What is to be done? (Definition of the contract) · Web viewThe tender can be submitted as PDF,...

Inspire Policy Making with Territorial Evidence

Version 12 April 2019

ESPON EGTC

Call for tenders

TERMS OF REFERENCE

”Carrying capacity methodology for tourism”

Technical and AdministrativeTerms and Conditions

Implementation Framework:

The Single Operation within the ESPON 2020 Cooperation Programme implemented by the ESPON EGTC

The ESPON 2020 Monitoring Committee approved the Single Operation on 20 November 2015

The Single Operation is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund via the ESPON 2020 Cooperation Programme

Terms of Reference: “Carrying capacity methodology for tourism”

This document details both the technical and administrative terms and conditions including its annexes and constitutes the dossier of this call for tenders. Its original is kept in the contracting authority’s records and is the only version that is deemed authentic.

***Table of contents

1 WHAT IS TO BE DONE? (DEFINITION OF THE CONTRACT)...................................................................................3

1.1 CONTEXT OF THIS CALL FOR TENDERS..............................................................................................................................31.2 OBJECTIVES.......................................................................................................................................................................51.3 DESCRIPTION OF TASKS.....................................................................................................................................................8

Task 1: Identification and critical review of existing methodologies for measuring the carrying capacity of tourist destinations and models for management of visitors.................................................................................................................8Task 2: Development of a methodology for measuring tourist capacity for each different type of stakeholder’s territory.....9Task 3: Territorial evidence, including interactive visualisation based on the methodology developed on the carrying capacity of territories and tourist flows.....................................................................................................................................9Task 4: Cases studies and interactive visualisation of tourist flows.......................................................................................10Task 5: Preparation of strategic guidelines and policy recommendations.............................................................................10

1.4 EXPECTED OUTPUTS AND DELIVERIES.............................................................................................................................101.4.1 Mandatory meetings foreseen for the contract implementation:..........................................................................101.4.2 Mandatory outreach events...................................................................................................................................111.4.3 Costs for meetings and events...............................................................................................................................111.4.4 Expected Deliveries...............................................................................................................................................12

1.5 INDICATIVE TIME SCHEDULE............................................................................................................................................131.6 IMPLEMENTATION AND GOVERNANCE OF THE TARGETED ANALYSIS.............................................................................141.7 STAKEHOLDERS’ ENVISAGED USE OF THE TARGETED ANALYSIS PROJECT.....................................................................151.8 COMPETENCES AND SKILLS REQUIRED............................................................................................................................16

2 WHAT CAN BE PAID? (CONDITIONS AND BUDGET)...............................................................................................17

2.1 DURATION OF CONTRACT................................................................................................................................................172.2 BUDGET AVAILABLE........................................................................................................................................................172.3 MAIN TERMS FOR INVOICING AND PAYMENTS.................................................................................................................172.4 COMPLEMENTARY CONTRACT.........................................................................................................................................17

3 HOW TO APPLY? (PARTICIPATION IN THE TENDERING PROCEDURE)..........................................................18

3.1 WHO CAN SUBMIT A TENDER? (INDIVIDUAL CONTRACTOR, JOINT TENDER AND/OR SUBCONTRACTING).......................183.1.1 Joint tender............................................................................................................................................................183.1.2 Subcontracting......................................................................................................................................................193.1.3 Participation.........................................................................................................................................................20

3.2 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS..............................................................................................................................................213.3 SUBMISSION OF OFFERS AND DEADLINE..........................................................................................................................213.4 CONTENT OF THE OFFER (ADMINISTRATIVE - TECHNICAL OFFER AND FINANCIAL OFFER)..............................................243.5 OPENING OF THE TENDER................................................................................................................................................26

4 HOW TO BE SELECTED? (EXCLUSION, SELECTION AND AWARD CRITERIA)..............................................27

4.1 VERIFICATION OF NON-EXCLUSION.................................................................................................................................274.2 VERIFICATION OF THE SELECTION CRITERIA...................................................................................................................28

4.2.1 General information..............................................................................................................................................284.2.2 Economic and financial capacity..........................................................................................................................284.2.3 Technical and professional capacity.....................................................................................................................28

4.3 FINANCIAL EVALUATION.................................................................................................................................................294.4 EVALUATION OF THE TENDERS ON THE BASIS OF THE AWARD CRITERIA........................................................................294.5 PRINCIPLES FOR AWARDING THE CONTRACT...................................................................................................................30

5 ADDITIONAL CONTRACTING INFORMATION..........................................................................................................30

