Senior Business Development Manager – GCC & Middle East Market

We are seeking an experienced and commercially driven Senior Business Development Manager to lead the development and growth of the GCC and wider Middle East market. The ideal candidate will have a strong network across GCC/ME source markets, with established relationships across luxury Concierge agents, travel agencies, tour operators, DMCs, luxury travel specialists, retail travel groups, and relevant corporate/government affluent travel segments. This is a senior commercial role requiring an individual who can develop strategic market plans, generate measurable business, and convert strong industry relationships into tangible revenue. Key Responsibilities: • Develop and execute the annual GCC & Middle East business development strategy in line with commercial objectives. • Drive new business acquisition while strengthening relationships with existing key accounts. • Build and maintain a strong network of travel agencies, tour operators, DMCs, luxury travel advisors, wholesalers, and strategic partners. • Identify and develop new revenue opportunities within established and emerging GCC source markets. • Establish strong relationships with key decisionmakers, owners and senior management within major travel companies and strategic corporate accounts. • Develop joint business opportunities, tactical campaigns, promotions, preferred partnerships, and sales initiatives with key trade partners. • Manage and grow production from existing accounts, with clear targets for room nights, revenue, bookings, and market share where applicable. • Conduct regular sales visits, presentations, trade events, workshops, webinars, and roadshows across the region. • Represent the company and its portfolio at major regional and international travel trade exhibitions and industry events. • Work closely with hotel sales, marketing, revenue management, and operations teams to ensure commercial opportunities are converted effectively. • Monitor competitor activity, market trends, consumer demand, and distribution developments. • Provide regular market intelligence, pipeline updates, account performance reports, and actionable recommendations to senior management. • Develop a structured pipeline of new accounts and opportunities and ensure consistent follow-up and conversion. • Support the development of annual budgets, sales targets, and account plans. • Ensure commercial activities deliver measurable ROI and revenue contribution. Candidate Profile: • 5+ years of relevant experience in hotel sales development. • Proven experience specifically within the GCC/Middle East leisure market. • An established and demonstrable network of relationships within GCC/ME with major travel agencies, tour operators, DMCs, luxury travel partners and Corporate/Government segment. • Proven track record of business generation and revenue growth, rather than purely account servicing. • Strong understanding of the leisure travel landscape. • Experience selling luxury Hotels. • Strong negotiation, commercial and relationship-management skills. • Ability to identify opportunities, develop a sales strategy and personally drive the conversion process. • Excellent presentation, communication, and interpersonal skills. • Strong understanding of distribution channels. • Ability to work at a senior level with key decisionmakers and develop long-term strategic partnerships. • Strong commercial acumen, analytical ability and understanding of sales performance metrics. Show more Show less