Expression of Interest (EOI)

Destination Management Organisation (DMO) Nyanza - Rusizi.

Reference Number:83469303

Publication date: 26.07.2024

Introduction

The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is a federally owned international cooperation enterprise for sustainable development with worldwide operations. The GIZ Office in Kigali covers GIZ’s portfolio in Rwanda and Burundi. GIZ Rwanda/Burundi implements projects on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the European Union and other commissioning authorities in the following priority areas: Sustainable Economic Development; Good Governance; Climate, Energy and Sustainable Urban Development; Digitalization and Digital Economy; and regional projects in the Great Lakes Region.

Context

Tasks to be performed by the consultant:

Concept

Technical-methodological concept:

Project management of the contractor (1.6)

Further requirements (1.7)

Personnel concept

Quantitative/ Costing requirements

General information

Brief information on the project

Skills Development for Economic Transformation (SD4T)

Rwanda’s economic growth has been remarkable, annual growth rates averaged at eight per cent over the past two decades. Yet, unemployment (21.1 %) and underemployment (58.9 %) remain high. The majority of the population works in the agriculture sector, where incomes are low. Moreover, the number of young people entering the labour market is increasing. A large proportion of local companies are unregistered micro-enterprises which are not very competitive and cannot harness the long-term potential for growth. Most of them are only creating a handful of jobs at present. Domestic value creation, specifically in the light industrial sector is low and meets international standards only to a limited extent. At the same time, the professional skills of many job seekers do not match the requirements of the labour market.

With strategies like the National Strategy for Transformation (NST 1) and Made in Rwanda Policy, the Government of Rwanda is promoting skills development, the creation of off-farm jobs and domestic value creation. To contribute to the Rwandan Government’s strategy, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) commissioned GIZ to implement the programme “Skills development for economic transformation (SD4T)” from 2023 to 2026, as part of the priority area “Sustainable Economic Development” of the Rwandan-German Development Cooperation. The programme is co-funded by the European Union (EU). The programme’s main political partners are the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MINICOM) and the Ministry of Education (MINEDUC). As a specific focus, SD4T supports the Government of Rwanda in stepping up its efforts for local inclusion and graduation of refugees out of humanitarian aid, which is reflected in the Joint Strategy on Economic Inclusion of Refugees and Host Communities in Rwanda (2021-2024) by MINEMA and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The programme aims to create jobs and strengthen the competitiveness of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and cooperatives in the light manufacturing industry (e.g. furniture production, metal processing etc.) according to the principles of inclusivity, productivity and environmental sustainability. This will be achieved by following an integrated approach to employment promotion, consisting of 1) the promotion of technical and vocational education and training to enhance the quality of labour supply, 2) private sector development to raise labour demand, and 3) economic policy advice to improve the matching of labour supply and demand. A specific focus is placed on the economic empowerment of women, refugees and host communities.

Context

Destination Management Organization (DMO):

Tourism is different from many other sectors as it is scattered and made up of many different actors who all play a vital part in adding services to tourists before, during and after their visit to a destination. Actors from both the public and the private sectors and on many different levels from government to activity and accommodation providers all play a part in ensuring a thriving tourism sector. These actors need to be coordinated towards a common goal, to make sure that efforts are not scattered or duplicated. UNWTO amongst others describes this process as destination management, consisting of the coordinated management of all the elements that make up a tourist destination.

Destination management requires the coalition of different organizations, sometimes with different interests, all working towards a common goal. This ensures the competitiveness and sustainability of the tourist destination. The destination management organization or DMO has become the standard international unit to lead this process of coordinating actors under a coherent strategy in pursuit of a common goal. The role of today’s DMO is to be the coordinating and driving force between the elements of a destination and the overall activities aimed at attracting more visitors and improving visitor experiences.

Destination Management in Rwanda:

The focus of Rwanda’s Sustainable Tourism Master Plan is eight Destination Management Areas (DMAs) to diversify the country’s tourism offer. Despite being mentioned in the plan, very little has been done locally in the destinations in terms of coordinating actors, developing local destination management plans or developing attractions. The efforts for promotion and development of the DMAs have been scattered amongst many different actors without any coordination or lead. This trend was recently broken through the development of the first DMOs in Rwanda: The Kivu Belt Destination Management Unit and Royal Nyanza.