5.1 CONTRACTING AUTHORITY.............................................................................................................................................305.2 WORKING LANGUAGE.....................................................................................................................................................305.3 PLACE OF EXECUTION......................................................................................................................................................305.4 COMPETENT JURISDICTION..............................................................................................................................................305.5 OWNERSHIP OF RESULTS..................................................................................................................................................315.6 DRAFT SERVICE CONTRACT.............................................................................................................................................315.7 DATA PROTECTION...........................................................................................................................................................315.8 OTHER CONDITIONS.........................................................................................................................................................31

6 ANNEXES...............................................................................................................................................................................32

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1 WHAT IS TO BE DONE? (DEFINITION OF THE CONTRACT)The ESPON activity “Carrying capacity methodology for Tourism” resulting from this call for tenders is assigned to Specific Objective 2 of the ESPON 2020 Cooperation Programme. As such, it shall support stakeholders in taking up territorial evidence in their policy development.

In general terms, tourism is an important economic factor for the development of many regions and cities in Europe. For many regions, tourism is often the dominating “industry” providing employment and development perspectives, also for some cities tourism is an important income source. Tourism is a complex phenomenon and its study requires knowledge from multiple disciplines. When related to sustainability, the growth limits and carrying capacities of destinations must be considered.

The main objective of this service contract is to provide an empirical foundation for destinations and help local leaders assess their situation and identify vulnerabilities in relation to sustainable tourism in the respective territories. This foundation would enable the analysis of carrying capacity for tourism based on innovative and available indicators, including tourist arrivals, internet data, social media reviews, seasonality, and pollution with use of big data, new technologies, artificial intelligence and high-performance computing (HPC) to be applied to the management of any European tourist destination.

The project will also provide recommendations mainly to regional and local practitioners, as well as European, on how to identify and consider their specific territorial context and specificities for measurement of the carrying capacities of tourist destinations across Europe for better management and planning.

1.1 Context of this call for tenders

Tourism is a major economic activity in the European Union with wide-ranging impact on economic growth, employment, and social development. It can be a powerful tool in fighting economic decline and unemployment. Nevertheless, the tourism sector faces a series of challenges.

Tourism is indeed one of the economic activities with the most significant potential to generate future growth and employment in the EU. In its narrow definition, tourism currently contributes some 4% to EU GDP. Its indirect contribution to GDP creation is much higher - tourism indirectly generates more than 10% of EU GDP and provides about 12% of all jobs1. The three pillars of sustainable tourism are employing environmentally friendly practices with protection of cultural and natural heritage; providing tangible social and economic benefits for local communities. Carrying capacity is an operational tool to achieve sustainability. The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) defines Sustainable tourism as a “tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities”2. As a complex economic activity, the goals of making tourism more sustainable face a set of economic, environmental, social and political challenges, which require adequate management and evidence-based public policies.

Existing studies on carrying capacity are useful only for specific destination types, like open protected areas and often very limited due to the lack of data. A comprehensive study on the needs and accessibility of data on different European portals (statistical, environmental), national portals of open data and published reviews, comments on social media and other sources, could

1https://www.researchgate.net/publication/ 23545063_AGENDA_FOR_A_SUSTAINABLE_AND_COMPETITIVE_EUROPEAN_TOURISM 2 UNEP & UNWTO, 2005

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https://www.researchgate.net/publication/23545063_AGENDA_FOR_A_SUSTAINABLE_AND_COMPETITIVE_EUROPEAN_TOURISM

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/23545063_AGENDA_FOR_A_SUSTAINABLE_AND_COMPETITIVE_EUROPEAN_TOURISM


help many European local, regional or national governments to set carrying capacities for better planning.

Social sustainability - When an area starts being visited by tourists, there are important social and cultural impacts of this activity for the host community. Locals may see increased congestion and overcrowding in towns and cities and the introduction of new languages and values. An important question to consider is how satisfied locals are with the number of tourists. This can be assessed through social media comments and posts (geolocated), as well as through other digital channels for citizen participation enabled by municipalities, etc.

Economic Sustainability relates to whether the economic added value of tourism is reverting to the places and is sustainable for the local communities. How much money stays local, how much in the region, country or EU and how much goes abroad to platforms for provisions for example?

