Back National Tourism Policy and Planning Consultant, For Thai Nationals only

Background

Thailand is one of the most biodiverse countries in Southeast Asia and derives large benefits from the ecosystems, landscapes and habitats that support its unique biodiversity. There is the important environmental role performed by watersheds, river basins and coastal areas, as well as their significance in supporting livelihoods linked to fisheries, recreation and tourism.  Similarly, Thailand’s historically vast forest coverage has had substantial effects on the sustenance of agriculture and in fulfilling water and power needs.  However, Thailand’s development progress over the past several decades has been undertaken at the expense of its natural resources and biodiversity. Forest, coastlines and wetlands have become degraded and various types of infrastructure development have replaced natural environment

For decades, the export of agricultural products (especially rice and rubber), forest products (timber and spices) and seafood products had been the main sources of revenue for Thailand. However, this trend has increasingly shifted over the past decade towards industrial and service sectors, in particular, tourism sector, thanks to the beauty of the country’s natural resources and systematic promotion by the government.

In 2017, over 35 million tourists visited Thailand, an increase by 14 million from 2015. Tourist revenue had risen to more than 1.8 trillion baht (US$56 billion) in 2017 or approximately 20% of the country’s GDP. This growth has added pressure on the country’s rich biodiversity resources. The influx of visitors in popular tourist destinations and the development of tourist infrastructure have increased waste and pollution to the tourist spots and nearby locations, destroyed the habitats of plant and animal species which could lead to their extinctions, if not managed effectively. The problem is even more pronounced in ecologically sensitive areas where unintended promotion of tourism brings in far too many visitors to the areas than the nature can handle and recuperate.  A more sustainable and inclusive tourism model is crucial for sustainable growth in Thailand.  In addition, the benefit from tourism does not necessarily trigger down to community.  Approximately 80 percent of tourism-generated profits flow to foreign or large companies rather than being distributed to locals.

UNDP Thailand, in partnership with the Biodiversity Based Economy Development Organization (BEDO), a public organization under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and the Tourism Authority of Thailand under the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, are developing a Project Document for the “Mainstreaming Biodiversity-based Tourism in Thailand to Support Sustainable Tourism Development Project” for submission to the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Cycle 7 under the Biodiversity Focal Area. UNDP/Thailand recently secured the Project Preparation Grant (PPG) from the GEF to develop a full-sized project document (ProDoc).

The objective of the project is to develop biodiversity-based tourism in Thailand at the community level to enhance the protection of biodiversity wilderness, generate sustainable financing and local livelihoods, and reduce threats from unsustainable tourism development.  This project proposes to support the development of biodiversity-based tourism model at the community level focusing on the enabling conditions, capacity building, financial incentives, replicating early successes of sustainable tourism models in Thailand and sharing of knowledge across the country and the region.

Financed through a Project Preparation Grant, the project preparation team[1] is expected to undertake a series of tasks, including but not limited to, stakeholder consultations, baseline assessments, and development of a project log frame with defined baseline and indicators, a detailed work plan, and the definition of the management arrangements, in order to come up with the final project document (ProDoc) with required supporting documents. Consultations and these other activities will be supported by desk review of support documentation, as appropriate.  The final output of the initiation plan will be a UNDP-GEF project document and GEF CEO Endorsement Request ready for submission to UNDP and GEF.  The documents will be compliant with specific requirements of the GEF and conform to UNDP Operational Policies and Guidelines.

UNDP is seeking a national consultant with extensive experience in tourism policy and planning in Thailand and well-versed in working with government agencies, in particular the Biodiversity-based Economy Development Organization (BEDO), the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP), provincial and sub-provincial administrations, communities, and private sector to prepare baseline information for the project, facilitate discussions, consultation meetings, and coordinate, collate, and prepare relevant information in support the preparation of the project document (ProDoc).

[1] Comprising the (1) GEF Project Development Consultant (Team Leader), (2) Tourism Planning & Policy Consultant, (3) Biodiversity and Community-Based Tourism Consultant, (4) Biodiversity Financing Consultant, (5) Gender and Safeguards Consultant, and (6) Information and Technology Consultant.

