RFP invites for Conducting a Baseline Study on existing impact of tourism activities and provide Detailed Recommendation for sustainable tourism activities with special focus on Nature-based and Adventure Tourism

RFP Title: Conducting a Baseline Study on existing impact of tourism activities and provide Detailed Recommendation for sustainable tourism activities with special focus on Nature-based and Adventure Tourism in SECURE Himalaya project landscapes in selected districts of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Sikkim

Deadline: 31^st Oct. 2018

Brief Description of the Required Services:

• Compile, collate and interpret data regarding existing tourism activities in the project landscapes
• Ascertain the Tourist Carrying Capacity of each destination including infrastructure
• Interact with local community, industry and government stakeholders to identify key challenges and solutions
• Identify potential sustainable tourism products in the project landscapes with special focus on nature-based and adventure tourism, and prepare business projections for the same
• Conduct four Community Sensitization workshops in landscapes - one in each State
• Conduct four familiarization trips for travel agents/ tour operators in landscapes – one in each State

Background

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India along with UNDP is implementing a new GEF funded project: SECURE Himalaya (Securing livelihoods, conservation, sustainable use and restoration of high range Himalayan ecosystems) in the states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Sikkim, which aims to support the Government of India to effectively promote sustainable land and forest management in alpine pastures and forests in high range Indian Himalayan ecosystems that secure sustainable livelihoods and community resilience and ensures conservation of globally significant biodiversity and threatened species.

The high range Himalayan ecosystem in India is of critical importance for the biodiversity and ecosystems of global significance that it harbors and forms an important life-support system for a large number of remote and agro-pastoral communities that depend on it

Summary of tasks:

• Compile, collate and interpret data regarding existing tourism activities in the project landscapes
• Ascertain the Tourist Carrying Capacity of each destination including infrastructure
• Interact with local community, industry and government stakeholders to identify key challenges and solutions
• Identify potential sustainable tourism products in the project landscapes with special focus on nature-based and adventure tourism, and prepare business projections for the same
• Conduct four Community Sensitization workshops in landscapes - one in each State
• Conduct four familiarization trips for travel agents/ tour operators in landscapes – one in each State

Scope of Work:

1. Compile, collate and interpret data regarding existing tourism activities in the project landscapes

• Map existing tourism infrastructure and activities in the project landscapes
• Collect data regarding tourist visits and tourist expenditure using primary and secondary sources
• Analyze the potential and actual accrual of benefits generated from the tourist destinations in the landscapes to the local communities compared to the total benefits generated
• Identify and detail key challenges and solutions for tourism sector in project landscapes
• Examine the existing policies and programmes in central and state governments on tourism policy and promotion to study the opportunities with scope of utilization in the project landscapes.

2. Ascertain the drivers of Tourist Carrying Capacity of each destination

• Create a framework for ascertaining the drivers of Tourist Carrying Capacity for existing and potential tourism locations in the project landscapes, including identification of environmental and socio-cultural safeguards
• On the basis of framework created above, identify the drivers of Tourist Carrying Capacity for existing and potential tourism locations in the project landscapes

Deliverables:

The Deliverables of the assignment are as following:

• 1 Inception Report for each State, including a detailed plan of action with a detailed framework of activities, methodology to be applied, schedule, etc within 10 days from the date of award of the contract
• 1 Mid-term Progress Report for each State detailing advancement of the tasks carried out within 3 months.
• 4 Draft Reports, viz. 1 for each State including all the given components needs to be submitted within 4 months
• 4 Final Reports, viz. 1 for each state incorporating the comments and suggestions by National Technical Committee, State level Project Steering Committee/Landscape level Project Steering Committee, State/ Landscape Level Project Management Unit, NPMU and UNDP at the end of 6th month
• Trip Reports: For every travel undertaken including areas visited, the agency is expected to file a trip report within 7 days from the date of return of travel containing particulars of persons interacted with and details of discussion along with audio/ video recordings
• Compendiums: For each workshop, prepare a post event compendium for circulation to participants and policymakers
• Convergence Report: A Convergence Report highlighting how the identified tourism activities and development models specifically support the local populations in the landscapes

Criteria for Essential Eligibility/Qualification:

• Agency should have minimum five years of experience in Tourism Advisory and Consultancy Services
• Agency should have completed minimum 3 assignments relatedto community-based / nature / adventure tourism

Who can apply:

Proposals are invited from the institutions/organizations only. Proposal submitted by Individuals will not be accepted.

For more information please check the Link

Proposals may be submitted on or before the deadline indicated by UNDP in the e-tendering system. Proposals must be submitted in the online e-tendering system in the following link: https://etendering.partneragencies.org  using your username and password. If you have not registered in the system before, you can register now by logging in using:

Username: event.guest

Password: why2change

To bid on the tender, you will have to register first.

(Event ID # IND10-0000002945)

For further queries, please contact – Mr. Surjit Singh

Email ID: surjit.singh@undp.org