Visit Isle of Man is the official Government agency responsible for the visitor economy on the Isle of Man. In 2022 a 10 year strategy for growth was approved by the Island’s Government and the DMO are now building the team required to deliver this programme by 2032.
In order to deliver our ambitious targets, the Research & Business Analyst will help to lead on all aspects of research, business and management information, as well to provide insights and market intelligence to the Visit Team.
The Research & Business Analyst will work proactively with stakeholders to position the Visit Isle of Man Agency as a leading industry body for tourism and leading authority on tourism insights and intelligence, through the provision of a robust evidence base to drive strategic decision making within the Visit Agency team and Board.
Key responsibilities:
- Manage the collation of, and production of, secondary data and Visit led insights, business and market intelligence, to inform the Visit Isle of Man team, Visit Isle of Man Agency Board Members, local tourism industry partners and other key stakeholders.
- Develop an annual research plan, and accompanying reporting and communication schedule – taking into consideration industry and government (official) requirements, key tourism specific insights and strategic milestones.
- Develop and oversee the interpretation and analysis of a wide range of official statistics and real time data sources to maximise their use in providing a continuous ‘industry pulse’ and to allow for regular performance measurement to inform short term corrective actions.
- Ensure that the team use robust qualitative and quantitative techniques in the gathering of primary data; source all secondary data from reliable and robust sources; and maximise their use of data analytics software in the analysis and interpretation of data.
- Manage a programme of research in partnership with the local tourism industry businesses to identify needs, performance, and areas for support in order for the Visit Isle of Man team to deliver an effective education programme for partners.
- Manage governance for the Agency including attending and acting as secretariat for the Board.
- Work closely with the Visit Isle of Man team and Visit Isle of Man Agency Board Members to ensure that a central tourism data hub is established to allow for performance measurement and information dissemination.
- Manage an ongoing programme of business information research – including consumer sentiment research and product experience benchmarking to understand consumer behaviours, attitudes and perceptions of existing and planned experiences.
- Manage the delivery of an evaluation programme to identify the impact that Visit Isle of Man expenditure has on the industry, including supported interventions with businesses and marketing campaigns.
- Manage a programme of research with the local tourism industry businesses to identify need, performance and areas for support in order for the team to deliver an effective education programme for partners. Keep up to date with changing tourism trends – Manage an ongoing programme of horizon scanning to monitor the external environment identifying opportunities, threats and trends that may impact Visit Isle of Man and the tourism industry.
- Develop a robust system to measure the return on investment of Visit Isle of Man expenditure and the impact on the target markets.
- Oversee and manage the current Visit Isle of Man outsourced / third party research contracts – ensuring the effective and timely delivery of agreed outputs.
- Carry out competitive benchmarking by identifying and thoroughly understanding destination, brand, product and experience best practice examples in order to support relevant objectives in Visit Isle of Man’s operating plans.
- Oversee the management of projects deemed appropriate to be commissioned externally – supporting the Visit Isle of Man team and Visit Isle of Man Agency Board Members in the preparation of specifications and briefs, the evaluation of proposals and scoring of responses, ensuring compliance with Government procedures with regard to procurement of services.
- Communicate and share market, business and management intelligence internally and externally through established platforms and seek innovative new platforms for the sharing of insights.
- Provide technical research expertise to advise teams of the best approach to take when considering research requirements.
- Provide insights and intelligence related briefing material, draft responses to information requests and produce reports as and when required by the Visit Isle of Man team, Visit Isle of Man Agency Board and political member within the specified timelines and in appropriate format.
- Work collaboratively with internal and external partners, opening up new opportunities to access and optimise relevant market information to benefit Visit Isle of Man and the sector generally.
- Assist with the development of Visit Isle of Man policies and strategies.
- Any other relevant duties required by Visit Isle of Man management.
Key skills & experience:
- Significant experience operating within a research or information analyst (or similar) role.
- Strong networking skills with proven experience of developing and maintaining effective working relationships with multiple stakeholders.
- Excellent negotiation, influencing, interpersonal and communications skills (both oral and written).
- An analytical mind with proven ability to gather and use research, insights and intelligence to inform decision making.
- Excellent project and budget management skills including the ability to plan and organise and manage tasks and people to ensure that deadlines and customer expectations are met.
- An excellent communicator who is able to hit the ground running and be flexible as new relationships develop.
- Be able to produce financial reports and presentations in a variety of formats and using industry standard applications.
- Have an ability to think in an innovative and entrepreneurial way.
- Confident presenting to audiences of all levels including tourism industry businesses, Visit Isle of Man Agency team, Board, CEO, politicians and other Government Departments.
- Highly organised with the ability to manage a varied workload and prioritise accordingly; the role requires a team player who can build strong working relationships with internal departments and external businesses.
How to apply: please click here to apply for this position.