Through a coordinated approach to development and marketing of tourism, Rwanda’s first DMOs have shown the potential of what can be achieved through coordination and the support towards the tourism sector on a local level. This has spread to other parts of the country and similar work to coordinate the sector and develop DMOs in the destination management areas has begun. Nyanza District:

Nyanza District is amongst the eight districts that form the Southern Province of Rwanda, and Nyanza City is the administrative capital of this province. At present, the district is also the capital for the Heritage Corridor Sub-Master Plan and recognized as the center for cultural enlightenment in Rwanda. The district is divided in 10 sectors covering a total surface of 672 square kilometers. 

Commonly referred to as the “Igicumbi cy’Umuco n’Amateka” (Cultural and Historical Hub), Nyanza District is undoubtedly a cultural tourism destination, blessed with two public museums, the Kwigira Museum-Rwesero and the Kings’ Palace Museum (Rukali); a private museum known as the Rwanda African Art Museum; and the Mwima Mausoleum. Along with these remarkable tourism products, this beautiful destination has identified and well documented five heritage sites that form part of the National Heritage: Icyuzi cya Nyamagana, Mu Gakenyeri Kwa Musinga, Ku Bigega, Amariba ya Mutende, and Mututu.

In addition, there are certified premium trails, known as the "Nyanza Cultural Trails," where visitors can obtain an authentic traditional experience: The Royal Trail, and the Big-View Trail, certified as premium hiking trails, and the Gatagara Trail under the development. The trails offer hikers an incredible experience that blends hiking with discovering Rwandan history and culture. 

Nyanza district vision is to become a cultural and historical tourism hub, fully functional with international competitiveness. This will be done through the valorization of key cultural and heritage resources into tourism products, that benefit both the communities and tourists visiting the district; by promoting domestic and international tourism in Rwanda. 

Nyanza has been working to establish a destination management organization since 2021. Their destination management is operated under the brand Royal Nyanza and was launched in 2022. Royal Nyanza is a Private Public Partnership (PPP) of actors involved in the tourism sector in the destination. Royal Nyanza has been very successful on implementing their destination management plan and is today registered as an NGO. Under this NGO they have managed to source funding for the new visitor’s center.

Rusizi District:

Rusizi District is one of the seven districts of the Western Province in Rwanda, bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi. The district is fortunate to be part of the Nyungwe Tourism Destination Management Area and have Nyungwe Forest, a National Park with a diverse fauna and flora that attracts a large number of tourists. The district is also surrounded by Lake Kivu, which serves as a tourist attraction as well as a stimulus for business growth owing to fish trade and other associated industries.

The district has several accommodation facilities ranging from big four-star hotel to small guest houses as well as conference and meeting facilities. Rusizi is also lucky to have the current second largest airport in Rwanda and is intending to extend the airport to support tourism.

Rusizi is endowed with tourism potentials and believe these can create employment hence transforming the economy of the district. This is intended to be achieved through the development of a tourism development plan that will guide the tourism in stakeholders’ coordination, tourism products development and diversification, marketing as well as the capacity building for the service providers. 

Rusizi district has not been able to organize themselves into a destination management organization and their primary focus is to improve Rusizi as a tourist destination and to attract more visitors. The main role of the DMO coordinator in Rusizi under this contract is to support the district together with the private sector to validate the tourism destination management plan, improve the attractiveness of Rusizi as a destination through marketing, development of new attractions and experiences and improved management.

Objective of the assignment:

The objective of this assignment is to hire a consultant that will support the SD4T programme during the coordination of the various tourism activities along the Nyanza-Rusizi DMO. The consultant will be responsible for the coordination of the different stakeholders including hoteliers, tour operators and the districts with the aim of achieving shared goals within the sector. The consultant will also offer advice and support during the implementation of the different key activities highlighted in some of the DMO’s strategies and development plans in the bid to contribute towards the development of the destination.

