Terms of Reference for 4 Local Tourism Coordinators (one per each city: Berat, AL-ADF-254593-CS-INDV; Përmet REF No: AL-ADF-255193-CS-INDV; Gjirokastra REF No: AL-ADF-255194 -CS-INDV; Saranda REF No: AL-ADF-255195-CS-INDV)
Terms of Reference
Establishment of Tourism Destination Partnerships to Accelerate Tourism Recovery Planning
in Four Municipalities in Southern Albania
4 Local Tourism Coordinators
(one per each city: Berat, AL-ADF-254593-CS-INDV; Përmet REF No: AL-ADF-255193-CS-INDV; Gjirokastra REF No: AL-ADF-255194 -CS-INDV; Saranda REF No: AL-ADF-255195-CS-INDV)
Table of Contents
Scope of Work: Total 10 months. 4
Task 1: Inception Report – 2 weeks. 4
Task 2: Establish a Tourism Response and Recovery Task Force (TTF) – 3 month.. 5
Task 4: Support the establishment of the Destination Management Partnership initiatives. 6
QUALIFICATIONS OF CONSULTANT. 7
RESPONSIBILITIES OF COORDINATORS. 8
COORDINATION WITH CENTRAL AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES. 8
Background
COVID-19 is spreading rapidly across the world and causing a major global disruption to the travel and tourism sector, with likely widespread and long-lasting economic impacts. Albania is no exception. In the context of the ongoing Project for Integrated Urban and Tourism Development (PIUTD) that is focused on four municipalities in the south of Albania: Saranda, Gjirokastra, Berat and Përmet, this consultancy aims to support these important tourism hubs to develop a proactive response and recovery plan for the tourism sector. This activity compliments other soon-to-be-launched/launched consultancies centered on tourism product and market development and is envisioned as a mechanism to build a lasting partnership between the public and private sector that, in the short term, focuses activities around COVID-19 response and recovery.
During recovery period from COVID-1, various measures can be put in place to try to mitigate economic collapse. The recovery process hinges on communicating transparently about the destination’s response to the crisis. The focus should be on the proactive measures being taken by industry, government and civil society to manage the crisis and prepare for recovery. Such messaging should include:
- Measures being taken by industry and government in the destination to directly combat the public health risks
- Measures being taken to adapt and prepare the destination for recovery (training, renovations, public-space clearing)
- Status of destination safety, openness and readiness (transparently). Travel restrictions, access policy (borders/visas), industry policies.
- Real-time updates on all of the above
- Highlight specifically; transparency, united front of industry, sensitivity of destination to consumers, employees
- Concerted effort to present real-time facts (that are verified) and position destination as responsive, coordinated and sensitive
- Act as a go-between to forward queries to the right channels
There is also a role to play in collecting information being generated from government, consumers and trade, verifying, packaging and sending it out to local industry.
Communication and coordination around these issues has the following advantages:
- Builds trust with eventual buyers (trade and consumers) that the destination is informed, and proactive
- This is a competitive advantage, retaining top-of-mind, and can be used to convert early travelers once recovery is announced
- This role can also be graduated into one of more targeted promotion and buyer engagement during the recovery period.
- Keeps local industry informed about government plans, directives, support programs – and responses/feedback from buyers. Local industry is then able to better adapt to needs of the market and local requirements.
Objective
The objective of this assignment is to support the establishment of Tourism Response and Recovery Task Forces in each of the targeted destination municipalities. Before destinations are visited by tourists again, two things will have to be in place; tourists themselves will need to be healthy and feel safe to travel, and the destinations they visit (and everything they consume or come in contact with) will also have to be healthy. These determinations of “health” will come from the presence of the vaccine, antigen testing, and/or official health certification that is the result of confirmed implementation of COVID-19 prevention protocols. Until this time, destinations will not see significant tourist numbers. These Task Forces will support destination municipalities to ensure tourism supply chain enterprises and employees are fully compliant with protocols deemed necessary by internationally accepted standards. The Task Forces will also work with the proposed market and product development consultancies to ensure that the right communication is shared with source market suppliers and that marketing and promotion, and product development actions are targeted and appropriate to the circumstances.
