Background

The project offers an intervention strategy for the development of rural tourism in Armenia with the objective of creating sustainable income-generating opportunities as supplemental income source to reduce the level of rural poverty, contribute to equal territorial development and shape conducive environment for rural development. The project has three main components:

1. Planning of sustainable integrated rural tourism- The tourism assets of the community will be identified, assessed and prioritized for the further development by preliminary expert assessment and participatory planning mechanism, which will outline the vision and strategy for the rural tourism development in the community through wide consultation and participation of the local stakeholders.
2. Increasing income level through diversification of tourism products and services in the community- Developing human resources through sector-specific trainings (business management, food processing, sales, marketing, training local guides, etc.) will help to address the knowledge gaps and prepare the local communities to effectively manage the tourism enterprises. Meanwhile all the actors integrated in both production, service provision and management will be trained in sustainable utilization of tourism assets and adoption of mechanisms to bring down the environmental impact of their activities. In addition, the project will facilitate the access of the local tourism enterprises to seed financing through the loan mechanism of SME DNC.
3. Sustainable Destination Management- Establishing institutions to engage the local stakeholders and authorities into management and development of the community as a tourism destination. Meanwhile UNDP will build synergies between its upcoming projects planning to use big data and establish an up to date information center in Yerevan to promote the new tourism destinations. In addition the project will help the new destinations to market the tourism services through ICT tools.
    

Duties and Responsibilities

The incumbent will work under the supervision of “Integrated Rural Tourism Development” Economist/Project Coordinator and will be responsible for the concept development, forecast and budget conduct, implementation, introduction to the market and management of rural tourism related products and services in the selected villages of Armenia.

The incumbent should develop the relevant rural tourism related products and services. The successful candidate should:
 

Develop 6 rural tourism products/services of the assigned rural areas

• Based on the rural tourism inventory results, the Incumbent should define the key rural tourism products for development
• Identify new development opportunities of assigned rural areas
• Test the developed rural tourism products
• Launch the new developed products/services

Analyze the products market behavior:

• Develop marketing plan for the developed product
• Prepare product/services marketing plan
• Participate in overall marketing strategy development and business planning of the assigned rural areas
• Forecast revenue of the developed products/services for the assigned rural areas for different market segments/groups

Proposing and defending medications for the developed products/services based on alternative development solutions for the assigned rural areas:

• Track the targeted products/services behavior based on main KPIs
• Come up with proposals and recommendations for the products enhancement

Find project partnerships among villagers and representatives of the interested parties to implement the developed products and services

Competencies

Strong interpersonal skills with ability to establish and maintain effective work relationships with people of different social and cultural background and set good rapport with population in rural area

• Ability to deliver and reach the planned targets without undermining proper operational processes
• Creativity, flexibility and an innovative approach to problem solving
• High sense of responsibility; proven ability to work under time pressure and handle multiple activities and tasks concurrently;
• Ability to work independently and to participate effectively in a team based information sharing;
• Good technical skills (computer literacy, knowledge of MS office software and web based applications).
• Knowledge of tourism sector, marketing, product related financial calculations, marketing communication, market research theory;
• Knowledge and previous experience in tourism products/services development;
• Ability to travel and work in remote rural areas of Armenia;

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualifications:

• Advanced university degree in business related field, MBA, Marketing and Tourism. The relevant university degree in combination with qualifying experience in the subject area may be accepted in lieu of the advanced university degree.

Professional experience:

• At least 3 years of Tourism/Rural Tourism Products Development experience or other relevant experience in the field;
• Work experience in similar assignments with international organizations is an asset;

 Language:

• Fluency in Armenian and English (both spoken and written), knowledge of Russian is an asset.

PAYMENT MODE:
Payment will be made upon satisfactory performance of the consultant after submission and acceptance of respective claims and deliverables of 6 developed products/services, accompanied with respective package of documents (duly completed monthly timesheets, reports etc.).

INDIVIDUAL CONSULTANTS WILL BE EVALUATED BASED ON THE FOLLOWING METHODOLOGY:

Candidates will be evaluated using a cumulative analysis method taking into consideration the combination of the applicants' technical qualifications and experience, written test and financial proposal.
The contract will be awarded to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as:

• Technically responsive/compliant/acceptable to the requirements of the ToR;
• Having received the highest cumulative (technical, written test and financial) score out of below defined technical and financial criteria.

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% (49 points) in the technical evaluation would be considered for financial evaluation.
Technical Criteria - 70% of total evaluation - max. 70 points

• Criteria A – Advanced university degree in Marketing, Tourism, MBA or other related field. - max. points 10;
• Criteria B – At least 3 years of relevant experience in tourism sector, marketing, product related financial calculations, marketing communication, market research theory or relevant field. - max. points 10;
• Criteria C - Exceptional writing, editing and communications skills. – max. 15 points
• Criteria D- Advanced tourism products/services development skills. - max. 10 points
• Criteria E - Experience in development and implementation of tourism products/services development. - max. points 10
• Criteria F – Good technical skills (computer literacy, knowledge of MS office software and web based applications) skills – max. 5 points
• Criteria G - Familiarity with tourism sector of Armenia – max. 5 points
• Criteria E - Work experience in similar assignments with international organizations -  max. points 5.

Financial Criteria - 30% of total evaluation - max. 30 points.
The maximum number of points assigned to the financial proposal is allocated to the lowest price proposal. All other price proposals receive points in inverse proportion.

DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS.

• UNDP Personal History form (P11): http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/corporate/Careers/P11_Personal_history_form.doc.
• Letter of interest;
• Financial Proposal and Availably: OFFEROR’S LETTER TO UNDP

General Conditions of Contract is available here: http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/documents/procurement/documents/IC%20-%20General%20Conditions.pdf.