Request For Proposals- Chemonics International Retour vers les opportunités

 

I.1. Introduction 

Chemonics, the Buyer, acting on behalf of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and  the USAID Visit Tunisia Activity (VT), under contract number AID-72066421D00003 is soliciting offers  from companies and organizations to submit proposals to participate with USAID Visit Tunisia to carry  out the designing, development, and launching of a Tourism Data Dashboard.  

The USAID-funded Visit Tunisia Activity is a 5-year project designed to enhance Tunisia’s tourism  potential, with the goal of generating revenue and jobs, particularly for women and youth, and for  populations in underserved regions of the country. The overall vision behind USAID’s investment in  Tunisia’s tourism sector is to capitalize on Tunisia’s natural, cultural, heritage and historical sites to  develop a more diversified and high-quality tourism sector that contributes to broad-based economic  growth.  

Thus, the activity will have four objectives:  

1. Enhance Tunisia’s competitiveness as a tourism destination.  
2. Increase tourism-related investments and revenue.  
3. Improve the enabling environment for sustained growth in the tourism sector; and  4. Private sector engagement to expand the offer and quality of alternative tourism.  

The USAID Visit Tunisia Activity team working on enabling environment for sustained growth in the  tourism sector is aware that for expanding its tourism potential, Tunisia must compile verifiable information  that will help it identify new markets and product opportunities to become more competitive and expand  tourism economic impact. Having more and reliable tourism statistics is essential for policymakers to make  effective decisions. Only with sufficient and adequate data that generate credible statistics it is possible to  undertake different types of analysis of tourism. This is essential to evaluate the different aspects of tourism  and to support and improve policy and decision-making. 

Tourism policymakers and professionals in Tunisia identified the development of tourism statistics system  as a strategic priority in its tourism Strategy 2035. Hence, in the framework of Chemonics-Visit Tunisia  Activity support, two International Tourism Visitor Surveys were successfully conducted in March and  August 2023 to collect data on international tourism visitors’ expenditure. These 2 surveys wide range of  tourism data, nourished the first-ever Tunisian Tourism Satellite Account (TSA) compilation in line with  UNWTO standards, ensured by Tunisian National Institute of Statistics. 

While satisfied by the results achieved in developing Tunisia TSA, both public and private tourism  stakeholders expressed the urgent need to benefit from the availability of new data collection and extraction  tools to build a digital Tourism Data Dashboard that could reduce current substantial time gaps in tourism  statistical data availability and dissemination. Dissemination of data to the public currently remains limited  to paper-based reports and electronic file formats making the use of data analysis difficult and requiring  further processing and transformation. ONTT’s publication is available on a yearly basis. 

Chemonics-Visit Tunisia Activity, seeks proposals from a subcontractor to design, develop and deploy an  Information Management System that manages, stores, processes, disseminates, and visualises big data  coming from public and private tourism stakeholders.

Offerors are invited to submit proposals in response to this RFP in accordance with Section I Instructions  to Offerors, which will not be part of the subcontract. The instructions are intended to assist interested  Offerors in the preparation of their offer. Any resulting subcontract will be guided by Sections II and III.  

This RFP does not oblige Chemonics to execute a subcontract, nor does it commit Chemonics to pay any  costs incurred in the preparation and submission of the proposals. Furthermore, Chemonics reserves the  right to reject any and all offers, if such action is considered to be in the best interest of Chemonics. 

Unless otherwise stated, the periods named in the RFP shall be consecutive calendar days. I.2. Chronological List of Proposal Events 

The following calendar summarizes important dates in the solicitation process. Offerors must strictly  follow these deadlines.  

RFP announcement 04/22/2024  

Deadline for written questions 04/29/2024  

Answers provided to questions/clarifications 05/09/2024  

Proposal due date 05/24/2024  

Subcontract award (estimated) 06/07/2024  

The dates above may be modified at the sole discretion of Chemonics. Any changes will be published in  an amendment to this RFP. 

Written Questions and Clarifications. All questions or clarifications regarding this RFP must be in  writing and submitted to Procurement@VisitTunisiaProject.org no later than 5.00 PM on April 29, 2024. Questions and requests for clarification, and the responses thereto, will be circulated to all RFP recipients  who have indicated an interest in this RFP.  