It is also important to consider that the existence of negative effects in certain types of regions is obvious and in particular due to the concentration of tourist activities during specific periods of the year and also because of the intensive exploitation of some tourist regions. These elements explain the political attention given to tourism by the EU through the many Community policies and the emergence of the concept – Sustainable Tourism. Indeed, “long-term sustainability requires a balance between economic, socio-cultural, and environmental sustainability. The need to reconcile economic growth and sustainable development also has an ethical dimension”.3

The Commission Communication, ‘Agenda for a sustainable and competitive European tourism’4 proposes solutions to the challenges of sustainable tourism. It fulfils a long-term commitment taken by the European Commission and further supported by the other European institutions. It builds on the Tourism Sustainability Group report and on the results of the ensuing public consultation exercise. The agenda represents a further contribution to the implementation of the renewed Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs and of the renewed Sustainable Development Strategy. In this context, the European Commission is aiming at achieving a better visibility and recognition of good practices by EU citizens and society and at strengthening the knowledge and understanding of practices that link sustainability and competitiveness in a mutually reinforcing way.

In many destinations partial solutions on carrying capacities have been implemented or planned. The report on “Coping with success – managing overcrowding in tourism destinations”5 by Travel & Tourism Council can provide a solid basis for this service contract. The Faculty of Economics Ljubljana University has an ongoing research project “Guidelines for destination management based on carrying capacity and tourism flows models”6, addressing challenges such as: alienated local residents, degraded tourist experience, overloaded infrastructure, damage to nature, threats to culture and heritage and where to begin: creating a diagnostic.

For instance, Dubrovnik has announced to drastically cut the number of visitors allowed into its ancient centre to prevent overcrowding. The new limit will go further than UNESCO’s recommendation of permitting only 8,000 people a day inside the hefty Medieval walls and instead established the capacity at 4,000.

3 https://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/tourism/offer/sustainable_en 4 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A52007DC0621 5https://www.wttc.org/-/media/files/reports/policy-research/coping-with-success---managing-overcrowding-in- tourism-destinations-2017.pdf 6https://fri.uni-lj.si/en/projects/guidelines-destination-management-based-carryng-capacity-and-tourism-flows- models

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https://fri.uni-lj.si/en/projects/guidelines-destination-management-based-carryng-capacity-and-tourism-flows-models

https://fri.uni-lj.si/en/projects/guidelines-destination-management-based-carryng-capacity-and-tourism-flows-models

https://www.wttc.org/-/media/files/reports/policy-research/coping-with-success---managing-overcrowding-in-tourism-destinations-2017.pdf

https://www.wttc.org/-/media/files/reports/policy-research/coping-with-success---managing-overcrowding-in-tourism-destinations-2017.pdf

https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=celex%3A52007DC0621

https://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/tourism/offer/sustainable_en


Some destinations already took actions based on available data processed with available methodologies, some didn’t because of mentioned gaps, but it is important to adopt and develop new tools, with better methodologies and a wider spectre of data to implement more precise sustainable policies.

More precisely, this targeted analysis aims at developing strategic guidelines and management recommendations to help regional and local practitioners to reduce or minimise the pressure of tourism or to act in a way to increase resistance for territories already in danger and under pressure.

Indeed, in doing so there is a need for comparative analysis and a methodology for measurement of the different carrying capacities of tourist destinations.

To support the development of this activity, the results of several ESPON projects should provide important background data. In particular, the following ESPON projects need to be considered:

• Study on spatially relevant aspects of Tourism

• ESPON Tools (2011-2014) – Feasibility Study on Analytical Tools based on Big Data

• Call for Tenders for Tools for Territorial Analyses “Big Data for Territorial Analysis and Housing Dynamics”

• BRIDGES - Territories with Geographical Specificities

1.2 Objectives

The future of European tourism relies on the quality of the tourist experience – tourists will recognize that places that care for the environment, their employees and local communities are also more likely to care for them. By integrating sustainability concerns into their activities, tourism stakeholders will thus protect the competitive advantages that make Europe the most attractive tourist destination in the world – its intrinsic diversity, its variety of landscapes and cultures. In addition, addressing sustainability concerns in a socially responsible manner will help the tourism industry to invent its products and services and increase their quality and value.

The objective of this activity is to provide new evidence to understand how local, national and EU policies can best manage and measure carrying capacity in tourist destinations to achieve most benefit for cities, regions and locals in a sustainable perspective.

More concretely, the objective of this activity should answer the following questions:

How to approach carrying capacities considering the growing number of tourists in many destinations?

What conceptual framework, methodology and assessment tools can be developed and/or applied for measuring carrying capacity and tourist flows?

What are the different data sources and what related data sets/indicators can be collected (covering the three pillars of sustainability - economic, environmental and social) and used to measure and compare carrying capacities in tourism? How these can directly contribute to better decisions of local authorities for sustainable tourism development? In particular in the stakeholders’ territories (including unconventional and big data sources)?

What are the main challenges and potential opportunities for collecting, processing and analysing those data sets?

