UNDP Jobs - 68917- Tourism Expert for the Evaluation of Tourism Devel

Tourism Expert for the Evaluation of Tourism Development within Protected Areas Managed by the Seychelles National Park Authority

Location :

Mahe, SEYCHELLES

Type of Contract :

Individual Contract

Starting Date :

24-Oct-2016

Application Deadline :

18-Oct-16 (Midnight New York, USA)

Post Level :

International Consultant

Duration of Initial Contract :

23 working days

Languages Required :

English

Expected Duration of Assignment :

23 working days over 2 months

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.

Background

The Seychelles PA System currently consists of 25 PAs (terrestrial, marine and combined) totaling 55,769 ha. The Seychelles National Park Authority (SNPA) is a parastatal organization primarily responsible for managing 8 national parks (IUCN category II PAs) in the Inner Islands, which currently represent 11% of the PA estate. The authority manages some of the most visited sites (Curieuse, Cocos Island, St. Anne Marine Park) in Seychelles, which received 62,205 paying visitors in 2012. Some areas of the terrestrial national park of Morne Seychellois (Mare aux Cochons, Copolia, la Mission, Anse Major) are also well visited by a large but non-quantified numbers of non-paying visitors.

Tourism in a significant industry for Seychelles and directly contributed SCR 3,525.6mn (21.3% of total GDP) in 2014, growing by 10% in 2015[1], and due to rise by 4.9% pa, from 2015-2025, to SCR 6,030.7mn (24.7% of total GDP) in 2025. It directly supported 10,500 jobs (22.9% of total employment). This is expected to rise by 2.5% pa to 14,000 jobs (28.1% of total employment) in 2025. (WTTC, 2015). Quarterly surveys conducted by the Seychelles National Bureau of Statistics with international tourists estimated that in 2015 between 38% and 56% visited marine parks and/or Morne Seychellois (NBS, 2016). Visitor arrivals are also expected to grow by 10% in 2016[2].

SNPA is a budget dependent organization, provided with a fixed Treasury allocation from government each year to meet all its expenses, including salaries and running costs. All revenue generated by SNPA is returned to central government budgets. However, in 2014 and 2015 SNPA’s revenue collection exceeded its received budget, mainly resulting from tourism entrance fees. However, few value-adding products and services are currently offered by SNPA. This represents an opportunity for SNPA to review the opportunities to strengthen the types and quality of tourism experiences offered to visitors.

Duties and Responsibilities

The sustainable tourism expert will be expected to conduct the following activities:

Literature review of key tourism documents and statistics relevant to the Seychelles, including the Tourism Department for latest information (2 days);
Interviews with public sector institutions and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) involved in tourism to understand how SNPA could improve tourism in their PAs (2 days);
Interviews with private sector businesses that currently utilise SNPA PAs (e.g. boat operators, hotels bordering PAs sites, tour operators and guides) to understand their current experiences of SNPA sites, options to improve the sustainability and diversification of tourism products as well as possible partnership opportunities with private businesses (PPPs) (3 days);
On-site assessments to evaluate the quality and deficiencies of the current tourism products and services at key sites (5 days);
Design a tourist satisfaction survey to determine their opinions of existing SNPA sites and experiences as well as determine possible demand for future products and services that are in line with the principles of sustainable development (1 day); A separate local institution will be contracted to manage and implement customer surveys in SNPA sites;
Analyse data from the tourism satisfaction survey conducted by the separate local institution (2 days);
Undertake a capacity assessment of SNPA's tourism expertise, identifying capacity gaps and training needs (1 day, included within on-site assessments);
Evaluate SNPA’s entrance fee collection and reporting system, identifying opportunities to improve its efficiency (1 day, included with on-site assessments);
Combine the above results into a draft report (3 days);
Conduct a workshop with SNPA staff to present the preliminary findings of the draft report (1 day);
Incorporate comments received into a final report; the report will include a detailed implementation plan for tourism within SNPA (2 days).

Competencies

Ability to build strong relationships with national consultants and stakeholders, to focus on impact and results for the client, to respond positively to critical feedback, and a consensus-oriented approach to work;
Highly developed inter-personal, negotiation and teamwork skills, and a networking aptitude;
Fully computer literate;
Excellent English writing and communication skills;
Ability to work in complex, multi-stake-holder project environments;
Demonstrates integrity by modeling the UN’s values and ethical standards;
Promotes the vision, mission, and strategic goals of UNDP;
Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
Treats all people fairly without favoritism;
Fulfils all obligations to gender sensitivity and zero tolerance for sexual harassment.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

Minimum postgraduate degree in sustainable tourism, environmental services or related subject.

Experience:

At least 10 years experience in sustainable tourism;
Experience working on tourism in protected areas, specifically supporting income generation of protected area agencies;
Previous experience working with the tourism industry in Seychelles would be desirable;
Past experience in working on tourism for UNDP-GEF on island states is an advantage, and;
A proven ability to conduct research and analysis.

Languages:

Proficiency in written and spoken English is required.

Important Note:

Interested offeror is strongly advised to read the Individual Consultant (IC) Procurement Notice, which can be viewed at http://www.mu.undp.org/content/mauritius_and_seychelles/en/home/operations/procurement/
For more detail about term of references,general terms and conditions of IC and templates to be included when submitting offer;
Interested offerors above the age of 62: UNDP regulations require, at their own cost, to undergo a full medical examination including x-rays. Medical evaluation documentation does not need to be submitted with the other requested documents listed above, but will be requested should the candidate be chosen;
Interested offeror is required to submit application via UNDP jobsite system, because the application screening and evaluation will be done through UNDP jobsite system;

Please note that UNDP jobsite system allows Only one uploading of application document, so please make sure that you merge all your documents into a single file. Your on-line applications submission will be acknowledged where an email address has been provided. If you do not receive an e-mail acknowledgement within 24 hours of submission, your application may not have been received. In such cases, please resubmit the application, if necessary.