Only written answers from Chemonics will be considered official and carry weight in the RFP process and  subsequent evaluation. Any answers received outside the official channel, whether received verbally or in  writing, from employees or representatives of Chemonics International, the USAID Visit Tunisia Activity,  or any other party, will not be considered official responses regarding this RFP.  

Proposal Submission Date. All proposals must be received by the date and time and comply with the  instructions as provided in Section I.3.  

Oral Presentations. Chemonics reserves the option to have select offerors participate in oral presentations  with the technical evaluation committee. Interviews may consist of oral presentations of offerors’ proposed  activities and approaches. Offerors should be prepared to give presentations to the technical evaluation  committee at the USAID Visit Tunisia office within 3 days of receiving notification.  

Subcontract Award (estimated). Chemonics will select the proposal that offers the best value based upon  the evaluation criteria stated in this RFP.  

I.3. Offer Submission Requirements 

Offerors shall submit their offers electronically only.

Emailed offers must be received no later than 5.00 PM Tunis local time on May 24, 2024, at the  following address: Procurement@VisitTunisiaProject.org  

Faxed offers will not be considered. 

Offerors are responsible for ensuring that their offers are received in accordance with the instructions stated  herein. Late offers may be considered at the discretion of Chemonics. Chemonics cannot guarantee that late  offers will be considered.  

Proposals must be submitted electronically only. Late offers will be considered at the discretion of  Chemonics.  

Separate technical and cost proposals must be submitted by email no later than the time and date specified  in I.2. The proposals must be submitted to the point of contact designated in I.2.  The Offeror must submit the proposal electronically with up to 3 attachments (5 MB limit) per email  compatible with MX Word, MS Excel, readable format, or Adobe Portable Document (PDF) format in a  Microsoft XP environment. Offerors must not submit zipped files. Those pages requiring original manual  signatures should be scanned and sent in PDF format as an email attachment.  

Technical proposals must not refer to pricing data in order that the technical evaluation may be made strictly  on the basis of technical merit.  

I.4. Eligibility Requirements 

Chemonics can issue a subcontract to any firm provided it is legally registered and recognized under the  laws of their country of origin/ residence and is in compliance with all applicable civil, fiscal, and other  applicable regulations in its relevant origin/ residence country. Such a company or organization could  include a private firm, non-profit, civil society organization, or university.  

The award will be in the form of a firm fixed price subcontract (hereinafter referred to as ‘the subcontract’).  The successful Offeror shall be required to adhere to the statement of work and terms and conditions of the  subcontract, which are incorporated in Section III herein.  

Companies and organizations that submit proposals in response to this RFP must meet the following  requirements: 

(i) Companies or organizations, whether for-profit or non-profit, must be legally registered under the laws  of country of origin/ residence upon award of the subcontract.  

(ii) Firms operated as commercial companies or other organizations or enterprises (including nonprofit  organizations) in which foreign governments or their agents or agencies have a controlling interest are  not eligible as suppliers of commodities and services. 

Offerors may present their proposals as a member of a partnership with other companies or organizations.  In such cases, the subcontract will be awarded to the lead company in the partnership. The leading company  shall be responsible for compliance with all subcontract terms and conditions and making all partnership  arrangements, including but not limited to division of labor, invoicing, etc., with the other company(ies). A  legally registered partnership is not necessary for these purposes; however, the different organizations must  be committed to work together in the fulfillment of the subcontract terms.

I.5. Source of Funding, Authorized Geographic Code, and Source and Origin 

Any subcontract resulting from this RFP will be financed by USAID funding and will be subject to U.S.  Government and USAID regulations.  

All goods and services offered in response to this RFP or supplied under any resulting award must meet  USAID Geographic Code 937 in accordance with the United States Code of Federal Regulations (CFR),  22 CFR §228, available at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2012-title22-vol1/pdf/CFR-2012-title22- vol1-part228.pdf.  

The cooperating country for this RFP is Tunisia.  

