Background

Purpose

To support and to provide advisory services and guidance in the tourism sector to the Development Agency of Serbia (DAS) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Unit in the process of attracting and facilitating new investments.

Objective

To support the DAS and FDI Unit in facilitation of current and identification of new investment projects in Serbia related to sector of hospitality/tourism, while leveraging know-how, investor network and proven strategies for attracting domestic and foreign investments.

Background

Improving investment climate plays a central role in growth and poverty reduction. To improve the institutional infrastructure for supporting the development of business environment in Serbia, the Serbian Development Agency (DAS) was established in 2015. In the previous period through “Improving the Investment Climate in Serbia” project, DAS was capacitated in terms of some structures, capacity building and procedures to effectively attract new investments and manage the existing projects. The structures developed through previous project was well placed and had good coordination role, helping both the DAS and investors to make promising progress in attracting more direct investments. However, there is a need for further strengthening the DAS capacities and coordination role of the FDI Unit.

The Development Services Agreement between Government of Serbia and UNDP is envisaged to provide a framework for services requested by the Government, for ongoing initiatives of the Government, for which it bears full accountability. Most development services envisaged under the Agreement relate to support to policy making through research, advocacy or policy alternatives, aimed at fulfilling priorities as articulated in the Government plans, presented before Parliament, and in line with progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

The overall objective of the continuation of FDI Unit is to support effective coordination of all institutions in the Republic of Serbia, relevant for improvement of the investment climate, which in turn directly affects the country’s sustainable growth and development. This particularly will be needed in the next post-pandemic period and as an answer to economic impact of Covid-19. In that sense, UNDP will engage assistance for supporting policy work enabling investment projects, facilitating, and attracting individual FDIs and for continuation of the capacity building of the Development Agency of Serbia.

Duties and Responsibilities

Government of the Republic of Serbia recognized the great potential of spa tourism within Serbia both from the aspect of the utilization of the vast availability of the natural sources as well as from the aspect of attracting domestic and foreign tourists to Serbia. In that regards, in order to support direct investments in this sector, the Government of Serbia introduced new Regulation on determining the criteria for granting incentives to attract direct investments in the hotel accommodation services sector. Although Regulation proved to be very successful, during the process of project implementation are identified several areas that represent impediments that need to be improved and more systematically addressed in order to ensure further growth of this sector and additional benefits to the economy.  

One of the identified bottlenecks for investments in tourism represent the lack of planning documents and systematic definition of the tourism development priorities by the municipalities which need to attract investments. This creates obstacles for both the investors and the government. From an investor’s standpoint, it brings insecurities for their investments while the Government is not able to foresee a long term and systematic planning of investments in necessary infrastructure, which consequently needs to address current and future needs of certain areas as well to ensure sustainable use of valuable natural resources.

Therefore, the Consultant shall provide support in the activities related to:

• Integrated planning of tourism development and related activities ie. development of reports related to Strategic Master Plan in line with the relevant legal and strategic framework (Law on tourism, Tourism Development Strategy, Spatial Plan, Law on investments, etc).
• Conduct activities in regard to the Implementation of the Europe Spa certification, provide recommendations for the improvement of the analytical framework for assessment of the effects of the investments into hotel facilities in the spa field, provide leads for perspective investors in prioritized touristic areas.

Specific responsibilities include:

1. Report on the analysis of the Strategic Concept and Development Model for the selected priority tourist destination

The consultant shall prepare a report on the analysis of the Strategic Concept and Development Model for the selected priority tourist destination. The report shall contain:

• Advantages, disadvantages, and strategic strongholds of the project concept (regional and global demand for such concept, global trends and success stories for the project of similar size);
• Vision and market positioning of the destination, including the milestones along the way, key competitors, positive impact once fully developed;
• Market segmentation and geographic segmentation of potential guests (Leisure, MICE tourism, Medical Tourism, etc.)

In the process, the consultant shall conduct the following activities: initial collection of data using relevant secondary sources, terrain surveys - visits to key attractions, and resources, analysis of the existing strategic, planning and other relevant documents, and interviews with key stakeholders.

2. Report on the analysis of the Investment Strategy for the selected priority tourist destination

The consultant shall prepare a report on the analysis of investment strategy for the selected priority tourist destination. The report shall contain:

• Methodology to assess investment strategy;
• Goals and Importance of the Investment Strategy;
• Public Investments Overview;
• Proposal of the Private Investments
• Options for Public Private Partnership

In the process, the Consultant shall perform the following activities: initially collect data using relevant secondary sources, terrain survey- visits to key attractions, and resources, analysis of the existing strategic, Planning and other relevant documents, and conduct interviews with key stakeholders.

