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Albania: Infrastructure and Tourism Enabling Programme

Gender and Economic Inclusion Programme

TERMS OF REFERENCE

1. BACKGROUND

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the "EBRD" or the "Bank") is considering providing a loan facility consisting of a sovereign loan of up to EUR 60 million to the Government of Albania (“GoA”) to finance tourism-enabling infrastructure sub- projects in Berat, Korca, Fier and Shkoder (the “Designated Municipalities”) and general municipal and transport infrastructure sub-projects across the country - (the "Programme" or the “AITP”).

The Programme aims at tackling the issues hindering the tourism sector in Albania through investments both in infrastructure and tourist related businesses and helping the GoA achieve the objective of the National Strategy for Development and Investment to improve Albania’s competitiveness and economic growth through high quality and sustainable tourism.

The Bank’s facility will co-finance the AITP alongside an EU investment grant of EUR 46 million that will be made available through the Instruments for Pre-Accession Assistance (“IPA”) 2017/2018 Action Programme for Albania Competitiveness and Innovation.

Travel & Tourism is a major driver of economic growth contributing over 10 per cent to global GDP and accounting for 1 out of every 10 jobs worldwide in 2017. In Albania, the direct contribution of the Travel and Tourism sector to GDP was 8.5 per cent in 2017, while its total contribution (including wider impacts, such as indirect and induced impacts) stood at 26.2 per cent of GDP. While much of Albania’s tourism is concentrated around its extensive coastline, there are significant opportunities for the development of inland tourism. This encompasses a number of UNESCO World Heritage sites such as the historic centres of the cities of Berat and Gjirokaster and the ancient city of Butrint and other cultural and natural heritage sites including the ancient city of Apollonia, the amphitheatre of Durres, Lake Shkoder (the largest lake in Southern Europe) and Lake Ohrid.

According to the 2017 World Economic Forum’s report on Travel & Tourism Competitiveness, Albania’s tourism sector ranks 98 out of 136 countries, lagging significantly behind other countries in the region (Montenegro ranks at 72, Bulgaria at 45 and Greece at 24). Such a low ranking implies that there is significant room for improvement in Albania’s tourism sector which can, in turn, lead to enhanced economic development, sustainable long-term growth and competitiveness.

The development of Albania’s tourism sector is hampered by numerous challenges, including inadequate infrastructure to touristic sites and, in some instances, poor upkeep and under- developed services around cultural and natural heritage sites. A key competitive challenge faced by the tourism sector is seasonality and tourist concentration in the coastal areas. Tourism demand (particularly international) is reported to be mainly concentrated in the summer months, with 50% of total visitors arriving in July and August and primarily staying in the coastal areas. There is a strong need to diversify, expand and integrate the tourism

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Albania has an extraordinarily rich and varied culture to promote as a tourism resource. Albania’s built heritage, however, is in need of conservation and better protection while its intangible cultural heritage is threatened by increasingly rapid modernisation. Albania’s natural heritage sites, including protected areas, also face similar challenges.

According to the European Training Foundation (ETF)1, the unresponsiveness of vocational training to employers’ needs means that many in the tourism sector cannot find the relevant skills they need to operate their business. This is confirmed through extensive consultations with stakeholders and business representatives, country-wide. In particular, Albania has a shortage of qualified tourist guides, waiters, hotel and restaurant managers, and other tourism services providers. Ensuring the responsiveness of the education system to the needs of the labour market within the tourism and hospitality sector will be a key part of ensuring Albania’s future tourism competitiveness.

The EBRD is therefore looking for a Consultant (team of national and international experts) to support the establishment of a Sector Skills Council (SSC) to guide the education policy in the tourism and hospitality sector within the IPA Action Programme.

2. OBJECTIVE

The key objective of this assignment is: To support the establishment of a fully functional private-sector led policy engagement platform for Tourism and Hospitality - Sector Skills Council in Albania.

