Terms of Reference – Outreach Partner (GCC)

Contracting Authority: Stichting SPARK

Project Name: Maharat for tourism

Activity Name: Outreach Partner (GCC)

Location: KSA, UAE, QATAR

Date of advertisement : August 14, 2024

Application Deadline: September 05, 2024

Expected Start Date: September 15, 2024

Duration of the activity: 1 Year

Application Method: Offers should be sent to tender@spark-online.org

Application Email Subject: Outreach Partner (GCC) – Bidder Name, Date

Contracting Authority – SPARK

SPARK develops higher education and entrepreneurship to empower young, ambitious people to lead their fragile and conflict-affected societies into prosperity. SPARK is a dynamic and growing international not-for-profit development organisation with 100+ staff members in more than 14 offices worldwide.

We open pathways for young people, particularly women and refugees, to study, work and grow their own businesses in fragile communities. Their success brings stability where it’s needed most.

1. Statement of Work:

SPARK is currently seeking partners to assist in implementing Maharat for Tourism programme. The selected partner will be responsible for carrying out project activities with continuous support from SPARK. This includes participants outreach and community engagement.

2. Programme Description:

The Maharat for Tourism programme, financed by Google.org, supports young people throughout Egypt, the KSA, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Tunisia and the Palestinian territories. The programme supports job seekers and small and medium-sized business owners to enhance their existing job skills within the travel and tourism sector, particularly through digital and soft skills training. Additionally, government policymakers are supported to create more enabling regulatory environments for productive tourism sectors in their regions.

With a particular focus on women and minorities, who currently have the lowest income and job participation in the GCC & parts of the MENA region, the programme offers a pathway to create sustainable livelihoods within the travel and tourism sector.

3. Target Audience:

1- Youth seeking employment opportunities that are engaged in the project.

2- SMB owners operating in the sector that are engaged in the project.

3- Local informal tourism sector workers (e.g. tour guides, local hotel personnel, etc.) in underserved communities that are engaged in the project.

4- Government policymakers enabling and supporting the End Beneficiaries to engage with their local authorities, local authorities unable to provide structured access to opportunities for End Beneficiaries.

4. Maharat Curricula Content:

The Project seeks to support individuals in the chosen countries by providing them digital and soft skills training and capacity building through Maharat Platform to enter the travel and tourism sector, or enhance their existing job skills within the sector. The skills training is made up of four curricula – listed below – to cater to each stakeholder’s needs.

Curriculum 1: Government Tourism Strategies & Policies

Target: Policy Makers

Module 1 – Introduction to tourism industry: Tourism fundamentals

Module 2 – AI in tourism : transforming experience

Module 3 – New trends in Tourism industry

Module 4 – Building blocks of country strategy

Curriculum 2: Manage your Small & Medium Business in Tourism Industry

Target: Small Business Owners

Module 1- Introduction to tourism industry: Tourism fundamentals

Module 2 – AI in tourism : transforming experience

Module 3- Product design and management

Module 4- Tourism marketing

Module 5- Business management

Curriculum 3: Experiential Tourism Tour Operations

Target: Job Seekers

Module 1- Introduction to tourism industry: Tourism fundamentals

Module 2 – AI in tourism : transforming experience

Module 3 – Experience design and management

Module 4 – Experiential tourism marketing

Module 5 – Fundamentals of experiential tourism

Curriculum 4: Events Planning and Design

Target: Job Seekers

Module 1- Introduction to tourism industry: Tourism fundamentals

Module 2- AI in tourism : transforming experience

Module 3- Events Operations and management

Module 4 – Fundamentals of Events Industry

Module 5- Events marketing

5. Description of the Outcomes, Activities & Deliverables

The partner will be responsible for:

Outcome 1: On-site Launch & Online programme Outreach

programme outreach will be conducted with the support of the selected partner onboarded.

Activities:

• Organising in-person kick-off events to launch the project and introduce it to the stakeholders in the United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi or Dubai) and Qatar (Doha) – Attendees for each event should be between 30 and 50 stakeholders from government entities, SMB owners and key players in the tourism eco-system.
• Providing an outreach and engagement plan to approach the target groups in the tourism sector in the targeted countries.
• Promoting Maharat online platform across the region with a specific focus on target cities, through online/in-person events to directly communicate the programme messages, promote its unique selling points to encourage stakeholders to participate.
• Reaching out to participants to take part in the online training, provided on Maharat platform
• Outreach and identification of the target groups for the multiple cohorts in collaboration with the Ministries of Tourism and other related organisations. It is worth mentioning that the number of enrolled learners per cohort increases as the programme progresses

Deliverable A: Comprehensive Outreach Plan; a document detailing the overall strategy and the list of target stakeholders and the target audience.

Timeline: Submit plan by September – October 2024. Implement plan throughout the duration of the contract, September 2024 – September 2025

Deliverable B: Marketing plan;

• Digital marketing and social media schedule with the related platforms/groups/online tech clusters, for the content that will be provided by SPARK.
• Collaboration with SPARK team on the content and materials as per the programme’s guidelines and approved key messages.
• Provide photographs from key events and activities, as well as collaborate with SPARK’s video creation team to produce videos.