Duties and Responsibilities

Objectives of The Assignment

The objective of the assignment is to be the lead national consultant and be responsible for providing inputs on mainstreaming biodiversity into Thailand’s tourism policy, planning, standards, inter-agency coordination and institutional processes to support the development of the UNDP Project Document (ProDoc). The consultant will be a specialist in tourism policy and planning, with knowledge in the field of sustainable tourism and tourism impact assessment.

Scope Of Work

The National Tourism Planning and Policy Consultant will work under the supervision of the International GEF Project Development Consultant/PPG Team Leader and closely working with other consultants of the PPG Team.

Under the overall guidance from the BEDO, UNDP Thailand, and UNDP-GEF Regional technical Advisor at the Bangkok Regional Hub and in coordination with the PPG Team, the consultant will undertake the following tasks:

Management of the PPG team:

• Support the GEF PPG Team Leader with management of the PPG Team, ensuring coordination between individual national consultants;

Preparatory Technical Studies and Reviews (Component A): Prepare inputs and support the required analyses/studies, as agreed with the GEF PPG Team Leader, including:

• Prepare inputs for the baseline/situational analysis on Thailand’s tourism policy, planning, operations, institutional coordination and stakeholder engagement processes. This will include analyses of national and provincial tourism policies (including the National Tourism Policy Act), plans, and tourism certification standards; institutional roles and capacity development needs to integrate biodiversity conservation into tourism; best practices for tourism impact assessment; opportunities for biodiversity-based tourism development with the project landscape; and outreach and engagement for tourists and tourism sector. This will largely cover Component 1 of the draft PIF, along with contributions to Component 2 (provincial-level planning, tourism impact assessment, biodiversity-based tourism development, and institutional coordination), and Component 3 (tourism industry outreach and engagement);
• Assess opportunities and priorities to mainstream biodiversity conservation into Thailand’s tourism policy, planning and operations, along with opportunities to incorporate climate change adaptation and mitigation as secondary co-benefits; and define appropriate project interventions to support the integration of biodiversity into tourism development;
• Identify key training needs for relevant national and provincial institutions and conduct baseline assessments of capacity to mainstream biodiversity into tourism using the UNDP Capacity Assessment Scorecard (coordinating closely with the National Biodiversity and Community-Based Tourism Consultant for provincial/sub-provincial authorities);
• Identify appropriate Results Framework indicators and targets related to mainstreaming biodiversity into tourism policy/planning; collect baseline data for the relevant indicators; choose the means of measurement; and define targets, key risks, and assumptions linked to these indicators;
• Support the stakeholder analysis, consultations and co-financing contributions, particularly with national-level stakeholders and private sector, and ensure that they are complete and comprehensive;
• Support the completion of any additional studies that are determined to be needed for the preparation of the ProDoc and all other final outputs as guided by the PPG Team Leader.

Formulation of the ProDoc, CEO Endorsement Request and Mandatory and Project Specific Annexes (Component B):

• Provide relevant quality text sections for the ProDoc package on the aspects mentioned above.

Validation Workshop (Component C):

• Contribute to the validation workshop; and
• Support all necessary revisions that arise during the workshop, as appropriate.

Final Deliverables:

• A report on the detailed analysis of the baseline for mainstreaming biodiversity into tourism development in Thailand including policy, legal, institutional and tourism standards and impact assessment analysis; along with recommended project interventions under Component 1 (national level), Component 2 (provincial level) and Component 3 (tourism sector outreach) responding to the baseline analysis;
• Baseline capacity development scorecards for mainstreaming biodiversity into tourism for relevant national and provincial institutions; and
• Appropriate inputs provided to the Project Document and Annexes, as agreed with PPG Team Leader

Competencies

Corporate Competencies:

• Demonstrates commitment to UNDP´s mission, vision and values; 
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability; 
• Highest standards of integrity, discretion and loyalty;  
• Treats all people fairly without favoritism; 
• Fulfills all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment

Functional competencies:

• Proven ability in conducting planning processes in developing countries;
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in Portuguese and English;
• Solid knowledge of proven post-2015 agenda and the sustainable Development Goals;
• Proven ability in conducting work related to Millennium Declaration ;
• Ability to work with multidisciplinary and multicultural teams;
• Creativity, innovation and initiative;
• Result oriented;
• Analytical ability;
• Logical ability;
• Able to work under pressure in an adverse environment;
• critical ability;
• Capacity to dialogue with different sectors;
• Determination and focus on goals and results;
• Ability of facilitation;
• Good management skills.

