REQUEST FOR TENDER – CONSULTANCY SERVICES

The SPTO is embarking on the development of the Pacific Sustainable Tourism Policy Framework (PSTPF) and seeks to engage a Consultant for this work. The development of the PSTPF will build on the background work completed via the “Pacific Tourism Statistics Assessment”, “National Tourism Office (NTO) Needs Assessment 2020” and the “Regional Tourism Workshop on Strengthening Tourism Statistics and Sustainability in the Pacific”. Please refer to the Terms of Reference for more information.

 

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Reference No.	TA001/20
Location	Fiji or Home based
Application deadline	15 November 2020
Type of Contract	Individual Contractor
Post Level	International Consultant
Consultancy Title	Consultant – Pacific Sustainable Tourism Policy Framework
Languages required:	English
Duration of Contract:	Between November 2020 and April 2021

 

BACKGROUND

Consultancy for the development of the Pacific Sustainable Tourism Policy Framework

This Terms of Reference outlines the proposed support for the development of the Pacific Sustainable Tourism Policy Framework through a joint partnership between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO). 

Tourism plays a critical role in the economic development of Pacific Island Countries in that it is the major driver of economic growth, foreign exchange earnings and employment.  Since the inception of the Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO) Sustainable Tourism Programme in 2017, the primary focus at regional level was centered on establishing the foundational partnerships and increasing stakeholder engagement and awareness on sustainability. The SPTO Strategic Plan 2020-2024 sets out a renewed vision for the ‘Pacific Islands’ to be empowered and benefitting from Sustainable Tourism’.  Additionally, the Council of Tourism Ministers for the Pacific called for improved and greater coordination of regional initiatives to foster the sustainable development of tourism across the region, at its 29th Meeting held in Niue in October 2019. 

As a crosscutting sector, tourism has the potential to generate shared benefits along the value chain, through linkages with agriculture, trade, fisheries and community development. It also serves as a good platform for environmental protection through conservation, waste management, low carbon development, climate change adaptation and mitigation and the promotion of circular economies.  On the other hand, as a resource intensive industry, sustainable development practices that protect the environment and bring socio-economic benefits to Pacific people including those living in rural and marginalised communities must be the center of future tourism planning and development. Strengthening the regional sustainable tourism policy and impact monitoring frameworks is an avenue for the Pacific to make informed progress as a collective. Tourism continues to be an important sector for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in particular Goals 8, 12 and 14 with strong linkages to Goals 1, 5, 7, 13 and all other Goals. It also has the potential to support the realization of commitments of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, the Paris Agreement and the SAMOA Pathway.

Tourism is undoubtedly at the crossroads due to the devastating impacts of Covid-19 and Tropical Cyclone Harold earlier this year.  Recognising the opportunity at hand for strengthening the policy frameworks required in equipping the tourism sector to bounce forward stronger, more inclusive, sustainable and more resilient to future pandemics and natural disasters, SPTO and UNDP are jointly supporting the development of the Pacific Sustainable Tourism Policy Framework. This will be the primary aim of this consultancy. However, a strong emphasis is placed on ensuring that a robust Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning  Framework (MELF) is established for tracking progress. The MELF will therefore be complemented by the Pacific Tourism Statistics Strategy which will be developed in parallel (by a separate consultant), through an integrated stakeholder consultation process. This ensures a holistic approach in the way tourism is planned, developed, promoted and monitored across the Pacific and that the member countries and stakeholders have the opportunity to contribute meaningfully to its development by being part of the process.  The two policy instruments will contextualize the SDGs and key global commitments to the Pacific and local context, aligning these to regional policies including the proposed 2050 Blue Pacific Strategy, the Pacific Roadmap for Sustainable Development, the Framework for Resilient Development in the Pacific, the Cleaner Pacific Strategy 2025 and the Marine Litter Action Plan, the Regional Culture Strategy and the SPTO Strategic Plan 2020-2024.

Extensive work has been done by SPTO and its members in discussing sustainable tourism priorities and challenges, a needs assessment for NTOs in light of the pandemic and a detail assessment was concluded in April 2020 on tourism statistical systems in the region.  Reports from these will be used to inform the process.