Offerors may not offer or supply any products, commodities or related services that are manufactured or  assembled in, shipped from, transported through, or otherwise involving any of the following countries:  Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria. Related services include incidental services pertaining to any/all aspects of  this work to be performed under the resulting contract (including transportation, fuel, lodging, meals, and  communications expenses).  

Any and all items that are made by Huawei Technology Company, ZTE Corporation, Hytera  Communications Corporation, Hangzhou Hikivision Digital Technology Company, Dahua Technology  Company will not be accepted. If quotes include items from these entities, please note that they will be  deemed not technically responsive and excluded from competition.  

I.6. Validity Period  

Offerors’ proposals must remain valid for 90 calendar days after the proposal deadline.  I.7. Instructions for the Preparation of the Proposal 

1. Cover Letter  

The offeror shall use the cover letter provided in Annex 1 of this RFP, which confirms organizational  information and consent to the validity of this proposal.  

2. Technical Proposal  

The technical proposal shall comprise the parts below. Please note that the proposal must be responsive to  the detailed information set out in Section II of this RFP, which provides the background, states the scope  of work, describes the deliverables, and provides a deliverables schedule.  

• Part 1: Technical Approach, Methodology and Detailed Work Plan. This part shall be between 5 and  10 pages long but may not exceed 15 pages.  
• Part 2: Management, Key Personnel, and Staffing Plan. This part shall be between 2 and 4 pages long  but may not exceed 5 pages. CVs for key personnel may be included in an annex (should not exceed 5  pages each) to the technical proposal and will not count against the page limit. 
• Part 3: Corporate Capabilities, Experience, and Past Performance. This part shall be between 3 and 5  pages long but may not exceed 7 pages. 

Part 3 must include a description of the company and organization, with appropriate reference to any parent  company and subsidiaries. Offerors must include details demonstrating their experience and technical  ability in implementing the technical approach/methodology and the detailed work plan.  

Additionally, offerors must include 5 past performance references of similar work (under contracts or  subcontracts) previously implemented as well as contact information for the companies for which such  work was completed. Contact information must include at a minimum: the name of the point of contact  who can speak to the offeror’s performance, name, and address of the company for which the work was  performed, and email and phone number of the point of contact. Chemonics reserves the right to check for additional references not provided by the offeror. 

3. Cost Proposal 

The cost proposal is used to determine which proposals represent the best value and serves as a basis of  negotiation before award of a subcontract. 

The price of the subcontract to be awarded will be an all-inclusive fixed price. Nevertheless, for the purpose  of the proposal, offerors must provide a detailed budget showing major line items as well as a budget  narrative. Please refer to Annex 2 for detailed instructions and a sample cost structure. 

No profit, fees, taxes, or additional costs may be added after award. Because Visit Tunisia is a USAID  funded project and is implemented under a bilateral agreement between Tunisia and the U.S. Government,  offerors must not include VAT and customs duties in their cost proposal. 

I.8 Evaluation and Basis for Award 

This RFP will use the tradeoff process to determine the best value as set forth in FAR 15.101-1. That  means that each proposal will be evaluated and scored against the evaluation criteria and evaluation sub criteria, which are stated in the table below. Chemonics will award a subcontract to the offeror whose  proposal represents the best value to Chemonics and the USAID Visit Tunisia Project. Chemonics may  award to a higher priced offeror if a determination is made that the higher technical evaluation of that  offeror merits the additional cost/price. 

Evaluation points will not be awarded for cost, but for overall evaluation purposes of this RFP, technical  evaluation factors other than cost, when combined, are considered approximately equal to cost factors.  Cost will primarily be evaluated for realism and reasonableness. If technical scores are determined to be  nearly equal, cost will become the determining factor. 

