Consultants – WWF North Africa Retour vers les opportunités

1.      TECHNICAL INFORMATION

The tenderers are required to provide services as indicated below. In the technical offer, the tenderers will indicate more details on the deliveries, referring back to the below terms of reference:

Background

The Mediterranean (MED) region is one of the world’s leading tourist destinations, which makes tourism a key driver for socio-economic progress & a key income source for many of its countries. Faced by growing competition & a deterioration of the political & security situation in the region, the destination has demonstrated symptoms of a slowdown, which makes the recovery of the sector an economic priority. This downturn may also present an opportunity to transform the tourism model into a sustainable & competitive one, addressing current sectorial challenges as the predominance of mass seaside tourism, dependence on the European market & territorial imbalances.

The hereby proposed initiative (MEDUSA project) is led by a mix of public/private/non-governmental organizations across the region with proven track record in the tourism & business development field. MEDUSA will tackle these joint challenges via targeted & inter-related capacity building & cross-border interventions to develop & promote Adventure Tourism (AT) in the region. Between 2010 & 2014, this tourism niche grew by 195%. The MED has every opportunity to become part of this international trend, which properly managed can make tourism more sustainable, providing a strong incentive for conservation, while creating jobs & more income for local communities. These major expected changes will occur in the medium/long-term. Also, the multiplier effect will be higher in comparison to other forms of tourism. The main results of the project are cross-border routes & itineraries, in the form of new and/or improved AT products, revealing lesser-known destinations & attracting tourists throughout the year. A long-term (LT) strategy is envisaged for the promotion & management of these destinations in a sustainable way with the participation of a wide array of stakeholders. The main beneficiaries are SMEs (Tourism Service Providers, Tour Operators (TOs), Travel Agencies, etc.), public authorities & the communities.

MEDUSA project is co-financed by the European Union under the European Neighbourhood Instrument cross-border cooperation program “Mediterranean Sea Basin” 2014-2020 (ENI CBC MED). It started on 1st September 2019 and has duration of 36 months (until 31st August 2022). It counts on an overall budget of 3,317,314 EUR, which are co-financed at a 90% rate by the ENI CBC Med program.

It includes the following project partners:

• Barcelona Chamber of Commerce (Spain) – Lead Beneficiary
• Rene Moawad Foundation (Lebanon)
• Association of the Mediterranean Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Spain)
• Jordan Inbound Tour Operators Association – JITOA (Jordan)
• Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature – RSCN (Jordan)
• Puglia Region – Department of tourism, economy of culture and valorization of territory (Italy)
• WWF Mediterranean North Africa (Tunisia)

More information is available at: http://www.enicbcmed.eu/projects/medusa

Objective, purpose and expected results

The overall objective is to provide an insightful identification and analysis of sustainable innovative tourism products, services and practices offered by tour operators, travel agencies and other tourism providers, including destinations, in the MED region and elsewhere within the Adventure Tourism (AT) segment. This study should help inspiring tourism industry stakeholders in the Mediterranean, especially within the AT segment, in the adoption of sustainable practices. Sustainability refers to the environmental, economic and socio-cultural aspects of tourism development, and a suitable balance must be established between these three dimensions to guarantee long-term growth. The sustainability of tourism thus covers a number of different aspects, amongst which: the responsible use of natural resources, the environmental impact of tourism activities (production of waste, pressure on water, land and biodiversity, etc.), the efficient use of ‘clean’ energy, protection of cultural heritage and preservation of the natural and cultural integrity of destinations, the quality and sustainability of jobs created and the respect for local communities.

The international benchmark is organised around 4 main themes (this list is non-exhaustive, and other relevant themes could be included):

• Effective sustainability planning,
• Maximising social & economic benefits for the local community,
• Enhancing cultural heritage & reducing negative impacts to the environment,
• Following recognised international standards for sustainability.

 In specific, the purpose is as follows:

• To elaborate a literature review on existing studies and analysis of sustainable innovative tourism products, services and practices in the sector, identifying key variables of sustainability and good practice in the industry and providing detailed information about the four main themes mentioned above (and other themes deemed relevant);
• To identify and analyse sustainable innovative tourism products, services and practices offered by tour operators, travel agencies and other tourism providers, including destinations, in the MED region and elsewhere, and especially within the AT segment, including detailed information about the management and operation of the services/products, stakeholders involved, resources, as well as lessons learned, amongst other variables.

The results to be achieved by the Consultant are:

• RESULT Nº1: Literature review and benchmarking model validated.
• RESULT Nº2: Analysis and comparison (benchmark) of sustainable innovative practices in tourism (at least 40 practices, of which minimum 50% are specific for the adventure segment), taking in consideration the four themes mentioned.
• Result N°3: A list of recommendations for the development of products and services based on international sustainable recognised standards in the industry.

Overall, the report to be produced should have the purpose of providing a practical guide to tourism stakeholders in the Mediterranean rather an academic review.

Description of the assignment

The Consultants’ service is expected to provide a comprehensive identification, analysis and comparison between sustainable innovative practices identified.   

