help strengthen how the Cook Islands is represented in international markets.

At Cook Islands Tourism, your work helps support one of the country’s most important industries. It contributes to our communities, our economy, our culture, our environment, and the visitor experiences that make the Cook Islands so special.

You will also be joining a team that values collaboration, creativity, professionalism, accountability, and pride in our islands.

This role is for you if you:

• Love the Cook Islands and want to help promote our destination
• Enjoy working with people and building strong relationships
• Are organised, reliable, and good at keeping things moving
• Can juggle multiple projects without losing the details
• Communicate clearly and professionally
• Enjoy marketing, tourism, events, campaigns, and partnerships
• Are confident working with local and international stakeholders
• Like variety and can adapt when plans change
• Want to be part of a team doing work that has real impact

A little taste of the role

Imagine helping plan a famil itinerary that gives travel trade partners a real feel for our islands. Imagine working with market teams to get destination updates into the hands of people selling the Cook Islands overseas. Imagine supporting a webinar that helps travel agents understand our unique experiences, or helping prepare materials for a trade show where the Cook Islands is proudly represented.

That is the heart of this role: helping connect people, products, stories, and opportunities so the Cook Islands continues to stand out as a destination of choice.

How to apply

If this sounds like you, we would love to hear from you.

Please submit your CV and cover letter outlining your experience, skills, and why you are interested in joining Cook Islands Tourism as a Trade Marketing Coordinator.

Applications should be sent to:

Trade Manager
[email protected]
Deadline: 15 July 2026, 12pm (CKT)