The Project Implementation Unit (PIU) of the Albanian Development Fund (ADF) has been appointed for the overall implementation of the Project for Integrated Urban and Tourism Development and the Project Coordination Unit (PCU) with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy (MoIE) has been appointed in a monitoring and supporting capacity. Henceforth, the Albanian Development Fund (ADF) shall be referred to as “The Client”. The local tourism coordinators to be appointed under this ToR are henceforth referred to as “The Coordinators”.
For this purpose, the Client is seeking to hire 4 (four) coordinators that will be based in and work from each of the four municipalities: Berat, Gjirokastër, Përmet and Saranda.
Scope of Work: Total 10 months
The Coordinators will deliver on the following tasks over an initial 10-month “response” period:
Task 1: Inception Report – 2 weeks
Prior to starting the main work under this consultancy, under the lead of the International Tourism Expert, the Coordinators will contribute in the preparation of the Inception Report.
The purpose of the Inception Report is to outline the methodology, instruments proposed to conduct the various tasks, as well as reflect the level of effort and timeline that will be
followed to develop each of the tasks. In the inception report should be reflected their overall understanding of the ToRs and propose, based on their initial information elements such as:
- methodology for data collection needed for the database (inventory), and necessary templates;
- communication plan for the COVID updates;
- present the proposed backstopping to support the tourism coordinators in their roles
- present a timeline of activities that reflect milestones for the delivery of specific outputs etc.
ADF and the World Bank will review the Inception Report and discuss with the Coordinators any suggested modifications of approach and proposed time lines and provide approval.
Deliverables – Draft and Final Inception Report
Task 2: Establish a Tourism Response and Recovery Task Force (TTF) – 3 month
With guidance from an International Tourism Expert the Coordinators, will establish a Tourism Response and Recovery Task Force (TTF) within each municipality (anchored in the Mayor’s office) for the following purposes:
- Create a database (inventory) of all tourism-related goods and service providers operating in and around the destination;
- Communicate to this database all official and necessary protocols for containment and prevention of COVID-19 spread;
- Collect information from this database on revenue and employment losses and maintain this as a live dashboard on a digital platform;
- Collect and share with the database information from external sources on response and recovery strategies, sources of short-term finance or grants that may be available to stakeholders, access to on-line training or other supporting actions. The Coordinators will aim to guarantee access to information to all the interested parties in the digital platform, which can have different levels of access for different users (external and internal ones);
- Convene virtual (or other if appropriate) TTF meetings to prioritize requests for municipal/national actions.
Task 3: Support the implementation of product and market development initiatives – for the whole duration of the contract
As destinations respond and a “recovery” period starts, the role of the coordinators should switch gears to support the implementation of product and market development initiatives.
The coordinators will:
- Complement the product and market development consultancies by ensuring the municipality stakeholders are fully aware of, and have ownership of, products being developed and financed through the PIUTD;
- Continue to maintain, update, and report on the progress of firms in the database and continue to share material and experiences from other destinations;
- Continue to maintain and improve the digital platform for the destination;
- Continue to convene TTF meetings and raise critical issues for destination management and through this platform ensure that health standards are being maintained;
- Continue to use the TTF as a conduit to access training, markets, and possible sources of finance;
- Coordinate closely with the consultancies for product and market development acting as a secretariat for tourism development in the destinations.
Task 4: Support the establishment of the Destination Management Partnership initiatives – for the whole duration of the contract
Through all the consultancy timeframe, the Coordinators with different activities will aim at the establishment of the Destination Management Partnerships in each of the municipalities. Proposed list of activities is:
- Stakeholder mapping, and identify potential key stakeholders for co-leading the future DMP.
- Revise and further detail the model of Partnership previously developed by PIUTD through another consultancy.
- Develop Business Plans for the establishment of the Destination Management Partnerships (one per each municipality), with a 5-year timeframe.
- Set up formalized partnerships, ensuring the participation of the main stakeholders.
- Support the activities of the DMPs.
- Capacity building for the staff of the municipalities with trainings on gaps assessed in destination management and municipal services related to tourism, such as marketing, product development, etc.
