Procurement Notices

The interested offeror must submit the application via the following link

https://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?cur_job_id=105067

United Nations Development Programme

Terms of reference for Individual Contractor

1. Background

Tourism both (religious and leisure) is a key sector for the Saudi economy and an important pillar in Saudi Vision 2030. The religious tourism (Hajj and Umrah) is an activity that the government and the people of Saudi Arabia take pride in hosting and serving. With the government decision to establish an Authority for Tourism on 17 April 2000, followed up with several decrees to further emphasise the importance of this sector until the last and the most prominent decree on 25 February 2020 to change this body into a Ministry of Tourism.

To comply with international recommendations that require transparency on reporting Tourism Statistics, current Tourism publications were designed following the guidelines by UN Tourism Statistic Guide 2008 with consultation provided by a UN expert. However, the product developed is only related to Supply side and we still need to further enhance our statistical reporting on Tourism by developing demand side statistics publications. We do not need to start from scratch here, because the Ministry of Tourism is doing the demand side surveys and we are having a strong relationship with them to share data and experience in developing those products and implement them within KSA Statistical Office (GASTAT).

We need the expert to be working on how to improve current tourism statistics in several ways that are specified in the Scope of Work.

1. Scope of Work

In order to support GSTATs in the preparation of the next three-year Tourism Statistics plan, UNDP is seeking a Tourism Expert to review the current tourism, Hajj and Umrah statistical publications. The scope of the assignment will be to carry out the following exercises with the objectives to improve the quality of current products and develop new ones that would help decision-makers, as well as, Tourism-related organizations make sense of all Tourism-related activities. The Consultant will be required to:

• Provide advice and methodology of implementation for improving (data/big data/alternative) intakes to better reflect tourism reality within the country.
• Review the best practices in publishing Tourism Satellite Account (TSA), how it’s done, periodicity, data sources, survey questionnaire, etc. and adapt our publications and Ministry of Tourism statistical publications to better reflect Tourism reality in Saudi Arabia in a standardized way using the TSA.
• Design and review the Supply-side tourism statistics (surveys and publication templates) and advise on a plan for its indicators (Design, data collection, processing, analysing, and dissemination)
• Design and review the demand-side tourism statistics (surveys and publication templates) and advise on a plan for its indicators (Design, data collection, processing, analysing, and dissemination)
• Review and design the religious tourism statistics in Saudi Arabia (Hajj and Umrah) and align them with Supply and Demand sides, and provide a plan to disaggregate the above (TSA) in a way that singles out these special tourism activities impact on the overall Tourism in Saudi Arabia.
• Identify potential improvements to Tourism-related jobs reporting whether by expanding the ISIC 4 to fit some jobs that are common in the Saudi Tourism sector but not singled out in the ISIC 4 level 6 classification.
• Improve reporting on Tourism-related (Foreign Direct Investments) FDIs as well as (Domestic Direct Investments) DDIs in a way that is aligned with the National Accounts Statistics (tourism contribution to GDP) and Labor Force Statistics (tourism-related jobs)
• Improve reporting on unregulated\unregistered tourism-related activities and jobs in all of Tourism Statistics products.

1. Institutional Arrangement

Tourism Statistics Development Expert to Support the Saudi General Authority of Statistics in developing Specification and Standardization of Tourism Statistical Publication as well as modernizing these products by integrating other sources of data within the current publications in a way that reflects 360° view of this important domain as an activity and as a contributor to the overall GDP.

• The consultant will report to the UNDP Economist and the Department of Tourism Development, Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism
• The consultant will be given access to relevant information necessary for the execution of the tasks under this assignment.
• The consultant is responsible for providing their own laptop computers and mobile phones for use during this assignment; the consultant must have access to a reliable internet connection.

1. The duration of the assignment:

The contract duration will be for an initial period of six months with a possibility of extension subject to availability of funding and performance.