In evaluating proposals, Chemonics will use the following evaluation criteria and sub-criteria: 

Evaluation   Criteria	Evaluation Sub-criteria	Maximum Points
Technical   Approach,   Methodology, and  Detailed Work Plan	Technical know-how – Chemonics will assess whether the  proposal explains, understands, and responds to the  objectives of the project as stated in the Scope of Work	20 points
	Approach and Methodology – Chemonics will assess  whether the proposed program approach and detailed  activities and suggested timeline fulfill the requirements of  executing the Scope of Work effectively and efficiently.	15 points

 

	Sector Knowledge – Chemonics will assess whether the  proposal demonstrates the offeror’s knowledge related to  technical sectors required by the Scope of Work	15 points
Total Points – Technical Approach		50 points
Management, Key  Personnel, and   Staffing Plan	Personnel Qualifications – Chemonics will evaluate the  qualifications and experience of the proposed team  members and evaluate if the offer has the experience and  capabilities to carry out the Scope of Work.  Required skills: Data analysis, communication and  marketing, market research, financial management, access  to finance	30 points
Total Points – Management		30 points
Corporate   Capabilities,   Experience, and   Past Performance	Company Background and Experience – Chemonics will  evaluate whether the company experience is relevant to the  project Scope of Work: 3 certificates of references are  mandatory.	10 points
	Past Performance – Chemonics will assess the past  performance of the Offerors by contacting three references  who may indicate the Offeror’s past performance for  projects of similar size and scope	10 points
Total Points – Corporate Capabilities		20 points
Total Points		100 points

 

I.9 Negotiations 

Best offer proposals are requested. It is anticipated that a subcontract will be awarded solely on the basis of  the original offers received. However, Chemonics reserves the right to conduct discussions, negotiations  and/or request clarifications prior to awarding a subcontract. Furthermore, Chemonics reserves the right to  conduct a competitive range and to limit the number of offerors in the competitive range to permit an  efficient evaluation environment among the most highly-rated proposals. Highest-rated offerors, as  determined by the technical evaluation committee, may be asked to submit their best prices or technical  responses during a competitive range. At the sole discretion of Chemonics, offerors may be requested to  conduct oral presentations. If deemed an opportunity, Chemonics reserves the right to make separate awards  per component or to make no award at all. 

I.10 Terms of Subcontract 

This is a request for proposals only and in no way obligates Chemonics to award a subcontract. In the event  of subcontract negotiations, any resulting subcontract will be subject to and governed by the terms and  clauses detailed in Section III. Chemonics will use the template shown in section III to finalize the  subcontract. Terms and clauses are not subject to negotiation. By submitting a proposal, the offerors certify  that they understand and agree to all of the terms and clauses contained in section III.

1. 11 Privity 

By submitting a response to this request for proposals, offerors understand that USAID is NOT a party to  this solicitation and the offeror agrees that any protest hereunder must be presented—in writing with full  explanations—to Chemonics International for consideration, as USAID will not consider protests made to  it under USAID-financed subcontracts. Chemonics, at its sole discretion, will make a final decision on the  protest for this procurement.

Section II Background, Objectives, Scope of Work, Deliverables, and  Deliverables Schedule  

II.1. Background 

In Tunisia, the current tourism statistics are based on calculations of international arrivals, presented in an  annual report by National Office of Tunisian Tourism (ONTT). This data does not provide a baseline for  analysis, forecasting or generation of useful information for informed tourism planning and marketing.  The statistical information systems currently available are insufficient, incomplete, and not fit to purpose  as a robust provider of rigorous data to inform policy formulators, decision makers or future investors. 

Building a Tourism data dashboard that provides statistics and insights on key indicators for inbound and  outbound tourism at national and regional level, is crucial in strengthening Tunisian tourism statistics  collection, analysis and reporting system. Data can include tourist arrivals, tourism share of exports and  contribution to GDP, source markets, seasonality, and accommodation (data on number of rooms, guest,  and nights).  

Accordingly, USAID Visit Tunisia will support design and development of dynamic Tourism Data  Dashboard and solicit a subcontractor to conduct the implementation of this data dashboard in line with  agreed methodology and implementation controls. 

The successful offeror shall plan, design, develop and deploy a no/low code dashboard that allows ONTT  to manage, store, process, disseminate and visualize tourism data. This dashboard should have an online  and public interface that ideally enables private sector users to search and download customized reports. 

Additionally, the aim is to employ advanced IT tools (such as Artificial Intelligence) to support the  generation of systematic information and data visualization from input provided by reporting organizations  to inform tourism data system. 