What are the possibilities and methodologies for using alternative data sources and new technologies (such as big data analysis, analytical intelligence, could computing, sensors) for measuring carrying capacity (including tourist flows)?

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How can tourist flows in relation to carrying capacity be visualised interactively using alternative data sources?

What are the main policy recommendations in the study area and in the case studies that can be given to practitioners to measure the carrying tourist capacity of their territories?

The result of the service will be increased knowledge about an innovative methodology for measuring the carrying tourist capacity for cities and municipalities in Europe. In this perspective, the main outcomes of the service should be:

Overview of existing methodologies for measuring the carrying capacity of tourist destinations

Identification of data sources, including innovative methods and alternative data sources and tools for measuring tourist flows and their satisfaction

Development of a methodology making use of new technologies and alternative data sources for measuring tourist capacity for each different type of stakeholders (municipalities, cities, regions…) and by considering the specific characteristics of the territories and their own vulnerabilities. This should also include an interactive visualisation of tourist flows representing the number of tourists in relation to the three sustainable pillars of sustainability (and corresponding data and indicators).

Territorial evidence based on the methodology developed on the carrying capacity of territories and tourist flows in Europe, encompassing approximately 50 municipalities partners from Croatia and Slovenia and one cross-border city area Nova Gorica (Slovenia) – Gorizia (Italy). In this sense, the methodology and indicators proposed shall consider the three pillars of sustainability - economic, environmental and social, granting a clear approach towards decision-making.

Detailed case studies in the stakeholders’ territories (including identification and analysis of local data sources, a set of maps, practical examples and policy recommendations to answer stakeholders’ needs…). This should include a practical application of the methodology developed.

Policy recommendations to provide appropriate support to measure carrying capacity in the stakeholders’ territories and in other European municipalities, cities and regions.

The study area to be considered is composed of different administrative territories and different geographical scales (national, regional, local), tourism specific territories – destinations with spa, urban and rural territories, with natural and historical protected areas.

The entire study area encompasses (approximately 50) municipalities from Croatia and Slovenia, including three municipalities partners and one cross-border city area Nova Gorica (Slovenia) – Gorizia (Italy).

The geographical location of the study area allows insight into characteristics of several European types of regions and macro regions (Alps, Danube, Central Europe and Mediterranean). This situation would allow for a transferability and applicability of the results of this study across these regions and across Europe.

At local level, besides the cross-border city area Nova Gorica (Slovenia) – Gorizia (Italy), three municipalities, partners, should be considered with their specific characteristics:

Bled – The municipality of Bled is one of the smaller Slovene municipalities and lies in the middle of the glacial transformed landscape somewhere at the crossing between the Alps and the Adriatic. Bled with its surroundings and natural beauties is one of the most beautiful Alpine resorts, often called the Alpine pearl.

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In the foreground of this region lies Lake Bled, in the summer the lake is heated to 26°C and is an important recreational area for both the locals and tourists. Due to its exact length, it was the site of many rowing championships in its history.

Bled is recognizable by the architectural identity of the Alpine resort and surrounding rural settlements, a characteristic cultural landscape, preserved nature and a large number of natural values and rich cultural heritage, a wealth of water and forests and great biodiversity.

Bled in high season is facing effects of over-tourism, also due to many daily visitors. Local decision makers are considering the option to introduce an ecological tax for one-day visitors, but they are facing at least two barriers to do so. The first challenge is how to collect the tax without the possibility known elsewhere of unique entry points (neither by car or by foot). The second question are legal bases. Local authorities are facing very strict, centralised rules on introducing any “new” taxes and ecological taxes as such don’t have a legal base in the national legislative framework.

Attractions in Bled include Lake Bled, Vintgar Gorge, Debela Peč, Bled Castle, Bled Island, Sv. Katarina on Hom, loners around the lake (Osojnica and Ojstrica, Straza, Grajski hrib, Dobra gora, Galetovec, Babji zob and Talež ...).

No. of inhabitants: 7835No. of accommodation providers: 328No. of beds 6356Arrivals of tourists (2018) 496.677

Overnight stays of tourists (2018) 1,151.831

Brežice – The municipality of Brežice has great potential for the sustainable development of tourism. In the area there is no heavy industry or environmentally disputed activities that would limit the orientation towards in-depth sustainable development.

The following physical conditions are the main assets in the natural environment: the protected area Kozjansko regional park, three rivers (Krka, Sava and Sotla) and the confluence of the Sava and Krka and thermal springs (Terme Čatež, Terme Paradiso), Jovsi - swampy natural park along the Sotla River, Dobrava - a forested nature park, which is crossed by numerous streams and streams, the source of Gabernica. The image of wine growing hills, green plains along slow river and wooded summits are indeed key landmarks also. In fact, most of the natural values are not specifically included in the tourist offer and do not record the "detected" number of visits.

