Local Consultant Service for the Development of a Marketing and Branding Strategy for Green Tourism in Sharm El Sheikh

Background

 The “Green Sharm El-Sheikh” project is committed to turn Sharm El-Sheikh into an integrated and ecologically sustainable tourism city of national and international importance. The project aims to establish a new sustainable paradigm of how tourist destinations can successfully address the challenges of development and growth.

The city of Sharm El-Sheikh is expected to become one of the first Green Tourist Destinations and Sustainable Cities in Egypt and in the Arab region. An overall strategy for achieving the goal of a sustainable city will be developed and will integrate the contributions on sustainability from several stakeholders, including the Government Departments concerned, the municipality, the protected areas of Ras Mohammed, Abu Galum and Nabq as well as hotels, tourism operators, NGOs, and local communities. The Sharm El-Sheikh’s Sustainable Development Strategy (SSDS) and action plan will encompass several activities revolving around the five main project pillars: biodiversity, energy, transport, water and waste.

1- Assignment Overview

The project aims to prepare a strategy for the Marketing and Branding of Green tourism in Sharm El-Sheikh. This strategy will enhance ongoing activities of Egyptian Tourism Promotion Authority (ETA) to market green tourism in the country. When successfully implemented, marketing strategies lead to increased international tourist arrivals and receipts and the expansion of domestic tourism, with the subsequent creation of jobs and opportunities for the local population. In addition, the project will support mainstreaming activities for tourism facilities to adhere to the governmental requirements and international best practice concerning environmental and sustainability certification.

2- Assignment Objectives and Required Tasks for the Service Provider

 Under the direct supervision of the Green Sharm Project Manager, the consultant will be required to do the following:

2.1 Development of Marketing Strategy and Plan

The development of a full marketing strategy & plan including launch of a “green tourism” campaign in Sharm El Sheikh through a cooperation between the Egyptian Hotel Association (EHA) and the big travel operators (responsible for getting more than 90% of international tourists to Sharm). The marketing plan should be considered a road map that enables the hotels and operators to maximize the benefits (revenues) of using green tourism as a tool for promoting tourism, and it should tackle different marketing aspects such as targeting, quality & level of hospitality and pricing and promotion.

The marketing strategy should include a detailed outline of the key features impact Sharm El Sheikh as a destination.

• Tourism product quality, design, variety, adaptability, sustainability, safety and must all be considered.
• Segmentation and targeting strategy, outline of tourism product pricing should be included.
• Key-messages addressing the project pillars and targeting the different stakeholders of the project. These key-messages should be reflected on the brading and PR of the project.
• An outline of the various distribution channels with a proposed timeline
• Communication channels
• Overall estimated budget

2.2 Development of Branding Strategy and Plan

A branding strategy and plan for changing the brand identity for Sharm El-Sheikh (from a cheap destination to a green one) is required. To be developed and implemented in cooperation with the governorate of South Sinai and ETA, being the official body responsible for tourism branding and promotion, as well as all relevant stakeholders. The current branding for Sharm El Sheikh will be reviewed and recommendations will be developed to in order to ensure alignment with sustainability goals and agenda.

The branding strategy for Sharm El Sheikh as a destination should incorporate the following elements.

• Sustainability
  • Focusing and integrating environmental, economic and social issues
• Differentiation
  • Create a unique, singular identity from competing destinations to stand out in the market
• Value Perception
  • Communicate the value of your product or service to your audience and customers, which helps you improve your pricing strategy
• Clarity and Trust
  • Professionalism and reliability will lead to long-term organic relationships and word-of-mouth marketing

2.3 Awareness Campaigns

The consultant will support the development of awareness‐raising campaigns and public display of relevant (green city/tourism) indicators that will be differentiated to targets all the different beneficiaries and stakeholders in the city (governmental sector, civil society, local residents, the private sector and academia). The campaign will run in various languages and will provide visitors to Sharm El-Sheikh with a set of recommendations to help them make responsible choices when travelling and have a positive impact on the destination they visit.