The awarded offeror will be provided with a tourism data mapping elaborated by ONTT, and tourism data  processed, collected, and stored through different methods using offline excel files, paper forms, databases,  etc.  

During the whole process of delivering the Tourism Data Dashboard, the successful offeror will be expected  to liaise with ONTT and USAID Visit Tunisia as appropriate and reasonable, to seek their opinions and  feedback in the proposed methodology, as it is envisaged that this dashboard will be evolving to cover  further tourism data collected in the future. 

  

The Tourism Data Dashboard should be fully owned and managed by ONTT either by having the source  code of the Dashboard framework, or by having the source of the dashboard web root/ published version  with ONTT owning all systems derived from the Dashboard along with receiving updated security batches  released by the subcontractor. 

II.2. Objectives 

To establish a successful dynamic tourism data dashboard with an online public interface, the offeror should  aim to achieve the following objectives:

1- Development and implementation of a dynamic data dashboard with an interactive and user friendly online interface for tourism data stakeholders and the wide public. 

This platform should allow easy submission and retrieval of detailed information related to Tourism  sector coming from multiple and varied sources in different formats. 

In terms of data processing and information management products, the data dashboard should auto  populate data indifferent formats such as PDF, word, Excel/csv lists, 2 ways API and all types of  data visualization charts and graphs and integrated with BI tools. 

The design should incorporate features that allow to handle both data produced by tourism  stakeholders and the information available on the web. The proposed data dashboard architecture  should allow solving different locks: heterogeneity of tourism data sources, quality of these data,  non-interoperability, reusability, and standardization. The interface must be structured to ensure  ease of navigation, allowing users to efficiently input and access information in Arabic, English  and French languages. 

The dashboard should be dynamic, flexible, and independent from the subcontractor’s systems once  all features are developed, fully secured, customizable, without third party libraries and can be  hosted locally or on the cloud. 

2- Incorporation of advanced IT and AAI tools for data analysis and visualization. The subcontractor should employ cutting-edge IT solutions, including Artificial intelligence, to  enhance the dashboard capability for systematic information processing and data visualization. This  involves developing algorithms and tools that can analyses data submitted by reporting  organizations, thereby generating valuable insights for policy and decision makers. The dashboard  should be equipped to handle large volumes of data, providing real-time analysis and visual  representations that can inform decision making and strategy development within Tourism sector. 

The primary indicators that should be developed on the dashboard are: 

– International Tourist expenditure estimates 

– International Tourist receipts 

– Seasonality 

– Tourism flows (inbound, outbound) 

– Flights programming and air services traffic 

– Accommodation 

– Tourism GDP 

– Tourism employment 

– Tourism shares in exports 

– Domestic tourism. 

– Profile of tourists visiting Tunisia 

– Stay’s motivations. 

– Tourist satisfaction with hospitality services 

– Tourist satisfaction with extra hospitality services. 

  

II.3. Scope of Work 

The scope of work consists in designing, development, and deployment of dynamic tourism data dashboard  with an online interactive public interface. It should be easy to navigate, user friendly with automated functions using the latest technologies such as AI to ensure systematic generation and analysis of data and  information provided by ONTT. The portal should be expandable so that new features can be added. The subcontractor will be required to prepare a detailed methodology and workplan indicating how the  objectives of the project will be achieved and the support required from ONTT. 

Expected resources to be covered under this subcontractor: 

To design, develop and deploy a dynamic tourism data dashboard with an online interactive public  interface that generates systematic analysis and interactive data visualization from stakeholders’ inputs,  we encourage the hiring of a diverse team with a range of skills and expertise which could include (but is  not required or limited to) the following: 

1) Dedicated project manager: Oversees the entire project, ensuring that the team meets deadlines, and the project stays within budget. They also act as a liaison between the technical team and  USAID Visit Tunisia and ONTT. 

2) Web developer/ engineer: Responsible for the coding and technical aspects of the web site. This  role may include both front-end (user interface) and back-end (server and database) developers. 

3) Data scientist/ analyst: Ensures the use of AI to analyse data. This role is important for  generating systematic analysis and ensuring that data visualizations accurately represent Tourism  data. 

