Each tour design must
be a comprehensive itinerary that is built on the existing
numerous attractions that the Madaba area has to offer.
Proposed itineraries should assume that the tour would be
part of a complete packaged tour of other areas of Jordan,
and that the city of Madaba, including the visitors' centre
and Artisan Street, are part of the proposed itinerary.
2. Proposal
Design Guidelines
The key determining
factors in selecting the winning proposals will be their
strength in demonstrating how visitors can maximize their
stay in the Madaba area and how the quality of their experience
can be augmented by including diverse and authentic activities.
Originality, creativity, innovation and the quality of the
written text are also important factors in selecting the
top entry. These criteria are further explained below.
The itineraries should
be aligned with the Madaba Tourism Strategy vision, objective
and goals to prolong visitor stay and spending in Madaba.
2 (a). Madaba's Vision
To develop into a premier tourist destination in Jordan,
distinguished as the City of Cultural Heritage and Home
of Jordan's Mosaics and Handicrafts.
2 (b). Specific Goals of the Strategy
The specific goals of the Madaba Tourism Development Strategy
focus on creating economic opportunities for its residents
and improving their standard of living. The strategy aims
to achieve the following goals by 2010:
-
Reach an annual
tourist expenditure of JD21 million
-
Support 3,700 tourism-based jobs
-
Create 400 tourism enterprises
-
Extend average length of stay from the current one
hour to an average of six hours for international tourists
-
Attract 27,800 bed nights
2 (c) Defining the Madaba
Tourism Area
Extending from Bethany
in the north to the villages of Diban and Um Ar-Rasas in
the south, this cluster covers a scenic and very historic
area known over two thousand years ago as the Plain of Moab,
(also called the Dead Sea Highlands). This cluster is anchored
by the town of Madaba and contains a scattering of villages
located across the bluffs descending to the Dead Sea, with
many having spectacular scenery over valleys, rocky formations
and the Dead Sea itself.
The Madaba area makes
up an important part of the Holy Land for Christians and
contains three of the six Vatican-sanctioned pilgrimage
sites in the kingdom. It possesses a varied resource base
and can target cultural tourists (both group and free independent
travelers), religious, sports and adventure-minded visitors
for its key tourist segments. Madaba also contains many
other valuable resources, such as Ma'in hot springs, the
Dead Sea Panoramic Complex, the mosaic crafts industry,
the weaving industry (Bani Hamida), and the historic core
of Madaba town, which contains several ancient structures
and charming Ottoman-era buildings.
3. Evaluation Criteria
Each proposal will be
evaluated based on the following criteria:
-
Quality and diversity
of the experience
-
Innovation of the itineraries
-
Interaction with and economic benefit to the local
community and economy
-
Marketability and practicality of the itinerary and
its readiness to go to market.
Evaluation will be conducted based on an adjectival ranking
where poor is the worst and outstanding is the best. The
winner will be selected based on a consensus determination
of the highest ranking proposal in all categories.
The proposals must:
-
Include original and innovative, yet realistic, tour
itineraries.
-
Demonstrate how the visitors can maximize their one
or multiple day stay in the Madaba area, capturing the maximum
number of sites related to his category.
-
Demonstrate how visitors can maximize the quality
of their experience through inclusion of diverse and authentic
activities.
-
Be presented in a professional manner. The quality
of the written English text and the presentation of the
materials in an organized, professional, consistent manner
will be considered.
-
Follow the submission instructions in Section 3.
4. Submission Instructions
4 (a). Deadline
The closing date for receipt of submissions will be July 29th, 2007 at noon. The results of the competition will be announced in August. Submissions may be delivered
by hand, emailed, posted or couriered.
4 (b). Presentation
-
All submissions should be in English in word format
on A4 size paper.
-
One page listing the full name, address and contact
details of the developer of the itinerary and the name of
the employing company, if any. An annex may be included
not counting against the page limit in order to document
the eligibility based on the information included in Section
one.
-
Submissions should conform to the page limits described
below, excluding annexes as follows:
-
A maximum of one page for introductory or background information
about the places that will be visited during the proposed
itinerary in Madaba in addition to detailed itinerary including
start and end points stop locations and routes followed.
-
A maximum of two pages per touring day describing the
activities that the tourists will be engaged in during the
tour in Madaba.
-
An additional final page listing a summary comprehensive
schedule for the entire tour.
-
Annexes for photos may be added and do not count toward
the page limit.
-
A maximum of one page describing any assumptions in relation
to the target market origin, age group, income level, time
of year and intensity level.
4 (c). Submission Address
Submission entries should be placed in a sealed envelope
marked "Madaba Itinerary Competition" and sent
or delivered to:-
Jordan Tourism Development
Project (Siyaha)
Madaba Itinerary Competition
PO Box 941407
Amman 11194
Jordan
Or email to [email protected]
5.
Award Terms
5 (a). Intellectual
Property:
Proposed itineraries
that are not selected will be returned to the offerors,
and intellectual property will remain the property of the
offeror should it not be selected as one of the winners.
The winning proposals become the property of Siyaha and
may be used by Siyaha for whatever purpose it deems necessary,
including marketing, promotional, publicity purposes as
well as making available for public use
None of the competition sponsors have intellectual property
over the proposed itineraries.
5 (b). Eligibility:
Interested people with
knowledge and experience in developing itineraries including
employees of tour operators, tour guides, restaurant owners,
and any other member of or interested in the tourism sector.
Participants may submit more than one itinerary.
5 (c). Awards and Payment:
-
It is anticipated
that the results of the proposed competition will be announced
before the end of July 2007.
-
MTA/Siyaha reserves the right to cancel the competition
at any time.
-
MTA/Siyaha reserves the right not to award a prize
for any or all categories listed above in the event that
satisfactory itinerary/ies are not received.
-
The decision of MTA/Siyaha on the award of any contracts
for designs submitted in response to this request for proposals
will be final.
-
The prize award will be in the form of a payment
per a service agreement between Siyaha and the winner of
the competition in each category.
6. Adjudicators:
A panel of advisors
from MTA, Siyaha, main sponsor and the Ministry of Tourism
& Antiquities will judge the submitted itineraries based
on the guidelines and criteria presented above.
The consensus decision
of the adjudicators will be final.
Annex A: Application form