Thermal water is effectively used among renewable natural resources in Brežice. Thermal Riviera Terme Čatež enters the summer with slides, slow river and swimming pools on the summer Thermal Riviera, and in winter with indoor pools in the winter Thermal Riviera.

From the national perspective the network of camper van (caravan) rest areas is growing (app. 152 locations around Slovenia) and so is the trend of this kind of tourism in Brežice. The caravan rest areas are becoming destinations for family holidays. Apart from being situated in ideal locations, caravan rest areas dispose of pitches connections to electricity and water, sanitary points and areas for emptying of portable chemical toilets. Some caravan rest areas have enriched their offer with sports facilities and internet connections, completing it with a gastronomic story of the area where they are situated. The municipality of Brežice is faced with some challenges regarding the management of this special kind of camps, since no traditional reception is in place (it is managed like a parking space). Without that, no data of tourists neither tourist tax is collected, but local initiatives for new stops are increasing, requiring new municipal investment in tourism infrastructure.

No. of inhabitants: 24089No. of accommodation providers: 36No. of beds 3150

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Arrivals of tourists (2018) 202.780 Overnight stays of tourists (2018) 680.003

Divača –is full of diversity, a result of being situated where the coast merges into the hills of the interior. Here the warm breezes from the south mix with the stormy north wind, the famous burja. A large area of the municipality lies within the limestone plateau of the Karst, full of the typical karstic features that have spread the fame of this landscape around the world.

This is the area where Škocjanske jame caves are located, which are on the UNESCO world heritage list, but also include karstic caverns, picturesque sinkholes, swallow holes, fissures and channels that the water slowly carves out on its route into the underworld of the karst plateau.

Humans have been a part of this natural diversity since prehistoric times, seeking out paths from the coastline to the interior of the continent. At first, they found shelter in caves; later they constructed fortifications and fortified settlements atop secure slopes, and finally settled in villages that are today still rich with flavours of the past. Tourists can discover all this on a gentle stroll or by bicycle along quiet trails.

Some challenges faced by Divača joining the Green Scheme of Slovenian tourism are related to the data (un)availability and understanding of indicators. How to calculate carbon footprint of visitors and minimise it for example. How to measure impact of climate change on tourism, how to measure the economic impact of the tourism sector within the local economy, how to plan efficient actions for management of waste and sewage, when quantities are higher due to a higher number of tourists, and how to follow (or calculate) this data in real time (data available only for waste, on a yearly basis, for past years).

No. of inhabitants: 4093No. of accommodation providers: 12No. of beds 238Arrivals of tourists (2018) 15.836 Overnight stays of tourists (2018) 26.339

1.3 Description of tasks

The following tasks shall be carried out within the framework of this service contract:

Task 1: Identification and critical review of existing methodologies for measuring the carrying capacity of tourist destinations and models for management of visitors

Firstly, a critical review of the existing methodologies in Europe and in particular covering the study area should be carried out. This overview will be considered and used to the development of a methodology as detailed in task 2.

This review should take into account the objectives of this service contract and must take into account the stakeholder’s political objectives and policy needs in order to have a reference model for further analysis and to provide relevant and useful policy recommendations.

Main challenges based on recognised existing studies are:

Online, forum-based sources provide a data source that directly taps visitor sentiments—although this information must be viewed in context. In addition, not all attractions are listed on travel review sites. How many positive vs. negative comments are can be extracted from social media related to the different types of destinations (local level and other levels).

Existing studies indicate no consistent sources for tourism-related pollution or energy consumption at the country or city level. What kind of data is already available as open

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source and what needs to be done by national, regional or local authorities to have enough consistent sources.

This task should take into account and build on relevant experiences and existing studies such as the ones described under section 1.1 and non-official data, including alternative data sources such as data from social media and other platforms with reviews, comments from visitors, which represent a new, growing source of information.

In doing so, the service provider should keep in mind that the main objective is that the data sources should contribute to better decisions of local authorities for sustainable tourism development. By making use of these alternative data sources and indicators shall help local leaders assess their situation and identify vulnerabilities in their territories.

Task 2: Development of a methodology for measuring tourist capacity for each different type of stakeholder’s territory

Based on the results of task 1 the service provider shall develop a methodology for measuring tourist capacity for each type of stakeholder (municipalities, cities, regions…) and by considering the specific characteristics of the territories and their own vulnerabilities. In doing so, this task should provide inputs for measuring the sustainability of tourist destinations in each of the dimensions - economic, social and environmental.