Tasks to be performed by the consultant:

The contractor is responsible for providing the following services and/ or performing the following tasks during the duration of this contract:

I. Coordinating actors within the DMOs:

• The destination coordinator will have the overall task of coordination of actors and activities in the destinations for implementation of tourism destination management plans and strategic tourism development plans.
• Organize a study visit with stakeholders from Musanze to Nyanza to learn more about the DMO, the visitors center and their success stories.
• Coordinating activities between local actors in the DMOs and actors on a national level such as Rwanda Development Board and Rwanda Chamber of Tourism. The assignment will involve close collaboration with the districts as well as other private and public sector stakeholders.
• Support Nyanza district and all involved stakeholders to revise and validate the Nyanza destination management plan as a new five-year implementation plan.
• Support with the coordination of the official launch activities for the Nyanza visitor’s center.
• Support during the course of developing new tourism products for the Nyanza-Rusizi DMOs.Support the staff at the visitor’s center to be able to manage the DMO. This includes helping them to source funding for the implementation of the destination management plan, organize various events, manage website and social media and operate the visitor’s center among others.

II. Implement other tourism related activities aimed at the growth of the Nyanza-Rusizi DMOs: 

• Support in the process of designing the destination marketing strategies for the Rusizi DMO and include newly developed tourism products and outlets in marketing campaigns. This should be done in close collaboration with the marketing and branding company and RDB
• Coordinate and implement other tourism activities and events in close collaboration with the districts and tourism actors in the Nyanza-Rusizi Destination Management Organisations (DMOs).
• Ensure that linkages are created between the different tourism actors along the Nyanza-Rusizi DMOs with the SD4T partners in the light manufacturing sector.
• Support Rusizi district to establish a visitor center and form a destination management company that will manage the center
• In close collaboration with the key implementing partners within the Nyanza-Rusizi DMO, organize validation workshops for the marketing and branding strategy.
• Ensure that linkages are created between the different tourism actors along the Nyanza-Rusizi DMO with the SD4T partners in the light manufacturing sector.
• Support the SD4T programme during the organisation and preparation of meetings and events with the different tourism stakeholders operating along the Nyanza-Rusizi DMO.
• Establish linkages between RDB and NSIR with the Rusizi destination to ensure that tourism data registered for visitors.
• Support Rusizi district to include the DMO activities such as the visitor center to the district’s performance contracts “imihigo” for the next financial year.
• Support the Rusizi DMO to establish collaboration with IPRC Kitabi in the area of tourism and conservation.

III. Engage in the multi-stakeholder platform (MSP) activities of the SD4T Programme: 

• Take part in the multi-stakeholder workshops organised by the SD4T programme in this region, create awareness among the different tourism actors about the multi-stakeholder platform activities.
• Support the SD4T programme during the organisation and preparation of MSP meetings and events within the different districts in the Nyanza-Rusizi DMOs.
• In close collaboration with the SD4T programme, mobilize tourism actors along the Nyanza-Rusizi DMO, collaborate and support companies within this region that are operating in the light manufacturing (wood sector).

Work packages/ Milestones:

Certain milestones, as laid out in the table below, are to be achieved during the contract term:

Period of assignment: The assignment will be implemented from August 2024 until September 2025.

 Concept

In the tender, the consultant is required to show how the objectives defined above (see chapter 1 context) are to be achieved, if applicable under consideration of further method-related requirements (technical-methodological concept). In addition, the consultant must describe the project management system for service provision.

Note: The numbers in parentheses correspond to the lines of the technical assessment grid.

Technical-methodological concept:

Strategy (1.1): The consultant is required to consider the tasks to be performed with reference to the objectives of the services put out to tender (see Chapter 1 Context) (1.1.1). Following this, the consultant presents and justifies the explicit strategy with which he/she intends to provide the services for which he/she is responsible (see Chapter 2 Tasks to be performed) (1.1.2).

The consultant is required to present the actors relevant for the services for which he/she is responsible and describe the cooperation (1.2) with them.

The tender is required to present and highlight the interaction between the relevant actors in the contractor’s area of responsibility (1.2.1.) and indicate the strategy for establishing cooperation and then cooperating with the relevant actors (1.2.2.).

The consultant is required to present and explain his/her approach to steering the measures with the project partners (1.3.1) and his/her contribution to the results-based monitoring system (1.3.2).

The consultant is required to describe the key processes for the services for which he/she is responsible and create an operational plan or schedule (1.4.1) that describes how the services according to Chapter 2 (Tasks to be performed by the contractor) are to be provided. In particular, the consultant is required to describe the necessary work steps and, if applicable, take account of the milestones and contributions of other actors (partner contributions) in accordance with Chapter 2 (Tasks to be performed) (1.4.2).