The process of developing the awareness campaigns will adopt the stakeholder engagement process. The design of the awareness‐raising campaigns will be accompanied by a budget plan that will be used for financial resources mobilization and/or internalizing the cost of the awareness campaigns in the formal budgeting process of the governorate/city.

2.4 Development of Public Relations Strategy and Plan

A public relations strategy and plan for repositioning Sharm El-Sheikh as the first green city in Egypt is required. The public relations strategy and plan for Sharm El Sheikh will be developed and recommendations will be created to ensure alignment with the green tourism branding and promotion in the Arab region; locally and internationally. The public relations strategy for Sharm El Sheikh as a green destination should be in line with the marketing key-messages (refer to section 2.2) and the below elements:

• Developing a full fledged PR strategy based on the branding and marketing pre-developed strategies.
• Identifying the stakeholders locallym regionally and internationally.
• Developing a detailed PR plan detailing the tactics to be utilized with each stakeholder.
• Propose budget for the implementation of the plan detailing the outline and timeline of the implementation.
• Provide media lists for all proposed PR channels including contact persons.
• Develop a PR crisis manual.

3- Output and Deliverables

Deliverables

• Present Marketing Strategy and Plan including an overall estimated budget with a proposed timeline
  • This should include a separate report for the local markets and another for the regional and international markets.
• Present Branding Strategy and Plan
• Develop Awareness Campaign Plan
• Develop Public Relations Strategy and Plan including an overall estimated budget with a proposed timeline
  • This should include a separate report for the local markets and another for the regional and international markets.
• Produce a bi-weekly Progress Report

Workplan

• A detailed workplan is required and agreed with the Green Sharm El Sheikh project personnel.

4- Required Qualifications and Experience of the consultant

 The national consultant should have the following competencies:

• 15+ years’ experience working in marketing, branding, public relations, event management, on-ground activations and communications (25points).
• Good knowledge and experience working with the tourism and environmental sector in Egypt (25points).
• Previous success stories in awareness-building and campaign management (30points).
• Experience working with multilateral and bilateral development agencies is desirable (15points).

5- Duration of the Assignment

 The assignment is expected to take 90 working days over 5 – 6 months. The working days will include on average of 20 days that are expected to be in Sharm El Sheikh.

6- Intellectual Property

 All information pertaining to this project (documentary, audio, digital, cyber, project documents, etc) belonging to the project, which the service provider may come into contact with in the performance of his/her, duties under this consultancy shall remain the property of the Green Sharm El Sheikh project who shall have exclusive rights over their use. Except for purposes of this assignment, the information shall not be disclosed to the public nor used in whatever form without written permission of the Green Sharm El Sheikh project.

7- Contractual arrangements and supervision

 The service will be hired under UNDP terms of contract and supervised by the Green Sharm El Sheikh Project Manager solely for the purpose of delivering the above outputs, within the agreed time frame.

MBDT as the client shall provide necessary support to the service provider in order to execute the assignment during the duration of the consultancy. These shall include:

1. Handle all relevant logistics.
2. Coordination with all relevant stakeholders

8- Application Procedure

 Applicants are required to submit the following documents to m.elewa@greensharm.org before the 17^th of October with the subject line: Consultancy Service for the Creation of a Marketing and Branding Strategy for Green Tourism in Sharm El Sheikh

A technical proposal with the proposed methodology (maximum 25 pages) based on the proposed TOR with an indication of the proposed approach and an implementation plan should be included.

• Information as detailed in the “Qualification for the consultant”
• CV
• Background and reference of previous works
• Any other supporting material relevant to the proposal

Financial proposal should include the local consultant’s daily rate in Egyptian pounds (EGP) including travel transportation and accommodation expences. Payments are made to the individual consultant based on the number of working days.