Tourism Product Development Workstream Consultant (3 Months)

Project Context

This role sits within the Tourism for Ethnic Minority Women (T4EMW) component of the Aus4Equality GREAT 2 Project, which applies a Market Systems Development approach to improve economic opportunities for ethnic minority women through inclusive tourism.

The Tourism Product Development Workstream focuses on developing commercially viable tourism products, strengthening market linkages, and facilitating public–private–community partnerships (PPCPs) to achieve measurable economic outcomes.

A short-term consultancy is required to ensure delivery of an upcoming August deliverable demonstrating that:

·        Private sector partners are building community capacity

·        PPCPs are operational and co-developing products

·        Private sector partners are actively promoting and selling tourism products

Role Overview and Key Responsibilities

The Consultant will provide intensive, implementation-focused support to ensure that tourism product development activities translate into verifiable market engagement and evidence-based deliverables.

The role is not primarily about coordination — it is results-driven facilitation of private-sector engagement, product commercialisation, and evidence generation aligned with donor reporting requirements.

1.      Develop and standardise tourism products

-      Finalise and package 3–5 market-ready products in pilot sites in Lao Cai and Son La for domestic and inbound markets.

-      Produce a full Product Manual for each pilot (tour info, detailed itinerary, difficulty level, images, pricing and commission structure).

-      Develop clear tour operation guidelines/SOPs so local service providers and tourism cooperatives can run tours independently to agreed quality standards.

2.      Drive private sector engagement and commercial agreements

-      Identify and engage domestic and inbound tour operators, DMCs and travel agents.

-      Share pilot products with at least 10 companies, collect feedback on price and itineraries, and adjust products accordingly.

-      Facilitate and secure at least 3 commercial agreements or cooperation arrangements between tour companies and service providers and tourism cooperatives in pilot sites.

-      Support development of marketing materials to promote pilot sites’ tourism products in company catalogues and online/offline sales channels.

3.      Plan and document pilot tour implementation

-      Coordinate implementation of pilot tours to demonstrate products running in practice.

-      Prepare at least 2 detailed pilot tour reports covering operations, participant satisfaction, issues/lessons, and potential income generation for ethnic minority women and tourism cooperative members.

4.      Coordinate capacity building

-      Co-design and support delivery of skill trainings for local service providers and tourism cooperatives, ideally with private sector input.

-      Document all trainings (agenda, materials, participant lists with sex-disaggregated data, key outcomes and follow-up actions).

5.      Set up and manage customer and performance data

-      Support tourism cooperatives to develop and consistently use simple customer data collection tools (guest numbers, age, group size, revenue per guest/group, etc.).

-      Ensure regular data collection and consolidation for reporting.

6.      Lead evidence generation and donor-ready documentation

-      Prepare a 3 – 4 page Summary of Evidence on product development, private sector engagement, and partnership functionality.

-      Compile complete appendices: training documentation, participant lists, agreements, product manuals, itineraries, marketing/sales materials, customer and income data.

-      Ensure all evidence is verifiable and includes gender-disaggregated data where applicable.

Deliverable requirements:

1. Market-Ready Tourism Products

-      3–5 tourism products developed, tested, standardised and packaged (including product manuals and operation guidelines for each pilot site)

-      Evidence of product-market alignment based on feedback from tour operators and travel agencies

2. Private Sector Engagement and Commercialization

-      Active engagement with multiple domestic and inbound tour operators

-      At least 3 commercial agreements or cooperation arrangements signed between tour companies and local service providers or tourism cooperatives.

-      Pilot products included in commercial itineraries and sales channels

3. PPCPs Established and Operational

-      Partnership agreements between private sector partners, tourism cooperatives, and local authorities

-      Evidence of joint product development and implementation and revenue-sharing mechanisms.

4. Capacity Building Delivered

-      Private sector-led training and mentoring delivered to local service providers and tourism cooperatives

-      Documented evidence of training participation and outcomes.

5. Pilot Tour Implementation Evidence

-      Pilot tour implementation reports documenting operation procedures, participation satisfaction, issues and lessons, as well as income generated for cooperatives/EMW from pilot tours.

6. Evidence and Reporting Package Completed

-      Summary of Evidence document (3–4 pages)

-      Complete appendices including:

·     Training documentation and participant lists

·     Partnership and commercial agreements

·     Product manuals, itineraries, marketing and sales materials

·     Customer data and revenue records.

Qualifications & Professional Expertise:

Education and Experience

-      Minimum 5–7 years in tourism development, business development, or private sector engagement

-      Demonstrated experience in tourism product commercialisation

-      Experience working with tour operators and market channels

-      Experience in community-based tourism or inclusive tourism

Skills

-      Strong private sector engagement and negotiation skills

-      Ability to move from product concept to saleable product quickly

-      Strong documentation and reporting capability

-      Ability to operate independently in a fast-paced implementation environment.