SSC is an internationally recognised model for aligning skills supply with demand and alleviating skills mismatches at the sectoral level. The SSC would also help to shape human capital development policy within the sector (e.g. skills standards, occupational standards, dual learning models, etc.) based on international best practices and in line with the requirements of employers.

3. SCOPE OF WORK

The Consultant shall perform the following main task: To support the development of the private sector led Sector Skills Council (SSC) for Tourism and Hospitality. This shall be initiated by an assessment of the state of affairs with respect SSC establishment in the tourism and hospitality sector, including the outlining of existing gaps, enabling factors as well as potential risks to implementation and mitigating strategies; The full scope of activities will be defined as a result of this Assessment and shall be detailed in the Inception report.

Specifically these may include:  Identifying senior public and private sector representatives of the tourism and hospitality industry that could contribute to the work of the SSC;

1 ETF, 2014

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 Conduct a mobilization and information campaign in order to raise awareness of the purpose and benefits of a SSC, including the organization of at least 2 roundtables gathering at least 12 private sector representatives each.  Engage in capacity development of key decision making senior officials within the Ministry of Education and other state bodies as appropriate on the role of SSC, including a study visit to an EU country with a well-established and functioning SSC in the tourism and hospitality sector;  Create a public-private Steering Group which would select a Shadow Board to lead the development of the Sector Skills Council for Tourism and Hospitality (SSC) by identifying senior public and private sector representatives of the tourism and hospitality industry willing to take a leading role in the development and operation of the SSC.  Establish partnerships with key stakeholders including government, employers, VET providers, international organisations, NGOs, youth organisations and relevant donors to secure support and ensure alignment.  Provide support to the Steering Group and Shadow Board in conducting a labour market information assessment (Labour Market Intelligence - LMI) to identify market demands and priorities in the sector (from a skills perspective) as well as defining the main tasks of the SSC i.e. defining priority occupations, defining education standards, development of new curricula, etc.  Assess the potential and if necessary data is available, support the development of a system on skills forecasting to be integrated into the LMI in order to ensure informed forward-looking decision making.  Provide support to the Steering Group and Shadow Board to conduct other relevant assessments, programmes and tasks as required by the members and following the approval from EBRD, including strategy, action plans, guidelines, etc. in order to ensure all necessary supporting documentation is in place for the operationalization of the work of the SSC;  Ensure links are established with the Investment Council in Albania, established previously by EBRD in Albania;  Facilitate the process of establishing the Hospitality and Tourism Sector Skill Council and their regular meetings;  Provide capacity development to the members of the Sector Skills Council in order to enable their effective functioning and delivery;  Develop and deliver an information and visibility campaign on the establishment and achievements of the SSC, including high level events promoting assessments and launch events as well as one final high-level conference show-casing this example and advocating for replication in other sectors;  Detailed annual reports as well as ad hoc reports as requested by EBRD.

4. INDICATIVE DELIVERABLES

1. Inception Report providing situation analysis, By February 2020 developing the proposed approach detailing activities to be undertaken and developing a detailed time-line. 2. Mobilization and information roundtables and By June 2020 campaign 3. Key state official study visit By September 2020

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4. Public-private Steering Group established and By December 2020 publicly launched. 5. Annual progress report and (audited) financial By December 2020 statement prepared. 6. Shadow Board of the SSC established. By January 2021 7. Labour market assessment, LMIS and key SSC tasks By March 2021 defined 8. SSC in tourism and hospitality sector established and By April 2021 publicly launched 9. Full set of SSC operational and guiding By July 2021 documentation adopted 10. SSC capacity development completed By October 2021 11. High level event to showcase achievements of the By November 2021 project, incl. the findings of the LMI. 12. Final report including assessment of the SSC policy December 2021 impact

5. IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS

The Consultant shall report to the Associate Director at the Gender and Economic Inclusion team and work closely with Property and Tourism and Sustainable Infrastructure teams as well as the Associate Director for EBRD’s Tirana Resident Office (RO); and EBRD bankers within the RO on cross-pillar initiatives, products and transactions.

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