 

Objectives of the initiative:

The overall objectives of the initiative are to:

• Provide an overarching strategic direction for the planning, development, promotion, and management of sustainable tourism in the Pacific, in particular transitioning to the new normal post COVID19.
• Provide a platform for wider stakeholder engagement and meaningful participation in shaping the future of sustainable tourism development in the Pacific
• Strengthen the capacity of regional and national stakeholders in monitoring and managing the impacts of tourism development and;
• Mobilise resources and partnership support for implementing regional and national level actions in advancing the sustainable development agenda through tourism
• Provide guidance for countries to develop and monitor national sustainable tourism policies

The components of the PSTPF would include but not limited to the following:

• Vision for Sustainable Tourism in the next 10 years (An assessment of where are we now, where do we want to be in the next 10 years, what needs to be done to get there)
• What are the challenges and gaps in attaining sustainable tourism in the Pacific;
• What is needed at the country level to address the challenges and gaps
• What can be done as a region to address the challenges and gaps at the country level
• What risks or threats could impact the achievement of the vision and how can countries individually and collectively mitigate or plan for these risks and threats
• Set of indicators that could be used across countries to measure sustainable tourism
• Guidance note for countries in the Pacific to formulate (or further develop if already in existence) their National Sustainable Tourism Development Strategy      

The Sustainable Tourism Guidance note could cover (but not be limited to) the following components of tourism:

• Business Enabling Environment
• Infrastructure (Hard and Soft)
• Research, Statistics & Marketing
• Product & Service Development
• Human Resource Development and Training
• Sustainable Tourism Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Framework

 The Consultant will be required to work as part of a team of two to develop the Pacific Sustainable Tourism Policy Framework and provide input and recommendations to the development of the Pacific Tourism Statistics Strategy ensuring there is strong alignment between the two policy instruments. The Consultant will be working with but not be limited to the National Tourism Organisation (NTOs), who are the national focal points for tourism, the National Statistics Offices (NSOs) and relevant line Ministries and Corporations such as Environment, Finance and Planning, Agriculture, Trade, Fisheries, Culture, Energy, Infrastructure and others, Tourism Private Sector, Airlines, Travel trade (wholesalers, agents/travel companies) and international partners promoting Pacific Island destinations and businesses, representatives of village/communities engaged in tourism development, Development Partners, CROP Agencies, International Finance Institutions, Civil Society Organisations, Academia and educational institutions.

Due to the pandemic and restrictions on travel and group gatherings, the Consultant will be required to work in Suva if Fiji based and to be stationed at the SPTO Office according to an agreed schedule or remotely if outside of Fiji.  The work will require a combination of face to face meetings (if based in Fiji), with a heavy research and remote planning and stakeholder consultation component. Should there be opportunity during the project for international travel (when the borders are open and it is safe to travel), arrangements will be made separately. Due to the diverse range of stakeholders and the challenges with internet connectivity in the Pacific, the Consultant is required to have extensive work experience in the Pacific and be able to facilitate the virtual consultation process with minimal support. 

 

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Scope of Work

The consultant working closely with SPTO, UNDP and the Regional Working Group who will oversee the initiative will be required to:

• Develop the Methodology and Work Plan for the development of the Pacific Sustainable Tourism Policy Framework
• Conduct an extensive desktop review to collect data and information to inform the development of the Framework
• Conduct stakeholder consultations
• Draft the Pacific Sustainable Tourism Policy Framework (inclusive of the Implementation Plan and MELF)
• Finalise the Pacific Sustainable Tourism Policy Framework
• Provide a list of recommendations for the Pacific Tourism Statistics Strategy and provide input to the development of the Strategy.

SPTO member countries include:  American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, French Polynesia, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Rapa Nui, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor Leste, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Wallis and Futuna.  SPTO will provide access to the Regional Tourism Resource Center including all the relevant information available to inform the development of this activity.

Expected Outputs and Deliverables

Project Milestones	Deliverables	Payment schedule	Timeline
Situational Analysis and Formulation of Policy Components	1.      Inception Report: Key Findings and Recommendations for the Sustainable Tourism Policy Framework Components	20%	18th December 2020
Stakeholder consultation and Drafting	2.      Draft Regional Sustainable Tourism Policy Framework	30%	10th February 2021
Finalisation	3.      Final Draft of the Regional Sustainable Tourism Policy Framework	30%	10th March 2021
Integration of the MEL Framework  and linkages with the Pacific Tourism Statistics Strategy	4.      Recommendations for the Pacific Tourism Statistics Strategy		13th April 2021
Endorsement Process	5.      TA Deliverable Four Compilation and Submission of final drafts by TA including IP/MELF –   Develop final presentations	20%	13th April 2021

All deliverables are required to be available in MS Word and where relevant, MS PowerPoint for meetings.  Recordings of virtual meetings are also required to be made available.  