Required Skills and Experience

Academic Qualification:

• Master’s degree or higher in a relevant field, such as tourism policy and planning; public policy; environmental policy and management, public sector management.

Professional Experience:

• Minimum 10 years of demonstrable experience in the technical area of tourism policy and planning, engagement of private sector in tourism, community-based tourism development, sustainability of tourism;
• Demonstrated understanding of political, legal and institutional context and priorities for tourism development and planning in Thailand;
• Demonstrated understanding of biodiversity conservation and potential impacts of tourism on biodiversity an advantage;
• Experience working with UNDP and/or on GEF projects an advantage.

Language Requirement:

• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English and fluency in Thai.

Consultant Presence Required On Duty Station/UNDP Premises:

• Intermittent

Documents To Be Included When Submitting The Proposals

• Personal CV, indicating all past experience from similar projects, as well as the contact details (email and telephone number) and at least three (3) professional references;
• Letter of Confirmation of Interest and Availability and financial proposal using the template provided by UNDP.  Note: National consultants must quote  lump sum all- inclusive prices in Thai Baht. There may be two in-country travel for which  reimbursement would be done separately as per actuals. 

Note: please club all documents in one PDF file to upload. 

Payment Terms: 

Consultant must send a financial proposal based on Lump Sum Amount. The total amount quoted shall be all-inclusive and include all costs components required to perform the deliverables identified in the TOR, including professional fee, travel costs, living allowance (if any work is to be done outside the IC´s duty station) and any other applicable cost to be incurred by the IC in completing the assignment. The contract price will be fixed output-based price regardless of extension of the herein specified duration. Payments will be done upon completion of the deliverables/outputs and as per below percentages:

• Milestone 1: Submission of Workplan with methodology and timelines.- 10%
• Milestone 2:  A report on the detailed analysis of the baseline for mainstreaming biodiversity into tourism development in Thailand including policy, legal, institutional and tourism standards and impact assessment analysis; along with recommended project interventions under Component 1 (national level), Component 2 (provincial level) and Component 3 (tourism sector outreach) responding to the baseline analysis.-35%
• Milestone 3:  Baseline capacity development scorecards for mainstreaming biodiversity into tourism for relevant national and provincial institutions- 35%
• Milestone 4:  Appropriate inputs provided to the Project Document and Annexes, as agreed with PPG Team Leader- 10%
• Milestone 5: Complete submission of final revised ProDoc package to UNDP-GEF- 10%

Criteria For Selection Of The Best Offer  

The Individual Consultant will be evaluated based on the cumulative analysis methodology.

The award of the contract shall be made to the individual consultant whose offer has been evaluated and determined as a) responsive/compliant/acceptable; and b) having received the highest score out of set of weighted technical criteria (70%). and financial criteria (30%). Financial score shall be computed as a ratio of the proposal being evaluated and the lowest priced proposal received by UNDP for the assignment.

Technical Criteria for Evaluation (Maximum 70 points)

• Education- 10 Points 
• Number of years of demonstrable experience in the technical area of tourism policy and planning, engagement of private sector in tourism, community-based tourism development, sustainability of tourism- 30 Points 
• Demonstrated understanding of political, legal and institutional context and priorities for tourism development and planning in Thailand- 20 Points 
• Extensive experience working with government agencies, local administrations, communities, social enterprises, etc.- 10 Points 

Financial - 30 Points 

Only candidates obtaining a minimum of 70% of the total technical points would be considered for the Financial Evaluation.

INCOMPLETE PROPOSALS MAY NOT BE CONSIDERED.

ANNEXES

Annex I - ToR 
Annex II - General Conditions of Contract
Annex III - Offeror’s Letter to UNDP Confirming Interest and Availability
Annex IV - IC Procurement Notice_

Kindly click on below link for annexures:

http://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm?notice_id=62730

For any clarification, please write to sandeep.sharma@undp.org