The USAID-funded Visit Tunisia Activity is a 5-year project designed to enhance Tunisia’s tourism potential, with the goal of generating revenue and jobs, particularly for women and youth, and for populations in underserved regions of the country. The overall vision behind USAID’s investment in Tunisia’s tourism sector is to capitalize on Tunisia’s natural, cultural, heritage and historical sites to develop a more diversified and high-quality tourism sector that contributes to broad-based economic growth. Through this activity, USAID seeks to contribute to Tunisia’s growth and development to offset the negative economic impact of the coronavirus crisis. The project will seek to achieve the following four objectives:

• Objective 1: Enhance Tunisia’s competitiveness as a tourism destination;
• Objective 2: Increase tourism-related investments and revenue;
• Objective 3: Improve the enabling environment for sustained growth in the tourism sector;
• Objective 4: Private sector engagement to expand the offer and quality of alternative tourism.

This project will collaborate with the relevant ministries, private sector, and donors to advance the objectives while contributing to the following high-level results:

1. Increase in the number of tourists.
2. Increase in the number of jobs in the tourism sector.
3. Increase in tourism revenue.
4. Increase in private sector-led investment and innovation in the tourism sector.

 The Partner Engagement Specialist will support implementation of different projects and partnerships with local tourism partners in an assigned technical or target geographic area under which the Visit Tunisia Activity will work. The target geographic regions are still to be confirmed, but potential target regions include the following areas: Djerba, Dahar, Kairouan, Sousse, Tabarka, and Tozeur. Visit Tunisia anticipates having two regional offices, likely in Tozeur and Tabarka, and the main office will be located in Tunis. The Partner Engagement Specialist’s primary work location will be one of these regional offices located in one of these target regions (ie Tozeur, Tabarka), though regular travel to Tunis may be required, to liaise with the Visit Tunisia technical team based in the project’s main office. The project anticipates having two Partner Engagement Specialists in each office – Tozeur, Tabarka, and Tunis. Ideally, the specialists will be from one of the target geographic areas (Djerba, Dahar, Kairouan, Sousse, Tabarka, and Tozeur) in which s/he will work, and will have an existing knowledge of the local tourism industry and strong relationships and networks within that area.The specialist will serve as a client relationship manager with private sector tourism partners and public authorities, with the goal of strengthening the capacity of these tourism partners, facilitating public private dialogue, and strengthening collective efforts to develop, manage, and market specific destinations designed to enhance Tunisia's tourism sector. S/he will be responsible for identifying potential tourism partners and emerging sectors and opportunities in which the project can work. The specialist will liaise directly with the private sector to co-create technical assistance and establish collaborative relationships in line with project objectives and complementary to the work occurring under the project, grants, and infrastructure funds. The Partner Engagement Specialist will serve as the Visit Tunisia Activity’s representative and liaison with these tourism partners, sourcing and negotiating Visit Tunisia’s technical assistance which will be codified in partnership agreements. The specialist will oversee implementation of the partnership agreements, liaising with the Tunis-based technical leads, consortium partners, subcontractors, and short-term consultants to deliver the agreed upon assistance to tourism partners.

Detailed responsibilities Include: 

• Identify emerging tourism development opportunities in which the project can work and liaise with the private sector to co-create technical assistance and establish collaborative relationships.
• Conduct outreach to local communities and the tourism industry in target geographic areas to identify new opportunities (and existing challenges) for tourism industry stakeholders.
• Source, communicate and negotiate technical assistance to potential tourism partners (public, private, NGOs, etc.) to organize and disseminate value-added partnerships and assistance that enhance Tunisia's tourism sector;
• Serve as the Visit Tunisia Activity’s representative and liaison with these tourism partners;
• Draft and manage partnership agreements which describe the technical assistance details and goals that will be provided to selected tourism partners, including the commitment and contributions of the Visit Tunisia Activity, and the partner’s commitment;
• Oversee the implementation of the Visit Tunisia Activity’s agreed-upon technical assistance as detailed in the partnership agreements (through short-term technical assistance, support through grants or subcontracts, or other mechanisms); ensure that both parties honor the agreed-upon contributions under the partnership agreement.
• Facilitate reporting and data collection from our tourism partners, to feed into the project’s monitoring, evaluation, and reporting systems.

• Bachelor’s degree required. Advanced degree preferred in communications, marketing, business administration, economics, or related field;
• At least 5 years’ experience working in client facing positions within the tourism industry; experience providing business advisory services preferred;
• Experience in local and regional tourism development strongly preferred, including but not limited to working with tour guides, tour operators, travel agents, artisans, cultural heritage sites or museums, tourism experience providers, accommodation providers, hospitality industry, etc.
• Strong network of tourism private and public sector stakeholders in the target geographic region (including one or more of the following areas: Djerba, Dahar, Kairouan, Sousse, Tabarka, and Tozeur), including tourism businesses, trade associations (Fi2T, FTH, etc.), regional government, and potential investors;
• Possesses soft skills including a client friendly attitude, an innovative and creative mindset, and ability to create strong professional relationships;
• Experienced in working with IT tools such as databases, reporting systems, and email communications/client management, responsive on email
• Preferably holds project management experience specifically within designing and monitoring projects and developing reports;
• Experience working with a diverse team of employees and consultants;
• Demonstrated effective interpersonal and communication skills, pro-activeness, and client management;
• Fluency in English, French, and Arabic is required.

REPORTING:

The Partnership Engagement Specialist will report to the USAID/Visit Tunisia Products and Experiences Team Lead.

LEVEL OF EFFORT AND PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE

This position is long-term, on a full-time basis.

LOCATION OF THE ASSIGNMENT

The Partner Engagement Specialist’s primary work location will be in a Visit Tunisia regional office located in one of these to be determined target regions, most likely Tozeur (2 specialists) and Tabarka (2 specialists). The project may determine a need to have up to 2 specialists based out of the project’s main office in Tunis, but preference will be given to candidates who are from one of the target regions and willing to work from one of the regional offices. Regular travel to Tunis may be required, to liaise with the Visit Tunisia technical team based in the project’s main office in Tunis. The office maintains a five-day work week. Overtime is not authorized.   

TO APPLY  

Please send a CV and cover letter to Natalie Sellier, Chief Operating Officer at [email protected]