Timeline: Submit plan by September – October 2024. Implement plan throughout the duration of the contract, September 2024 – September 2025

Deliverable C: Organising Kick-off Events in UAE & Qatar*

• Event planning and logistics document including agendas, attendance lists and promotional campaigns.
• Post-event retrospective calls with the SPARK team.

Timeline: Submit plan as a part of the proposal Implement plan between October and December 2024

* The applicant will be responsible for all the logistic arrangements and expenses, as a part of this contract.

Outcome 2: Events, Webinars & In-person Outreach

Facilitating programme promotion and implementing in-person and online events engaging the target audience and tourism sector stakeholders

Activities:

• Contributing to the promotion of the programme
• Planning, organising, and executing in-person events of different scales designed to engage the different groups of the target audience and tourism sector actors to promote the programme.

Deliverable A: Additional Outreach Events (KSA, UAE & Qatar)

• Event planning and logistics document including agendas, attendance lists and promotional campaigns.
• Post-event retrospective calls with the SPARK team.
• Quarterly reports summarising outcomes and feedback

Timeline: Submit plan by September – October 2024. Implement plan throughout the duration of the contract, September 2024 – September 2025

Expected Results of the Outreach:

Country: KSA

Targeted Cities: Riyadh, Jedda, Al-Ula

Target**: 6,500

Country: UAE

Targeted Cities: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah

Target**: 3,000

Country: Qatar

Targeted Cities: Doha

**Target**:**2000

Target Audience: The targets are distributed per each country as follows;

• 30% Youth seeking employment opportunities
• 30% SMB Owners
• 20% Local informal tourism sector workers
• 20% Government policy makers

* This column indicates the numbers of learners enrolled on Maharat Platform, and completed 70% of one of the four curricula– each curriculum takes about 2.5 hours to complete by the learner.

* Applications for Maharat Platform Curricula will be open throughout the duration of Maharat programme (until the end of December 2025). Applicants for this ToR are encouraged to intensify their outreach efforts as the programme progresses.

Outcome 3: Feedback & Reporting
Collecting feedback, conducting regular mapping in targeted countries, holding biweekly meetings with updates, activity reports, retrospective evaluations, and providing quarterly and final reports.

Activities:

• Supporting the collection of feedback from the participants of the events.
• Providing inputs to stakeholders mapping across the targeted countries
• Providing biweekly meetings & update
• Providing quarterly and final activities report – including activities, progress, challenges, and lessons learned.

Deliverable A: Providing inputs for the stakeholders mapping in KSA, UAE & Qatar

Timeline: September – December 2024

Deliverable B Quarterly and Final Narrative report including activities, progress, challenges, and lessons learned.

Timeline: September 2024 – September 2025

* The quarterly report is due 30 days after the end of each quarter

The selected partner must adhere to the brand guidelines of the programme which will be provided by SPARK.

If selected, the partner must report all relevant financial processes to SPARK and adhere to SPARK’s procurement policies.

6. Timeframe / Schedule:

The activities mentioned above shall take place in the period between September 2024 – September 2025.

Expected starting date: 15th September 2024

The timeline and dates above might slightly shift according to the implementation course, and after agreeing with SPARK.

The applicants shall provide their proposed timeline and distribution of activities across the period mentioned above, as a part of their technical proposal.

7. Profile/Team Composition:

The perfect candidate for this post should:

• Be a locally present civil society organisation, public institution or (social) enterprise.
• Have a presence in the project’s countries, specifically in KSA, UAE, and Qatar. Having presence in the targeted cities is an advantage.*
• Have proven experience of collaboration with the tourism sector stakeholders, including governmental bodies, business associations, SMEs, universities, youth, etc.
• Have access to youth, SMEs and other touristic entities in the project’s countries.
• Have proven experience in organising events in a professional manner in the project’s countries.

* Applicants can choose to apply for one or more of the project’s countries (KSA, UAE & Qatar)

8. Proposal Package:

1. Financial Proposal in USD
2. Technical Proposal including the following:
   1. Methodology
   2. Action Plan
   3. Registration Document
   4. Expertise (CVs of Expertise-Previous Similar Project etc.)
   5. Company Background

* The maximum amount for this contract is 100k USD

Important Notes

• Email should be addressed to SPARK at tender@spark-online.org

• Full tender package can be found here.

*• The subject of the email should be **“***Outreach Partner (GCC) – Bidder Name, Date.”

• All attached documents should be clearly labelled and renamed so it is clear to understand what each file relates to.

• The financial offer is required to be in USD currency and must contain all TAX relevant to the invoice.

• Copying other SPARK email addresses into the email when submitting it will invalidate your bid.

Please note that incomplete applications will not be considered.

How to apply

Please submit your proposal package to tender@spark-online.org

Deadline: 5th of September 2024, at 17:00 KSA time