COMPETE CARIBBEAN: Private Sector Development and Competitiveness

Borrower/Bid No: RG-X1044-SN73

Country: REGIONAL
Project Name: COMPETE CARIBBEAN:Private Sector Development and Competitiveness

REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST CONSULTING SERVICES
Loan No: ATN/CF-12160-RG
Project No: RG-X1044
Selection No: RG-X1044-SN73

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), the Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada (DFATD) and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), have established a co-financing program called “Compete Caribbean” (RG-X1044).

The goal of this Program is to contribute to the increase in the standard of living and quality of life, and the enhancement of the competitiveness of the 15 independent CARIFORUM countries. Specifically, the Program will increase: (i) donor harmonization and coherence, equity and sustainability of national and regional private sector strategies; (ii) the efficiency and effectiveness of Caribbean governments to promote a competitive, growth-oriented business and investment climate; and (iii) innovation, productivity, value added production, sales and sustainability in key Caribbean clusters and value chains, and product sophistication, productivity and exports of individual firms.

The Program is organized in three components: (1) Comprehensive Framework for Private Sector Development and Knowledge Management, (2) Business Climate and Competitiveness Enhancement Facility (3) Enterprise Innovation Challenge Fund (EICF). The third component itself has two subcomponents: 3.1. Support to Clustering Initiatives (SCI); and 3.2: Direct-Firm Support (DFS).

Under subcomponent 3.1 (SCI), there is a cluster operation cluster operation in Grenada that is supporting the implementation of the Grenada Geotourism Destination Management Plan (DMP). This cluster operation is “GD-CC3054 – Grenada Hotel Cluster: Economic Recovery Program”. The goal of the DMP is to sustainably increase the sector’s revenue and profitability by increasing the number of stay-over visitors, the average duration of their visit, and their average spending per day. The target beneficiaries for this project are the hotel sector of Grenada, and the indirect beneficiaries are the services sectors that are associated with the hotel industry. The counterpart agency for this project is the Grenada Hotel and Tourism Association (GHTA).

The GHTA is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that represents the voice of the private sector in the island’s tourism sector. The GHTA is managed by a Board of Directors responsible for guiding the Association’s strategies and polices, and a Secretariat led by an Executive Director.  The Association promotes educational opportunities for industry workers, assists with the development of cultural activities, undertakes joint marketing initiatives, and advocates on behalf of its members on all matters affecting the industry.

The Grenada Hotel and Tourism Association (GHTA) has received financing from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and intends to apply part of the proceeds to payments under the project COMPETE CARIBBEAN:Private Sector Development and Competitiveness, for a consultancy to facilitate the establishment of a Geotourism Stewardship Council and identify a list of places of interest with a high level of community engagement. In addition, this information wiill be captured along with GHTA member listings in a mobile application compatible with the main platforms (Android, iOS, Windows Mobile, Blackberry, etc.). This includes the development of the mobile application.

The Inter-American Development Bank now invites eligible consulting firms to indicate their interest in providing the services. Interested consulting firms must provide information establishing that they are qualified to perform the services (brochures, description of similar assignments, experience in similar conditions, availability of appropriate skills among staff, etc). Consulting firms may associate to enhance their qualifications.

The main activities for this consultancy are:
1) Mobile Application Development: Develop an interactive user location-based and GPS-based  map of Grenada, Carriacou and Petit Martinique and the outlying islands.
2) Geotourism Council Development: To provide active support to the Cluster Facilitator as required to establish a Geotourism Council.  This will include but is not limited to:
3) Visuals & Copywriting: The consultant will  producehigh quality visuals and integrate into the mobile application. These visuals will follow the Pure Grenada brand guidelines. If possible, the consultant will also integrate photography and other visual resources that are already available and on display on resources such as Pure Grenada’s website, brochures, etc. The cluster facilitator will facilitate the availability of such material )
4) Commercialization Plan: To ensure the sustainability of the mobile application, listings from GHTA Members and Tourism operators will be sold. This consultancy will produce a commercialization plan that will outline the features of a basic free listing, members listing, public listings and premium listings. Each of these listing types will be integrated into the mobile application programming with associated costs factored into the pricing. The consultant will be expected to supervise the sales associate who will sell the listings when created.

Consulting firms will be selected in accordance with the procedures set out in the Inter-American Development  Bank: Policies for the selection and Contracting of Consulting firms financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (current edition) and is open to all eligible bidders as defined in the policies.

Interested consulting firms may obtain further information at the address below during office hours 09:00 AM to 05:00 PM (US Eastern Time) through the e-Sourcing tool.

Expressions of interest must be delivered via e-Sourcing application at: https://enet.iadb.org/BidderWeb/signOn.aspx by February 3, 2015 11:00 PM (US Eastern Time).

Inter-American Development Bank
Division: CTI
Assignment: COMPETE CARIBBEAN:Private Sector Development and Competitiveness
Attn: Carrion Menendez, Alejandro

1300 New York Ave, NW, Washington DC 20577, USA
E-mail: acarrion@iadb.org
Tel: (246) 627-8549
Fax: (202) 623-1579
Web site: www.iadb.org