The consultant is required to describe his/her contribution to knowledge management for the partner (1.5.1) and GIZ and to promote scaling-up effects (1.5.2) under learning and innovation.

Project management of the contractor (1.6)

The consultant is required to explain his/her approach for coordination with the GIZ project (1.6.1). In particular, the project management requirements specified in Chapter 2 (Tasks to be performed by the contractor) must be explained in detail.

Further requirements (1.7)

For the purposes of this tender, you are requested to also include the following documents to your tender documents:

• An RDB registration certificate
• An RRA tax registration certificate with evidence of tax clearance for the last three months

 Personnel concept

The specified qualifications below represent the requirements to reach the maximum number of points in the technical assessment.

Required Qualifications:

• Education/training (2.2.1):Bachelor’s Degree in Travel and Tourism Management, Business Administration, Marketing and Communications, or a related field
• Language (2.2.2):A1-level language proficiencyin Kinyarwanda and English. A confirmation in the CV is enough.
• General professional experience (2.2.3):7 years of professional experience in the tourism sector and deep understanding of the tourism sector with experience from developing new tourism products, destinations and working with Destination Management Organizations is highly valued.
• Specific professional experience (2.2.4):5 years in coordination, development and marketing of tourism destinations as well as experience in developing and implementing comprehensive marketing, communications, and business development strategies.
• Leadership/management experience (2.2.5):5 years of management/leadership experience as project team leader or manager in a company with the ability to interact and establish professional strategic relationships with internal and external stakeholders within Rwanda.
• Regional experience (2.2.6):5 years of experience in projects in East Africa (region), of which 5 years in projects in Rwanda (country).
• Development cooperation (DC) experience (2.2.7):5 years of experience in Development Cooperation projects.

Quantitative/ Costing requirements 

Specification of inputs

Requirements on the format of the tender

The structure of the tender must correspond to the structure of the ToRs. In particular, the detailed structure of the concept (Chapter 3) should be organised in accordance with the positively weighted criteria in the assessment grid (not with zero). The technical offer must be legible (font size 11 or larger) and clearly formulated. It must be drawn up in English (language).

The complete tender must not exceed 8 pages (excluding CVs). If one of the maximum page lengths is exceeded, the content appearing after the cut-off point will not be included in the assessment. External content (e.g. links to websites) will also not be considered.

The CV of the applicant/consultant should be in accordance with these ToRs and must be submitted using the format specified in the terms and conditions for application. The CV shall not exceed 5 pages. It must clearly show the position and job the proposed person held in the reference project and for how long. The CV should also be submitted in English (language).

The applicant/consultant should indicate how the services outlined in the sections above are to be provided and reference should be made to the following criteria:

• General understanding of the assignment and the Nyanza-Rusizi Destination Management Organisations (DMOs).
• Proposed methodology for implementation.
• A summary of the key stakeholders that the consultant will be working closely with during the implementation of this assignment.
• A workplan on how and when the different deliverables will be implemented.

Please calculate your financial tender based exactly on the parameters specified in Chapter 5 above. The contractor is not contractually entitled to use up the days, trips, workshops, or budgets in full. The number of days, trips and workshops and the budgets will be contractually agreed as maximum limits. The specifications for pricing are defined in the price schedule.

Annex / Attachments 

Submission of offer:The Expression of Interest should contain the following:

Technical Proposal:

• A cover letter expressing your interest in this assignment
• Technical proposal with a brief description of why you would be considered as the most suitable for the assignment, relevant expertise, and a detailed, clear methodology, your approach to complete the assignment, template attached.
• Company registration certificate (RDB)
• VAT-Registration certificate
• Latest tax clearance certificate
• Proof of successful completion of related assignments.

Financial Proposal: The price per service category must contain all relevant costs supported by a breakdown of each cost. The costs must be in RWF and VAT

Please submit electronically your EoI (technical & Financial offer) in 2 separated emails and should be in PDF files to this email ONLY: RW_Quotation@giz.de until latest 09^th August 2024

Please you must write on each email subject this sentence:

83469303 Technical/financial offer, without this sentence, your offer may not be considered

Hard copies are not allowed this time

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