The approach followed is based firstly on the development / description of the benchmarking methodology to be used in this study. The methodology developed should give a comprehensive and exhaustive analyse about the sustainable innovative practices over the world.

The consultant should give a detailed information / data collected from different sources / literature as well as other sources.

Based on the benchmarking outcomes, a list of recommendations / conclusions should be provided.

Specific work

The Consultant’s services will include but not necessarily be limited to the following:

To achieve RESULT Nº1:

• Introduce the benchmarking objectives related to the benchmarking approach proposed;
• Identification of data collection methodology;
• Identification of existing studies, research, results and reports (published literature, including guides and presentations available) in relation with sustainable innovative practices around the world;
• Present the proposed methodology and model for the implementation of the benchmarking study, based on the literature review undertaken, during an (first) online meeting with the MEDUSA partnership;
• Update the proposed methodology and model according to the conclusions of the online meeting, and include it in the Inception Report;

To achieve RESULT Nº2:

• Identification of sustainable innovative practices related to the following four themes: effective sustainability planning, maximising social & economic benefits for the local community, enhancing cultural heritage & reducing negative impacts to the environment, following recognised international standards for sustainability), and others deemed relevant;
• Validation of the identified sustainable innovative practices during an (second) online meeting with the MEDUSA partnership;
• Collection and development of the data (internally and externally) and surveys shared with different destination management organisations (DMOs), tourism enterprises, and other practitioners, to build relevant data for each of the practices identified;
• Comparative analyse between the identified sustainable innovative practices on the AT segment.

To achieve RESULT n°3:

• Based on the analyse of the quantitative, qualitative measures performance, gaps and best practices, list the recommendations that could be applied to upgrade and develop the adventure tourism sector in the Mediterranean region;
•  Suggest a list of actions to translate the recommendations into concrete measures for tourism product and service development.

In addition, the Consultants will:

• Prepare an executive summary video (RESULT N°3) to be disseminated in the MEDUSA Cross-Border Seminar organised in Amman (Jordan) in June 2020.
• Present the results of consultancy (RESULT N°3) to key stakeholders during a regional workshop organised by WWF Mediterranean NA in Tunis.
• Prepare all the reports as specified under the section on ‘’Reporting requirements’’.

In undertaking the tasks described under this section, the Consultants must comply with the latest Communication and Visibility Manual for EU External Actions concerning acknowledgement of EU financing of the project. See https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/communication-and-visibility-manual-eu-external-actions_en.

Start date and period of implementation of the tasks

The intended start date is 25^th of March, 2020 and the period of implementation of the contract will be maximum 3 months from this date.

Reporting requirements

The contractor will submit the following reports in English in Electronic format:

• Inception Report of maximum 10 pages to be produced within one week after the first online meeting held with the MEDUSA partnership. In the report, the contractor shall describe the updated methodology proposed according to the meeting conclusions. The contractor should precede with his/her work unless the contracting authority sends comments on the inception report.
• Draft Final Report of maximum 100 pages (considering that each identified practice should be described in a maximum of 2 pages). This report shall be submitted no later than three weeks before the end of the period of implementation of tasks.
• Final report with the same specifications as the draft final report, incorporating any comments received from the parties on the draft report and edited in electronic format according to the visual identify of the MEDUSA project, including images and other materials to make the report appealing and ready for publication. The final report must be provided along with the corresponding invoice.

Special requirements

The Contractor should place special emphasis on ensuring a wide analysis of the published literature and provide an exhaustive identification of existing sustainable innovative practices over the world, a special focus on the recommendations addressed to the Mediterranean region.

The Contractor must ensure that adequate visibility of the EU under the programme of which the project is part through its implementation.

2. FINANCIAL INFORMATION

The maximum available value of the contract is 10,000 EUR (paid in TND).

3. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The selection criteria are:

Economic and financial standing:

• The operating profit of the candidate must not have been negative over the past year;
• The candidate must have at least one year of existence;
• Experts from state function should present the legal authorization.

Technical Capacity:

• At least 1 contract of similar nature undertaken in the past 5 years;
• At least 3 years of professional experience in conducting studies related to sustainable tourism;
• Graduated Studies in Economics field related to the development of the tourism industry, advisor services, evaluation / assessment and strategy planning for tourism sector development or similar;
• Excellent reporting skills in English.

The award criterion is:

• Best value for money, weighting 80% technical quality and 20% price (select in case of services)

The successful and unsuccessful tenderers will be informed of the results of the evaluation procedure in written.

The estimated time of response to the tenderers is 5 working days from the deadline for submission of the tenders.

4. COPYRIGHT

All rights of copyright concerning the material produced by consultant will remain the property of WWF and can only be used by the expert with appropriate attribution by WWF.

5. PAYMENT TERMS:

The contractor will deliver without reservation the services indicated in the contractor’s offer. The deliveries will be implemented within the indicated dates.

Annexes:

Annex 1: ToRs

Annex 2 : Format of Offer to be provided by the tenderer

Annex 3 : Declaration of honor