SPECIFIC TASKS AND OUTPUTS
Implementation Framework
The managing authority is the ADF who is responsible for ensuring the highest quality of project implementation, through an effective monitoring and evaluation of project achievements and outcomes.
Once accepted by the ADF the deliverables will be submitted to the World Bank for their no-objections.
The Coordinators are expected to work full time. The contract will be for an initial period of 3 months, renewable for 7 months (or project duration), based on the satisfactory performance of the incumbent’s duties and responsibilities.
The timeline of each phase should not be perceived as separate from other phases, but they can overlap with each other. The Coordinators will report directly to the International Tourism Expert and ADF, and will participate in meetings with the ADF and PCU to update them on the advancement of activities.
Deliverables
All deliverables will be sent to the ADF. All reports and documentation prepared under this project will be submitted in English. When documents/reports are needed for the local stakeholders, the Albanian version will be delivered together with the English one.
In general, deliverable reports will be first circulated in draft, then discussed and agreed with ADF and the World Bank, prior to finalization based on the comments received.
The following deliverables will be part of this consultancy:
- Inception report ensuring mutual understanding of the Coordinators’ plan of action and timeline for delivering.
- Bi-monthly activity reports that demonstrate progress on the following activities:
- Creation of a comprehensive database of tourism-related goods and service providers (type of business, number of employees, relevant contact information, etc.)
- Development of health and hygiene protocols and behaviour manuals based on international standards
- Creation of a digital destination platform featuring tourism goods and service providers and activities and a monitoring tool to track revenue and employment growth
- Bi-weekly meetings of tourism stakeholders to share information on destination “health”, municipal and national travel restrictions, international good practices, training opportunities, financing opportunities etc.
- Demonstration of coordination with product and market development consultancies
- Establishment of a formal destination management partnership to serve as a de facto destination management organization and to be hosted by the municipality – the establishment of this entity is a desired project result by the end of the project and the tourism coordinators should work towards demonstrating value-addition of the coordination role and should work closely with designated municipal focal points to ensure this structure is in place,
meets regularly and acts on tourism-related issues arising at the destination level.
Final report A final report will be submitted at the end of the contract. This will outline the methodology used for the implementation of the contract; describe the results achieved and sustainability strategy. An outlook on the key impact of the contract will be provided.
The Coordinators will contribute to the preparation of all the reports.
QUALIFICATIONS OF CONSULTANT
Tourism Coordinator (s) – one per each of municipality in the project area: Berat, Gjirokastra, Përmet and Saranda (4 in total):
- At least 7 years of experience, of which a minimum of 3 years in the tourism industry, educated to degree level in tourism, destination management or relevant field.
- Experience in multi-stakeholder environment in tourism in Albania is preferable
- Previous experience of the designated area preferable
- Good verbal and written communication skills in English and Albanian
- Proficient in MS Office programs.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF COORDINATORS
The Coordinators shall be responsible for implementing the entirety of the tasks defined in the scope of the assignment. To this end, the Coordinators shall bear all the costs related to the employment and his/her mobilization. This includes travel expenditures and accommodation costs.
Finally, the Coordinators shall be responsible for the costs of producing, translating, printing and distributing the information materials and reports required to successfully carry out his/her assignment.
COORDINATION WITH CENTRAL AND LOCAL AUTHORITIES
The Coordinators shall work in strict coordination with ADF, which is responsible for the accomplishment of the assignment. The Ministry of Infrastructure and Energy (MoIE) is the government agency responsible for finalizing the overall investment program and monitoring its implementation, together with the ADF. The Coordinators shall interact with ADF concerning the technical aspects of projects.
The MoIE will facilitate this interaction by introducing the Coordinators to the competent officials and participating to key meetings. At local level, the Coordinators will work in strict coordination with the concerned municipal authorities. The ADF will introduce the Coordinators to these authorities.
Transfer of know how
The Coordinators will integrate in its daily work some of the specialists of the ADF, LGU’s and Central Government with the aim to make them participate, on the different procedures, basic concepts and research methods.
