Contracting Authority – SPARK 

SPARK develops higher education and entrepreneurship to empower young, ambitious people to lead their fragile and conflict-affected societies into prosperity. SPARK is a dynamic and growing international not-for-profit development organisation with 100+ staff members in more than 14 offices worldwide. 

We open pathways for young people, particularly women and refugees, to study, work and grow their own businesses in fragile communities. Their success brings stability where it’s needed most.

• Statement of Work: 

SPARK is currently seeking service providers to assist in implementing Maharat for Tourism programme. The selected service provider will be responsible for carrying out outreach activities with continuous support and coordination from SPARK. 

• Programme Description: 

The Maharat for Tourism programme, financed by Google.org, supports young people throughout Egypt, the KSA, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia and the Palestinian territories. The programme supports job seekers and small and medium-sized business owners to enhance their existing job skills within the travel and tourism sector, particularly through digital and soft skills training. Additionally, government policymakers are supported to create more enabling regulatory environments for productive tourism sectors in their regions.

With a particular focus on women and minorities, who currently have the lowest income and job participation in the GCC & parts of the MENA region, the programme offers a pathway to create sustainable livelihoods within the travel and tourism sector.

• Target Audience:

1- Youth seeking employment opportunities that are engaged in the project.

2- SMB owners operating in low-income and rural areas in the sector that are engaged in the project.

3- Local informal tourism sector workers (e.g. tour guides, local hotel personnel, etc.) in underserved communities that are engaged in the project.

4- Government policymakers enabling and supporting the End Beneficiaries to engage with their local authorities, local authorities unable to provide structured access to opportunities for End Beneficiaries.

• Maharat Curricula Content:

The Project seeks to support individuals in the chosen countries by providing them digital and soft skills training and capacity building through Maharat Platform to enter the travel and tourism sector, or enhance their existing job skills within the sector. The skills training is made up of four curricula – listed below – to cater to each stakeholder’s needs.

Curriculum 1: Government Tourism Strategies & Policies 

Target: Policy Makers 

Module 1 – Introduction to tourism industry:  Tourism fundamentals 

Module 2 – AI in tourism : transforming experience 

Module 3 – New trends in Tourism industry 

Module 4 – Building blocks of country strategy 

Curriculum 2: Manage your Small & Medium Business in Tourism Industry 

Target: Small Business Owners  

Module 1- Introduction to tourism industry:  Tourism fundamentals 

Module 2 – AI in tourism : transforming experience 

Module 3- Product design and management 

Module 4- Tourism marketing 

Module 5- Business management 

Curriculum 3: Experiential Tourism Tour Operations 

Target: Job Seekers 

Module 1- Introduction to tourism industry:  Tourism fundamentals 

Module 2 – AI in tourism : transforming experience 

Module 3 – Experience design and management 

Module 4 – Experiential tourism marketing 

Module 5 – Fundamentals of experiential tourism 

Curriculum 4: Events Planning and Design 

Target: Job Seekers 

Module 1- Introduction to tourism industry:  Tourism fundamentals 

Module 2- AI in tourism : transforming experience 

Module 3- Events Operations and management 

Module 4 – Fundamentals of Events Industry 

Module 5- Events marketing

• Description of the Outcomes, Activities & Deliverables

SPARK is to contract a service provider in Tunis to deliver the activities below. We kindly request you to indicate number of each activity to be implemented (for example: 7 targeted awareness sessions, outreach to 100 stakeholders, etc) the number of people that would be reached (attendance sheets, post reach, registrations), and the anticipated number of people who will enrol in the platform and undergo at least 10% of 1 course.

Outcome 1: Offline and online outreach

Programme outreach will be conducted with the support of the selected service providers:

Activities:

• The service provider will conduct targeted offline awareness sessions across universities to introduce students and youth (18+) to the Maharat platform and its benefits for developing job-ready digital and employability skills. The sessions should highlight key features such as free learning pathways, globally recognized certificates, and practical upskilling opportunities, with the aim of increasing visibility and driving large-scale registrations.
• Reach out to main stakeholders in the tourism and hospitality – hotels, tour agencies, any other relevant party to outreach about the fully-funded programme.
• The service provider will deliver structured onboarding sessions to guide students through the Maharat platform and support them in completing at least 10% of the learning tracks. The sessions should cover platform navigation, highlight key courses, and provide practical tips for motivation and progress tracking. The service provider is expected to ensure that registrations translate into meaningful learning progress and to help generate early success stories within each university.
• Organize a general webinar to introduce the programme and provide insights on how to navigate the platform, as well as answer any questions.
• Utilize SPARK’s marketing materials (posts, reels, carousels) to post on social media and email database.

Outcome 2: Feedback & Reporting

Activities:

• Providing inputs to stakeholders mapping across the targeted countries
• Providing biweekly meetings & update 
• Providing a final activities report – including activities, progress, challenges, and lessons learned.

The selected service provider must adhere to the brand guidelines of the programme which will be provided by SPARK.

SPARK reserves the right to award separate contracts for this activity. In cases where applicants demonstrate strong capacity exclusively in either online or offline outreach, SPARK may contract two service providers, each responsible for their respective area of expertise.

• Timeframe / Schedule:

The activities mentioned above shall take place in the period between January 2026 – April 2026.

Expected starting date: 26th January 2026

The timeline and dates above might slightly shift according to the implementation course, and after agreeing with SPARK.

The applicants shall provide their proposed timeline and distribution of activities across the period mentioned above, as a part of their technical proposal.

• Profile/Team Composition: 

The perfect candidate for this post should:

• Be a locally present civil society organisation, public institution or (social) enterprise.
• Have a presence in the educational or tourism market. Having presence in the targeted cities is an advantage.
• Have proven experience of collaboration with the tourism sector stakeholders, including governmental bodies, business associations, SMEs, universities, youth, etc.
• Have access to youth, SMEs and other touristic entities in the project’s countries.
• Have proven experience in organising events in a professional manner.

• Proposal Package: the proposal must be a maximum of 10 pages, including CVs and financial proposal.

1. Financial Proposal in USD including VAT
2. Technical Proposal including the following:
   1. Methodology 
   2. Action Plan
   3. Registration Document
   4. Expertise (CVs of Expertise-Previous Similar Project etc.)
   5. Company Background

Please submit your proposal package to tender@spark-online.org

Deadline: 

* The maximum amount for this activity is 15k USD inclusive of VAT.

Evaluation and Scoring Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated by an evaluation committee appointed by SPARK based on best value for money, combining technical quality and financial competitiveness.

Scoring Scale (1–5)

Evaluators will assign a score from 1 to 5 for each criterion based on the following scale:

Weighted Score Calculation:

Weighted Score = (Score ÷ 5) × Maximum Points

Important Notes

• Email should be addressed to SPARK at tender@spark-online.org 
• The subject of the email should be “Outreach service provider (Tunis) – Bidder Name, Date.”
• All attached documents should be clearly labelled and renamed so it is clear to understand what each file relates to.
• The financial offer is required to be in USD incl. VAT currency and must contain all TAX relevant to the invoice.
• Copying other SPARK email addresses into the email when submitting it will invalidate your bid.

Please note that incomplete applications will not be considered.