1. Location:

This assignment will be based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

1. Travel:

• UNDP will cover the cost of travel of the individual to the duty station, as well as their return to their home upon completion of their services. Travel costs are covered only in the event that the function will be undertaken physically in the duty station and exclude working from home arrangements.
• Include any official travel expected to be associated with performing the functions.
• Any change to the preliminary travel plan/schedule above, in such cases, UNDP  will cover travel costs in accordance with corporate regulations and rules.
• If unforeseen travel outside the assigned duty station is requested by UNDP  and not required by the Terms of References (ToR), such travel shall be covered by UNDP  in line with applicable rules and regulations and upon prior written agreement. In such cases, the Consultant shall receive living allowances not exceeding the United Nations (UN) Daily Subsistence Allowance (DSA) rate for such other location(s).
• Note: A written approval from UNDP  and relevant authorities will be required to facilitate the Consultant's travel to other locations than Riyadh on official missions where necessary.

VII.PAYMENT SCHEDULE

Payments will be made upon submission of the following deliverable, certification of payment form, and acceptance and confirmation by the supervisor

Payment shall be made as a deliverables-based lump sum payment, to be paid in instalments. The schedule of payment will be distributed upon satisfactory submission of the deliverables listed in the table hereunder:

​Qualifications of the Successful Individual Contractor

The successful applicant should have the following expertise and qualifications:  

Education:

• Advanced university degree in economics, statistics, tourism and hospitality development, or any other relevant fields.

Experience:

• At least 10 years of experience in providing consultancy services on tourism development plan and strategy, particularly in developing countries;
• Previous experience in providing advisory support on tourism development and is knowledgeable about the nature of both the regional and international tourism industry.
• Industry experience with a good understanding of the structure of Saudi Arabia economy and can draw international best practices and policy recommendations to apply into the local context
• Experience working with international organizations like UNWTO or ILO.

Language Requirements:

• Fluency in English is required, a good working knowledge of Arabic is desirable.

• Key Competencies
  • Leadership

• Demonstrated ability to think strategically and to provide credible leadership.
• Demonstrated intellectual leadership and ability to integrate knowledge with a broader strategic overview and corporate vision.
• Demonstrated flexibility in leadership by performing and/or overseeing the analysis/resolution of complex issues.
• Ability to conceptualize and convey strategic vision from the spectrum of development experience.

• Managing Relationships

• Demonstrated well-developed people management and organizational management skills.
• Excellent negotiating and networking skills with strong partnerships in academia, technical organizations and as a recognized expert in the practice area.

• Managing Complexity

• Ability to address global development issues.
• Demonstrated substantive leadership and ability to integrate knowledge with broader strategic, policy and operational objectives.

• Knowledge Management and Learning

• Ability to strongly promote and build knowledge products.
• Promotes knowledge management in UN and a learning environment in the office through leadership and personal example.
• Seeks and applies knowledge, information, and best practices from within and outside of UNDP.
• Provides constructive coaching and feedback.
• Demonstrates a strong capacity for innovation and creativity in providing strategic policy advice and direction.

• Judgment/Decision-Making

• Mature judgment and initiative.
• Proven ability to provide strategic direction to the project implementation process.
• Independent judgment and discretion in advising on handling major policy issues and challenges, use diplomacy and tact to achieve results.

1. Selection Criteria:

Applicants will be evaluated based on the scoring method. The award of the contract shall be made to the applicant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as a) responsive/compliant/acceptable; and b) having received the highest score out of the set of weighted technical criteria (70 points) based on qualification, and experience; and combined with the financial offer which will be weighted a max of 30 points.

Individual consultants will be evaluated based on the following methodology.

Step I: Screening and desk review:

Technical Criteria (CV review and Desk Review/Interview (optional) – maximum 70 points. Only candidates who obtained at least 70% of points from the CV desk review (who will score at least 49 points) will be considered for the next stage of evaluation, i.e. financial evaluation.