The methodology needs to take into account the results of the task 1 and to be tested and adjusted in case of need considering the objectives of this service contract and the needs of the stakeholders.

The methodology must be developed in a way to be applied in the case study area and in the stakeholders’ territories i.e. municipalities from Croatia and Slovenia plus one cross-border city area Slovenia-Italy to demonstrate a potential for widespread use by the stakeholders and be appropriate for a broader application by other authorities. The cross-border city area is included because tourist flows and related carrying capacity are not limited by national borders and it is necessary to have a methodology that can be used and applied in other European cross-border areas.

Task 3: Territorial evidence, including interactive visualisation based on the methodology developed on the carrying capacity of territories and tourist flows

Based on previous tasks, an analysis should be provided of the existing patterns in relation to carrying capacity and tourist flows in the stakeholder’s territories. This encompasses municipalities in Slovenia and Croatia and the cross-border city area of Nova Gorica (Slovenia) – Gorizia (Italy).

This task should include a detailed description of the different data sources and related data/indicators collected and used to describe and measure carrying capacity and tourist flows in the stakeholders’ territories (including alternative and big data sources as mentioned above).

This task should also include an interactive visualisation of tourist flows considering the three sustainable pillars data indicators. Each of the pillars (economic, environmental and social) should provide territorial data-based information on tourism capacities. This interactive visualisation should consider big data analysis by using big data tools and new technologies as described above.

In doing so, the service provider should make use of an already existing data visualisation and analytical platform, including dashboards and animated graphs (such as Tableau7, Microsoft

7 https://www.tableau.com

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https://www.tableau.com/trial/tableau-software?utm_campaign_id=2017049&utm_campaign=Prospecting-CORE-ALL-ALL-ALL-ALL&utm_medium=Paid+Search&utm_source=Google+Search&utm_language=EN&utm_country=BENX&kw=%2Btableau%20%2Bdata&adgroup=CTX-Brand-Data-B&adused=324815280478&matchtype=b&placement=&gclid=Cj0KCQjw1pblBRDSARIsACfUG13M246dITSkk2BD2iryOT76A1a2-HdBwvEZaAdREnNcQsh8957yOJAaAnUpEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds


Power BI8 or commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products) that allow to better explore and understand the data collected and support decision making in the stakeholder’s territory. In this context it is important through the service contract implementation to establish a direct and close contact with the service provider in charge of the ESPON Database.

The visualisation element is particularly important for decision making at municipal level in terms of management of tourist flows in the case studies’ territories but also to other municipalities and cities in Europe to support the management of tourist flows. The tender should include already ideas and a first proposal in relation to the interactive visualisation of data.

In order to directly support the stakeholders, the service provider should produce (3-5) short reports/narratives (approximately 4 pages) based on the data/information collected and using the methodology developed in the previous task, about the situation of the case study area or specific municipalities on the carrying capacity of tourist flows. The content of the short reports will be discussed and agreed with the stakeholder and the ESPON EGTC during the implementation of the service contract and after the delivery of the inception report.

Task 4: Cases studies and interactive visualisation of tourist flows

In this task, in-depth case studies should be carried out in the stakeholders’ territories: Bled, Brežice, Divača and the cross-border city area Nova Gorica (Slovenia) – Gorizia (Italy). The tenderer is invited to propose interviews and a participative approach with key stakeholders at different geographical levels and related to the stakeholders’ territories.

The main objective of the case studies is to test in a concrete and detailed way the methodology developed under task 2 and to provide inputs for the task 5.

Each case study should rely on a detailed analysis of local data sources, provide a set of data, maps and graphs, and propose policy recommendations to answer stakeholders’ needs, including an interactive visualisation of the tourist flows in the case studies territories.

The tender should include already a preliminary proposal on the case studies and the final selection will be proposed in the inception report and agreed with the ESPON EGTC and the stakeholders.

Task 5: Preparation of strategic guidelines and policy recommendations

Based on the previous tasks and feedback received by the stakeholders the service provider should develop strategic guidelines and policy recommendations to provide appropriate support to measure carrying capacity in the stakeholders’ territories and in other European contexts by making using of new technologies and alternative data sources and by considering the pillars of sustainable tourism.

After a thorough analysis of the individual stakeholder territories, this task should also include recommendations that could be transferred to similar cases and other regions across Europe.

The fulfilment of each of the above Tasks 1-5 shall be carried through in line with the specific context and objectives described in Section 1.1 and 1.2 above.

