TERMS OF REFERENCE FOR A MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS EXPERT FOR COACHING AND MENTORSHIP OF RDB TOURISM STAFF 1. BACKGROUND Rwanda aims to be the premier eco-tourism destination on the African continent. Tourism goals include promoting Rwanda as a high quality tourism destination, to serve as a regional meetings and conference hub for Central and Eastern Africa, and enhance Rwanda's diverse and unique tourism experiences in order to bring tourists to the country and generate revenues that contribute significantly to the country's overall socio-economic development. To achieve the 25% annual target, there is need to focus on tourism marketing and communications, in addition to other strategies set out to increase MICE & leisure tourism visitor numbers and revenues. And so embedding of a marketing and communications component is imperative to reenforce tourism marketing efforts and to ensure clear coordination and brand messages about Rwanda are communicated to targeted audiences for impact. Having a functional MICE & marketing team trained in marketing and communications is a necessary step for Rwanda to develop a robust brand to drive the tourism & MICE sectors. Proper governance and division of roles and responsibilities for Rwanda s tourism sector is critical to achieving the ambitious targets articulated for the sector in EDPRS II. In view of the above objective, capacity building for the tourism MICE, Marketing, Product development and Conservation Staff is paramount to ensure proper implementation of the marketing and Tourism strategy in order to achieve the targeted revenues. It is in this regard that RDB would like to request for an international marketing and communications expert through Strategic Capacity Building Initiative support who will build the capacity of the Tourism MICE & Marketing, Product Development and Conservation staff for a period of 2 years. 2. CORE OBJECTIVES Implement the tourism Remarkable Rwanda brand recommendations; Build the marketing and communications capacity of the Tourism MICE & Marketing, Product Development and Conservation staff; Establish robust systems and process that facilitate the communications objectives of the Tourism MICE & Marketing, Product Development and
Conservation staff, such as creating communications and media plans, marketing plans and content development; Create media coverage reporting mechanism for assessing tourism, conservation and MICE communications impact; Increase Rwanda s tourism (Leisure and MICE) revenues thus increasing the high season; Position Rwanda as a Tourism (Leisure and MICE) destination through Destination Branding and Marketing promotion; Transfer knowledge to Tourism and Conservation staff and Tourism chamber through regular joint working sessions, coaching and training. 3. CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT The expert will be responsible for developing the capacity of Tourism MICE & Marketing, Product Development and Conservation staff in the following areas: Brand management and positioning; Tourism marketing and communications content development; International media relations and trade management; Marketing collateral content development; Online content development for websites (e.g. blogs, news sites, industrial and institutional); Content development for social media platforms (e.g. Twitter, Facebook,, Flickr and YouTube, etc.) Marketing and communications capacity for Tourism MICE & Marketing, Product Development and Conservation staff and tourism chamber. 4. KEY DELIVERABLES Implementation plan for the Remarkable Rwanda Brand; Provide marketing and communications support for tourism, conservation and MICE programmes by creating communications programmes that support strategic objectives in a way that is effective and impactful. Programmes will include but are not limited to creation of PR and media plan, events communications plans, positioning plans in key markets for a period not less than three years; Establishment of institutional systems and processes which support the effective telling of Rwanda s tourism, conservation and MICE story through coordinated marketing and communications.
Establishing mechanisms that provides a clear marketing and communications outputs and impact through but not limited to social media penetration testing, media reviews, website critique, evaluation for post implementation Produce written and audio visual content for specific market segments facilitating trade and promoting the destination. The content should include graphics, brochures, company or product fact sheets, logos, or other promotional products; Develop tourism and conservation contents for media, marketing and trade usage; Coordinate and support initiatives which provide accurate and up to date information about Rwanda s development across the tourism, conservation and MICE sectors through but not limited to paid and unpaid advertisement assessment, publication assessment, media analyses; Transfer strategic marketing and communications skills through training, coaching and working closely together with the tourism and marketing teams; Manage the tourism destination websites and social media accounts on daily basis; Advise the management in all communication matters; Develop and disseminate leisure, MICE and Conservation contents on weekly basis for trade and media communities; Develop and distribute tourism and conservation newsletter on monthly basis; Develop leisure, MICE and conservation world class collaterals and other promotional materials; Conduct communication and promotional campaigns online and other channels deemed appropriate; Organize familiarization trips and ensure the return on investment for the destination; Maintain professional and regular relationship with wider media community and special attention to those with Tourism, MICE and Conservation interests; Establish second and third flagship tourism products in addition to Gorillas through aggressive and strategic awareness, promotion and communication. 5. QUALIFICATION AND REQUIREMENTS A relevant Master s degree in MICE Tourism, Conservation or Geography, and other relevant field at the same level with proven hands-on experience; Minimum of 7 years of relevant professional experience related to destination communication and marketing (major in tourism and conservation);
Experience in working in the field of communications with governments and destinations; Experience in working on international communication campaigns and brand management; Experience in designing and implementing communication and digital marketing training programs. Experience in developing and implementing marketing communications train-the-trainer programs shall be an added value; Demonstrated ability to produce impactful content that tells the story of Rwanda s tourism, conservation and MICE sectors; Excellent stakeholder management skills, able to confidently work with senior public officials and private sector leaders. Excellent business writing and presentation skills and verbal communication skills (in English). Knowledge of more languages should be considered as advantage. Delivery focused, pragmatic, able to multi-task and get things done in a fast paced environment. Proven ability to inspire, coach, capacity build individuals, including people from different backgrounds and cultures and including senior managers. Professional, detail orientated with high standards. Excellent team leadership and coaching skills. 6. SUPERVISION AND REPORTING ARRANGEMENTS The Expert will be directly supervised by Marketing Division Manager and report to the Head of Tourism Department. 7. DURATION OF THE ASSIGNMENT The duration of the assignment is one year with the possibility of renewal subject to deliverables and fund availability. 8. LOCATION The Expert will be located at RDB Tourism Office, and will be expected to reside in Kigali, Rwanda, for the duration of the assignment. 9. REMUNERATION
Experts will be offered an attractive package commensurate with experience etc. 10. MODE OF APPLICATION Candidates should submit their motivation letter and CVs to scbi-jobs@rdb.rw by 21 st September 2015, 5pm, noting the name of the position being applied for. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for interviews.