 

Institutional Arrangement

Technical Oversight:

A Regional Working Group (RWG) comprising of SPTO, UNDP, UNESCAP, 3 National representatives and relevant CROP Agencies and Development Partners will be established to provide technical oversight of the deliverables set out in this ToR.  The RWG will provide technical input into the process, review deliverables and support the Secretariat in the presentation of updates and deliverables to the SPTO Board Sub Committees and/or SPTO Board of Directors.

Endorsement:

The final endorsement of the Pacific Sustainable Tourism Policy Framework (final draft) will be provided by the SPTO Board of Directors.  The normal SPTO Board processes will be applied, where the relevant Board Sub Committees will assess deliverables based on updates from the RWG, prior to presenting to the Board of Directors for endorsement. To this end, the Sustainable Tourism and Statistics Board Sub Committee will be playing this role. 

Day to Day Contract Management:

The Consultant will report directly to the Manager of the Sustainable Tourism Development and Research Division of SPTO.  The Sustainable Tourism and Research Division of SPTO will provide the administrative and logistical support to the Consultant. 

All financial and procurement related matters will be handled by the SPTO Corporate and Finance Division. 

Duration of the Work

The assignment is expected to commence in November 2020 with an estimated completion date of April 2021. This will include a total of 40 effective person-days. A four and a half week period has been allocated for the review process of the First Draft, during which time, virtual meetings will be held to present the findings in order to provide context and assist stakeholders with the review in the absence of physical or face to face meetings.  Considering the Christmas holidays in the Pacific and the availability of stakeholders for the final review and endorsement process a two week delay will be granted in the beginning of 2021 as reflected in the delayed submission of Deliverable 3.  The endorsement process will take approximately 4-5 weeks to also ensure that stakeholders have the opportunity to review the final draft prior to granting endorsement.

Duty Station

• Since the work requires regional consultation and considering the travel restrictions, the duty station is home based but preferable to be within the South Pacific region. If the Consultant is Fiji based, the duty station will be Suva, but on a flexible schedule.
• If the borders reopen during the assignment, due consideration will be given to attend a regional meeting in Fiji.

Fortnightly meetings will be held with SPTO to update on project progress and where needed, weekly meetings can be arranged.

COMPETENCIES

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills;
• Strong analytical, reporting and writing abilities skills;
• Openness to change and ability to receive/integrate feedback;
• Ability to plan, organize, implement and report on work;
• Ability to work under pressure and tight deadlines;
• Comprehensiveness knowledge of Sustainable Tourism (including planning, development, promotion and management) preferably in the Pacific region
• Proficiency in the use of office IT applications (including zoom, skype, teamviewer, etc) and internet in conducting research and meetings;
• Outstanding communication, project management and organizational skills;
• Excellent presentation and facilitation skills.
• Demonstrates integrity and ethical standards;
• Positive, constructive attitude to work;

Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability.

 

REQUIRED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE        

Educational Qualifications:

• Minimum qualification is a Post Graduate Degree in Tourism, Sustainable Development/Strategy/Management, Policy Planning or a relevant field.

Experience

• More than 15 years progressive work experience in Tourism policy development at either national or regional level in the Pacific region is required. International experience including in relevant regions such as The Caribbean would be an advantage.
• Extensive experience and understanding of the Pacific tourism sector, sustainable development issues and linkages between tourism and the social, cultural, economic and environmental sector are required.

Language requirements

• Fluency of English language is required;
• Knowledge of French would be an asset.