8 https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/

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https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/


1.4 Expected outputs and deliveries

The following outputs and deliveries shall be provided covering the tasks of the requested service as specified above in section 1.3:

1.4.1 Mandatory meetings foreseen for the contract implementation:

Kick-Off Meeting

The kick-off meeting will consist of a general dialogue with the Service Provider regarding the objectives and tasks of the research; the overall research strategy; and the governance and implementation of Targeted Analysis Project. The kick-off meeting will be chaired by the Project Expert of the ESPON EGTC responsible for the implementation of this Targeted Analysis Project. Feedback will be provided to the service provider on the selected technical offer. Specific contractual dates for deliveries in accordance with the general timetable outlined in Section 1.5 below shall also be agreed and recorded in the minutes.

The Service Provider will additionally receive technical guidelines at the kick-off meeting on how to design and produce maps in accordance with the ESPON template, as well as all relevant information concerning the proper application of the ESPON Corporate Identity.

The kick-off meeting will take place in one of the stakeholder territories or at the ESPON EGTC’s premises in Luxembourg and will also be the first occasion for the Steering Committee to convene and to meet the Service Provider. The Service Provider shall attend the kick-off meeting with at least one representative.

Steering Committee Meetings

The Steering Committee shall consist of representatives of all stakeholder institutions, the Service Provider and the ESPON EGTC. The objectives and role of the Steering Committee in the implementation and governance of the Targeted Analysis Project is described in Section 1.6.

In additional to the kick-off meeting, three (3) Steering Committee meetings will be convened throughout the lifetime of the Targeted Analysis Project. The Steering Committee Meetings will normally take place in one of the stakeholder territories or at the ESPON EGTC’s premises in Luxembourg, upon agreement between the Service Provider, the lead stakeholder and the ESPON EGTC. Steering Committee Meetings shall normally be organised following key delivery milestones (see Section 1.5). Meetings may also be wholly or partly be held via teleconference. The Service Provider shall attend each Steering Committee meeting with at least one representative.

1.4.2 Mandatory outreach events

The Service Provider shall also assure participation in up to three (3) specific outreach activities or other ESPON events, to be selected and agreed in consultation with the ESPON EGTC. This may include ESPON seminars which typically take place in the country holding the presidency of the council of the EU. During the implementation period of this service the member states holding the presidency are Finland, Croatia and/or Germany (depending on the precise commencement date of the contract).

At least one of the events will include a joint meeting of all partners of ongoing ESPON projects intended as a forum to exchange information and feedback, and the Service Provider shall attend with at least one representative.

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1.4.3 Costs for meetings and events

Budget costs related to the travel and attendance at all of the above meetings and events must be included in the financial offer for this service contract. No other costs will be paid by the Contracting Authority to the Service Provider.

Any further costs in relation to any additional meeting or events organised by the stakeholders and for which participation of the Service Provider is requested will not be paid by the Contracting Authority.

1.4.4 Expected Deliveries

Delivery 1: The Inception Delivery shall include:

Inception Report (approximately 20 pages, excluding annexes) including:

o Description of the conceptual framework to be applied, the specific approaches and methods to be applied, the sources and data to be used and the practical steps to be taken for the implementation of the activity, based on feedback on the tender and the discussion during the kick-off meeting

Overview and interpretation of the stakeholder’s political objectives and policy needs.

Elaborated proposal for the case studies

Brief description of the state of affairs of project implementation, the analytical work and steps planned to be taken to ensure delivering the interim outputs requested (see below).

Delivery 2: The Interim Delivery shall include:

Interim report (app. 30 pages, excluding annexes) including:

o Final overview of the stakeholder’s political objectives and policy needs.

o Overview of data and data sources to be used (including potentially unconventional data and/or big data sources) in order to conclude task 2

o Final results of tasks 1 and 2

o Interim results on task 3, including examples of the interactive visualisation and draft narratives

o Overview and first results of the case studies carried out and detailed plan for their finalisation, including the results of the interviews carried out and to be carried out, as well as set of data, maps and graphs (task 4).

o Draft strategic guidelines and policy recommendations (task 5)

Delivery 3: The Final Delivery shall include:

Final report (approximately 50 pages) including:

o Executive summary (max. 3 pages) focusing on conclusions and policy recommendations based on the stakeholders’ knowledge needs.

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o Results and analysis of the of tasks 1 to 5

o Policy recommendations for the study areas and on how the recommendations could be applied across Europe.

o Proposals for further research in the subject area of the activity.

Synthesis report (max. 8 pages) including:o Main results of the targeted analysis and policy recommendations.o Content to be discussed and agreed with the ESPON EGTC.

