Destination Insights & Planning Analyst

Job Overview

The Destination Insights & Planning Analyst plays a crucial role in offering analytical and decision-support services spanning Destination Strategy, Revenue Management, Business Development, and Retail/Leasing sectors. This role involves evaluating various datasets related to destination metrics, visitors, commercial and retail activities, revenue streams, and overall market trends, and producing comprehensive business cases and forecasts. The analyst is expected to transform complex data into actionable insights and clear management recommendations.

Key Responsibilities

• Conduct thorough market, competitor, and destination benchmarking to aid strategic and commercial decision-making.
• Analyze visitor demographics, behaviors, demand fluctuations, preferences, and broader market trends.
• Convert both qualitative and quantitative analyses into valuable business insights for management.
• Support strategic evaluations, business planning, and diverse analytical assignments.
• Craft and assess business cases, feasibility studies, and commercial evaluations.
• Perform financial modelling including scenario, sensitivity, and break-even analyses.
• Combine market, operational, and financial details to evaluate commercial opportunities and their risks and returns.
• Analyze key performance indicators such as revenue, pricing, transactions, demand, utilization, and conversion rates.
• Detect trends, seasonal patterns, and performance drivers to assess risks and opportunities.
• Assist in forecasting demand and revenue using past data and market intelligence.
• Generate regular and specialized performance reports highlighting commercial outcomes.
• Evaluate retail and leasing performance metrics, tenant compositions, rental standards, and growth opportunities.
• Monitor business development pipelines, including conversion rates and commercial values, while identifying key dependencies.
• Benchmark relevant operators, tenants, business concepts, and competing developments.
• Deliver evidence-based analyses to support discussions with commercial partners, tenants, and operators.
• Aggregate, cleanse, validate, and reconcile data from diverse business sources.
• Develop structured data sets and analytical models for consistent reporting cycles.
• Create and maintain management dashboards using Power BI or similar platforms, utilizing Power Query, DAX, and related tools to automate reporting.
• Ensure metric definitions, assumptions, and data quality are clearly documented and maintained.
• Prepare executive dashboards, reports, and presentations to track performance against departmental KPIs and objectives.
• Translate complex data analysis into concise conclusions, implications, and recommended actions for management.
• Address ad hoc management inquiries with accurate and decision-supportive analyses.

Required Qualifications and Experience

• A bachelor's degree in disciplines such as Finance, Economics, Business, Business Analytics, Statistics, Data Analytics, Real Estate, Tourism/Hospitality, Industrial Engineering, or related fields.
• Three to five years of relevant professional experience in areas like destination or tourism development, real estate, hospitality, commercial strategy, consulting, revenue management, financial planning and analysis (FP&A), or business analytics.
• Working experience within Saudi Arabia or the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region is advantageous.
• Preferably background in destinations, mixed-use developments, tourism, hospitality, retail, or commercial real estate sectors.

Technical Competencies

• Advanced skills in Microsoft Excel, especially financial modelling.
• Proficiency in Power BI, including Power Query, data modelling, and DAX formula language.
• Strong expertise in PowerPoint for executive-level presentations.
• Experience building business cases and performing forecasting, scenario analysis, and sensitivity analysis.
• Knowledge of revenue drivers, pricing strategies, and financial concepts such as Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), payback period, and break-even analysis.
• Strong capability in market research and benchmarking techniques.
• Basic working knowledge of SQL preferred.
• Exposure to automation and scripting tools like Python, VBA, or Power Automate is considered an advantage.

Candidate Profile

• The ideal candidate will be commercially driven and able to integrate strategy, financial insight, commercial analytics, and data analysis adeptly.
• Strong structured problem-solving aptitude and analytical thinking skills.
• Ability to uncover commercial impacts behind the data.
• Attention to detail and maintaining data integrity.
• Comfortable managing uncertain or incomplete data sets.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills attuned to executive leadership.
• Skill in conveying complicated analyses in simple terms to diverse stakeholders.
• Efficiently juggle multiple analytical projects in dynamic environments.
• Exhibits ownership, curiosity, and proactive initiative in work approach.

Preferred Background

Candidates who have worked in destination development, tourism, hospitality, mixed-use real estate, retail, commercial strategy, or management consulting are highly suitable. Experience specifically analyzing visitor behavior, revenue results, commercial opportunity assessments, retail or leasing performance, or destination performance indicators is a notable benefit.