3. Report with a compiled Promotional plan for the priority tourist destinations and investment potentials

The report shall contain:

• SWOT analysis for the Spa hotel sector in Serbia.
• Identified unique selling points for the priority tourist destinations.
• Positioning plan for the spa sector for international and domestic investors and tourists.
• Recommendations of key industry events at key spa congresses, fairs and road shows requiring minimum financial input and maximum potential output.
• Recommend the key channels for promotion (traditional & digital) for both the destinations and projects.

4. Report on recommendations for improvement of the analytical framework for assessment of the effects of the investments into hotel facilities in the spa field

           The report shall contain:

• Analysis of market conditions in priority areas for spa development prior to investments and highlight the post-investment impact on local and domestic economy. Recommendation of best practices resulted from the analysis to be included.
• Analysis of employment benefits for the local community using the application of internationally recognized manning guidelines and further development of criteria for the award of invectives by conditioning employment in line with spa and wellness hotel typology and market standards. Recommendation of best practices resulted from the analysis to be included.

5. Progress log on lead provision to perspective investors in prioritized tourist areas

The consultant shall prepare a Progress report on undertaken activities related to attracting potential investors. The Consultant shall conduct the following activities:

• Utilize industry know-how and knowledge of the potential investors in order to attract foreign investors;
• Create “one-page teaser” for each key priority destination highlighting the benefits of investment and share through the appropriate channels specialized for hotel and spa investments;
• Together with SDA, develop an operational plan for organisation  of events for potential investors, real estate agencies and other key stakeholders to promote key destinations and attract investors.

6. Progress report on activities undertaken in relation to the provision of know – how to DAS, utilizing industry standards and proven best practices in hotel and spa segment

• Overview of the activities related to engagement on international hotel and spa digital platforms and organizations
• Overview of industry networks to remain updated and knowledgeable of current standards and latest trends.
• Information on latest spa hotel trends
• Apply own experience and knowledge to DAS and provide full support during various meetings with domestic and foreign investors

The consultant will closely cooperate with UNDP Tourism Destination Development Consultant in synchronizing efforts and reports pertaining to selected tourism destination planning.

Duties, responsibilities and key milestones

The consultant is responsible for the following deliverables:

* The timelines may be slightly adjusted once the contract is signed with the consultant in order to align with actual project implementation.

All reports shall be in Serbian language.

All deliverables shall be quality reviewed and accepted by the UNDP Portfolio Manager in consultation with the Technical Advisor for Investment Climate.

Competencies

• Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills (English and Serbian);
• Ability to work in teams and share ideas and knowledge;
• Displays cultural, gender, religion, race, nationality and age sensitivity and adaptability;
• Demonstrates integrity by modelling ethical standards;
• Full computer literacy in the use of MS Office package, especially Word;
• Excellent written communication skills and analytic capacity and ability to synthesize relevant collected data and findings for the preparation of quality analysis.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Sciences in Economic, Business Administration, Tourism and Hospitality or other related field.

Work Experience:

• Minimum 6 years of hotel experience with 5 years in management capacities;
• At least 5 years of experience in conducting analysis and formulating strategies;
• Good understanding of the investment and tourism policies;
• Advanced knowledge of hotel procedures with special focus on spa hotels          

Languages and other competences:

• Fluency in Serbian and English.

DOCUMENTS TO BE INCLUDED WHEN SUBMITTING THE PROPOSALS.

Application Procedure:

 Qualified and interested candidates are asked to submit their applications via UNDP Web site: UNDP in Serbia under section “Jobs” no later than 28 October 2021.

Application should include: 

• CV in English language containing date of birth, contact information (home address, phone number, e-mail) and timeline of work experience (including description of duties).  
• Offeror’s Letter (only PDF format will be accepted) confirming Interest and availability for the Individual Contractor (IC) Assignment. Can be downloaded from the following link: http://www.undp.org.rs/download/ic/Confirmation.docx. The Offeror’s Letter shall include financial proposal specifying a total lump sum amount for the tasks specified in this announcement with a breakdown of costs.

In order to apply please merge above listed documents into a single PDF file. The system does not allow for more than one attachment to be uploaded.

The shortlisted candidates may be asked to provide copies of diplomas and any other certificates providing evidence of their education and experience in relevant fields.

Any request for clarification must be sent by standard electronic communication to the e-mail vacancy.rs@undp.org. The procuring UNDP entity will respond by standard electronic mail and will send response, including an explanation of the query without identifying the source of inquiry, to all consultants.

Financial Proposal

Travel

This is home-based engagement therefore no travel envisaged under this Terms of Reference.

Evaluation