Title: Tourism SME and Association Development Specialist Length of
Assignment: Long-Term
Reports to: Enabling Environment Team Leader
- BACKGROUND
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. Through this activity, USAID seeks to contribute to Tunisia’s growth and development to offset the negative economic impact of the coronavirus crisis. The project will seek to achieve the following four objectives:
- Objective 1: Enhance Tunisia’s competitiveness as a tourism destination. • Objective 2: Increase tourism-related investments and revenue;
- Objective 3: Improve the enabling environment for sustained growth in the tourism sector; • Objective 4: Private sector engagement to expand the offer and quality of alternative tourism.
This project will collaborate with the relevant ministries, private sector, and donors to advance the objectives while contributing to the following high-level results:
- Increase in the number of tourists.
- Increase in the number of jobs in the tourism sector.
- Increase in tourism revenue.
- Increase in private sector-led investment and innovation in the tourism sector.
2. POSITION DESCRIPTION
The specialist will be responsible for institutional development of the key stakeholders including public sector tourism organizations, federations, private sector tourism associations and tourism small and medium entreprises (SME’s). Through digital solutions, operating procedures, training, and stakeholder outreach, USAID Visit Tunisia will strengthen the capacity of both public and private sector institutions, federations and associations to accelerate the commercial growth of alternative tourism services and products, promote Tunisia as an alternative tourism destination, and attract private sector investment.
- DETAILED RESPONSIBILITIES
The Specialist will:
- Support the project’s efforts in institutional development and capacity building of key tourism industry stakeholders, including federations, associations, and SME’s. The Specialist will support tourism federations, associations to improve their business planning, advocacy,membership benefits, and overall effectiveness.
- Create and maintain a comprehensive database on tourism federations and associations operating in tourism sectors, especially those functioning in alternative tourism.
- Work on SME development programs, helping tourism businesses to improve their profitability, establish new market linkages, and develop a program for sustainability and growth.
- Support efforts to improve the profitability and investment readiness of women-owned SME’s.
- Facilitate tourism policy dialogues and forums, engage government and private sector partners in identifying required legal and regulatory reforms that will lead to a more competitive tourism sector, and support development and adoption of legal reform and advocacy tools.
- Support partner organizations in strategic planning, organization governance, and improving provision of services to the public entities (government institutions) and to members of federations and associations.
- Provide support to partner organization and specialists who will improve quality assurance standards, implement classification systems in hotels, guest houses, camps, restaurants, wellness spas, tour guiding and tourist transport, to achieve superior hospitality services.
- Manage and oversee relevant consultants scopes of work, grants and subcontracts as needed.
- Perform other duties related to the scope of work of the Tourism SME and Association Development Specialist as required.
- QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor’s degree in public policy, business administration, economics, or related field is required; Master degree is preferred.
- A minimum of five years’ experience, including 3 years supporting organization, institutional development and/or policy reform initiatives and providing capacity building to government institutions, federations and sector associations.
- Experience in leading or managing federation and/or an association is desired. • Experience in providing consulting services to SME’s.
- Experience in management level communication and reporting is required. • Experience of working with international donors is desired.
- Fluency in English and French is required, fluency in Arabic is highly preferred.
5. REPORTING:
The Tourism SME and Association Development Specialist will report to the Enabling Environment Team Leader.
- LEVEL OF EFFORT AND PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE
This position is long-term, on a full-time basis.
- LOCATION OF THE ASSIGNMENT
This assignment will be based in Tunis, with potential travel to regional locations pending project needs. The office maintains a five-day work week. Overtime is not authorized.