4) UI/UX Designer: Focuses on the user interface and user experience design. This role is crucial  for making sure the website is user friendly, visually appealing, and easy to navigate. 

5) Graphic designer: Creates visual elements for the website, such as images, layouts, and possibly  branding elements. 

6) Content strategist/ writer: Develops and manages the content strategy, ensuring the website’s  text is clear, engaging, and relevant to ONTT audience. 

7) Interactive media designer: Specialises in creating interactive features, such as dynamic data  visualizations, to engage users. 

8) Translator: (English/ Arabic/ French) to ensure the information is accessible to the target  audience. 

II.4. Elaboration of Deliverables 

The successful offeror shall deliver to USAID Visit Tunisia the following deliverables, in accordance  with the schedule set forth in II.5 below. 

Deliverable No.1: Project plan and resource requirements: 

An initial deliverable detailing the project’s scope, timeline, and required resources. This includes a  thorough analysis of the technical and functional requirements for the tourism database and online interface.  It should also outline strategies for incorporating advanced IT and AI tools and plans for multilingual  support, particularly translations in Arabic, English and French. 

Deliverable No. 2: Tourism Data Dashboard design, prototype, and translation strategy: 

A detailed design document and functional prototype of the online interface (both web and mobile versions)  focusing on tourism database schemes, network infrastructure for data collection and dissemination, tools  and applications to build and optimally exploit the database (statistics, reporting, dashboards, queries,  analysis, data mining), interface designs, a prototype showcasing key functionalities and a strategy for the  translation of content and interface elements into Arabic, English and French to ensure accessibility for  large wide of public. 

Deliverable No. 3: IT & AI tool integration with language support: 

Integration of advanced IT and AI tools for data analysis, reporting and visualization, with an emphasis on  multilingual support. This deliverable involves developing and implementing algorithms and software  components that are compatible with multi format and multilingual data, ensuring seamless processing and  visualization in Arabic, English and French. 

Deliverable No. 4: Beta version, user feedback and language testing: 

A beta version of the online Tourism Data Dashboard for testing, accompanied by a user testing report that  includes feedback on the multilingual features. This stage involves testing the dashboard’s usability,  functionality, and performance in all three languages, with a report detailing testing methodologies,  feedback, and suggested improvements. 

Deliverable No. 5: Final platform, training materials and multilingual support: 

The final, fully functional online dashboard, complete with comprehensive training materials and user  guides in French and English. This deliverable includes the developed and, in line with international and  Tunisian data processing and privacy standards and legislation, a comprehensive handover of the backend  infrastructure and technical documentation to ONTT’s IT team, with full language support to ensure ease  of use for all tourism data stakeholders. 

Deliverable No. 6: Post launch customer care and support: 

A dedicated service designed to provide ongoing customer care and support post launch. This includes  regular updates based on user feedback and a helpdesk or support system to assist users with any issues or  queries. 

II.5. Deliverables Schedule 

The successful subcontractor shall submit the deliverables described below in accordance with the  following deliverables schedule:

Deliverable  Number	Deliverable Name	Due Date
01	Project plan and resource requirements	28th May, 2024
02	Tourism Data Dashboard design, prototype, and  translation strategy	31st May, 2024
03	IT & AI tool integration with language support	14th June, 2024
04	Beta version, user feedback and language testing	28th June, 2024
05	Final platform, training materials and multilingual  support	15th July, 2024

 

06

Post launch customer care and support

1st August, 2024

 

*Deliverable numbers and names refer to those fully described in II.4 above. 

II.6. Qualifications: 

The subcontractor should possess the following qualifications: 

1) Expertise in full-stack web development, including front end and back-end technologies, preferably  using universal programs such as Microsoft. Proven track record of developing similar scale  interactive and data-driven websites. 

2) Ability to integrate complex databases and handle large volumes of data. 

3) Experience in creating interactive data visualizations and dashboards. 

4) Proficiency in data analysis tools and programming languages relevant to data science.

5) Strong portfolio showcasing expertise in user interface and user experience design. Experience in  designing intuitive and engaging interfaces, especially for data-intensive applications.

6) Knowledge of the latest design trends and technologies. 

7) Experience in creating multi-language and inclusive interface.

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