Applications will be first screened, and only candidates meeting the following minimum criteria will progress to the pool for shortlisting:

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

Step II: Screening and desk review:

Financial evaluation - Total 30% (30 points)

The following formula will be used to evaluate the financial Proposal:

p = y (µ/z), where

p = points for the financial Proposal being evaluated

y = maximum number of points for the financial Proposal

µ = price of the lowest-priced Proposal

z = price of the Proposal being evaluated

1. Recommended Presentation of Offer

Interested individual consultants must submit the following documents/information to demonstrate their qualification:

1. Duly accomplished Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability using the template provided by UNDP.
2. Personal CV or P11, indicating all experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) of the Candidate and at least three (3) professional references.
3. Technical proposal (maximum 3 pages), including a) a brief description of why the individual considers her/himself as the most suitable for the assignment; and b) methodology on how s/he will approach and complete the assignment.
4. Financial Proposal that indicates the all-inclusive total contract price, supported by a breakdown of costs, as per template provided. The terms “all-inclusive” implies that all costs (professional fees, travel costs, living allowances, communications, consumables, etc.) that could possibly be incurred are already factored into the final amounts submitted in the Proposal. If an Offeror is employed by an organization/company/institution, and he/she expects his/her employer to charge a management fee in the process of releasing him/her to UNDP under Reimbursable Loan Agreement (RLA), the Offeror must indicate at this point, and ensure that all such costs are duly incorporated in the financial Proposal submitted to UNDP.

1. Instructions for on-line submissions

Step 1:  Please prepare all required documents electronically;

Step 2: Combine all documents in ONE SINGLE FILE (preferably in PDF however, Word format can also be accepted) and upload to the UNDP Jobs links

Step 3: After that you will receive an auto-reply from the UNDP jobs if your offer is received successfully.

Interested applicants are advised to carefully review this advertisement and ensure that they meet the requirements and qualifications described. 

Interested applicants are advised to carefully review this advertisement and ensure that they meet the requirements and qualifications described. 

Given the volume of applications that UNDP receives, only shortlisted offerors will be notified.

UNDP reserves the right to reject any incomplete applications.

Please be informed that we don’t accept applications submitted via email.

Interested Offerors are required to submit an application via UNDP Jobsite system as the application screening and evaluation will be done through UNDP Jobsite system. Please note that UNDP Jobsite system allows only one uploading of application documents, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into a single file. Your online application submission will be acknowledged where an email address has been provided. If you do not receive an email acknowledgement within 24 hours of submission, your application may not have been received. In such cases, please resubmit the application if necessary. Please combine all your documents into one (1) single PDF document as the system only allows to upload a maximum one document.

Any request for clarification/additional information on this procurement notice shall be communicated in writing to UNDP office or send to email mohammed.abbas@undp.org with a copy to nora.alzahid@undp.org  While the Procurement Unit would endeavour to provide information expeditiously, only requests receiving at least 3 working days prior to the submission deadline will be entertained. Any delay in providing such information will not be considered as a reason for extending the submission deadline. The UNDP's response (including an explanation of the query but without identifying the source of inquiry) will be posted in the Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice page as provided above. Therefore, all prospective Offerors are advised to visit the page regularly to make obtain update related to this Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.

Interested applicants are advised to carefully review this advertisement and ensure that they meet the requirements and qualifications described. 

The interested offeror must read the Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice, which can be viewed at 

https://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=105067

[MA1]  for more detailed information about terms of references, instructions to the offeror, and to download the documents to be submitted in the offer online.

UNDP is committed to achieving workforce diversity in terms of gender, nationality and culture. Individuals from minority groups, indigenous groups and persons with disabilities are equally encouraged to apply. All applications will be treated with the strictest confidence.

UNDP does not tolerate sexual exploitation and abuse, any kind of harassment, including sexual harassment and discrimination. All selected candidates will, therefore, undergo rigorous reference and background checks.