 

Price Proposal and Schedule of Payments

Consultant must send a financial proposal based on:

Lump Sum Amount. The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive and include all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee, travel costs, living allowance (if any work is to be done outside the IC´s duty station) and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment. The contract price will fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration. Payments will be done upon completion of the deliverables/outputs and as per below percentages:

• Deliverable 1 Inception Report: 20% of total contract amount
• Deliverable 2 Draft Sustainable Tourism Policy Framework : 30% of total contract amount
• Deliverable 3 Final Sustainable Tourism Policy Framework: 30% of total contract amount
• Deliverable 4 Endorsement of Final Draft by the Board of Directors: 20% of total contract amount                                                

In general, SPTO shall not accept travel costs exceeding those of an economy class ticket. Should the Consultant wish to travel on a higher class he/she should do so using their own resources.

In the event of unforeseeable travel not anticipated in this TOR, payment of travel costs including tickets, lodging and terminal expenses should be agreed upon, between the SPTO and the Individual Consultant, prior to travel and will be reimbursed.

 

Evaluation Method and Criteria

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology:

Cumulative analysis

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as a) responsive/compliant/acceptable; and b) having received the highest score out of set of weighted technical criteria (70%). and financial criteria (30%). Financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal received by SPTO for the assignment.

 

Technical Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 70 points)

Criteria 1: Qualification – Max 10 Points

• Post Graduate Qualification in Tourism Development, Sustainable Development/ Strategy/ Management, Policy Planning, or related field will be desirable;
• More than 15 years progressive work experience in tourism related policy work would also be desirable

 

Criteria 2: Technical experience in Tourism Policy Development  – Max 30 Points

• Experience and technical knowledge of tourism development with a focus on sustainability in the regional and/or global context required.
• Strong understanding of public and private sector issues relating to tourism development and sustainability in the Pacific, across Small Island Developing States, and the global tourism sector;
• Professional experience in Tourism and/or environment sector including demonstrated and hands-on experience in policy development or reform in the tourism sector;

 

Criteria 3 Experience in Key Areas – Max 10 Points

• Experience in working with governments institutions on policy related matters;
• Experience working with NGOs, UN Agencies, and other private sector organizations;
• Working experience with international organizations or similar projects/programme design and implementations would be an advantage;
• Maturity and confidence in dealing with senior members of national institutions and private sector partners;
• Excellent coordination and communication skills, with analytical capacity and ability to synthesize collected data and present findings to stakeholders;
• Excellent coordination skills and result oriented collaboration with colleagues – particularly with the Regional Technical Working Group and key stakeholders.

 

Criteria 4 Relevance of Approach/Methodology to assignment – Max 20 Points

• Develop and provide a methodology of how the assignment will be carried out with respect to timelines and deliverables.
• Relevance of approach in recommending the structure of the Framework including in the development of the Implementation Plan and Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Framework
• Candidates must include a planned consultation process for all stakeholders as well as key outputs

Financial Proposal (30%)

To be computed as a ratio of the Proposal’s offer to the lowest price among the proposals received by SPTO.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 49 points (70% of the total technical points) would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

 

Documentation required

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualifications. Please group them into one (1) single PDF document (under 5 MB in size) as the application only allows to upload maximum one document:

• Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template to be provided.
• Personal CV, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references.
• Technical proposal, including a) a brief description of why the individual considers him/herself as the most suitable for the assignment; and b) a methodology, on how they will approach and complete the assignment. A methodology is required.
• Financial proposal, as per template provided in Annex II. Note: National consultants must quote prices in United States Dollars (USD).

Note: Successful individual will be required to provide proof of medical insurance coverage before commencement of contract for the duration of the assignment.

Incomplete, joint proposals and proposals sent to the wrong mailing address will not be accepted and only candidates for whom there is further interest will be contacted.

Only Consultants with whom there is further interest will be contacted. The successful consultant shall sign an Individual Contract with SPTO.

 

Proposal Submission

• All applications must be clearly marked with the title of the consultancy with reference (TA001/20) and submitted via email to accounts@spto.org by 5pm (Fiji Time) 15^th November 2020.
• Note: SPTO email uploads only support documents up to 5MB or less hence ensure that the proposal is consolidated and submitted as one single document.
• Tender documentations and the Terms of Reference can be accessed by emailing: sustainable@spto.org

For further information, please contact:

 

Christina Leala-Gale

Manager: Sustainable Tourism & Research

Pacific Tourism Organisation

Suva

Tel: +679 3304177

Email: cgale@spto.org

 

Pacific Island Nationals and Women applicants are encouraged to apply.