Scientific annexes including:

o Everything that has to be known to make the study repeatable and verifiable.

o Case study reports.

Website content (max. 12 pages) showcasing the key results and insights of the main report, based on guidelines and templates to be provided by the ESPON EGTC

A PowerPoint presentation (max. 30 slides), consisting of the main components of the final report, including the key maps and results of the study, to be agreed with the ESPON EGTC after Delivery 2.

Maps (approx. 2-5, as appropriate) and accompanying text following the structure of the ESPON Online MapFinder, selection based on consultations with ESPON EGTC.

Source files for the maps and figures included in the delivery (incl. vector format).

Overview table of maps, figures and data, based on a template to be provided by the ESPON EGTC.

Data gathered according to ESPON metadata template and proof of integration of data into the ESPON database.

All deliveriesAll reports should be delivered in electronic (pdf and docx) format and the text in the reports should have gone through a thorough language check, preferably by an English native speaker.

1.5 Indicative time schedule

The service provider is envisaged to deliver according to the following timetable:

Delivery Delivery description Indicative deadline9

Kick-off meeting As soon as possible (and normally up within to 4 weeks) after the award of the contract.

D1 Inception delivery T + 1 months

D2 Interim delivery T + 7 months

D3 Final delivery T + 12 months

The exact deadlines for the deliveries will be agreed on during the kick-off meeting. The minutes of the kick-off meeting containing a record of the agreed delivery dates will be signed by the

9 The letter "T" in this table stands for the date of the kick-off meeting.

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representatives of both the service provider and the ESPON EGTC and will be subject to the article on “Performance of the contract and subcontracting” in the service contract.

The contracted Service Provider will receive written feedback from the ESPON EGTC on each of the abovementioned deliveries, including the compiled feedback of the Steering Committee, typically within four (4) weeks after receiving the deliveries, including advice on the further direction of the research.

In addition, regular ongoing contact by phone/email is envisaged between the Service Provider and the ESPON EGTC to continually progress and monitor the implementation of the service contract.

1.6 Implementation and governance of the Targeted Analysis

Partnership and cooperation are central to the implementation of ESPON Targeted Analyses Projects and are prerequisites for ensuring useful results and meeting stakeholders’ research demands. The successful accomplishment of the objectives of this Targeted Analysis Project will be achieved, to a large extent, by proactive participation of the stakeholders at every stage of the implementation. Stakeholder involvement commenced with the definition and development of the specific theme for this Targeted Analysis Project and will continue through the implementation of the research and beyond. Authorities of all stakeholder institutions are determined to continuously support the work on the Targeted Analysis Project, providing all necessary documents and data they possess and reasonably available. As some of the key documents to be considered for this targeted analysis are only available in the languages of the stakeholder territories, the Service Provider should have available the necessary local language skills.

To allow for a framework that facilitates successful cooperation, a Steering Committee shall be established for the lifetime of this Targeted Analysis Project. The main purpose of the Steering Committees is to closely follow and advise the implementation of the research, making sure that it meets the stakeholders’ policy demands and to provide continuous feedback on project deliveries and the future direction of the research, as necessary. The objectives of the Steering Committee are:

To ensure the involvement and active participation of stakeholders in the implementation and steering of the project;

To safeguard the policy relevance of the Targeted Analysis Project outputs for the stakeholders;

To facilitate the information and data flow between the Service Provider’s team, the stakeholders and the ESPON EGTC.

The role of the Steering Committee is:

To discuss and give feedback to deliveries from the Service Provider and provide guidance for the next steps of the research and service contract implementation;

To discuss and agree upon dissemination activities, particularly after the finalisation of the analytical work by the Service Provider.

The Steering Committee shall comprise representatives of each of the stakeholder institutions, the Service Provider and the ESPON EGTC. The ESPON EGTC shall be represented on the Steering Committee by the Project Expert responsible for this Targeted Analysis Project. Other stakeholders and/or relevant umbrella organisations may also take part in the Steering Committee as observers, should the Steering Committee so choose. The timing and location of Steering Committee meetings will be discussed during the kick-off meeting and agreed during the project implementation.

The Ministry of Economic Development and Technology in Slovenia is the lead stakeholder in this Targeted Analysis. The other partners in the stakeholder consortium are:

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INFORMEST: Service and Documentation Centre for International Economic Cooperation, Italy

Municipality of Bled, Slovenia

Association of cities of the Republic of Croatia, Croatia.

MUNICIPALITY OF BREŽICE, Slovenia

Association of municipalities and towns of Slovenia

Municipality of Divača

1.7 Stakeholders’ envisaged use of the Targeted Analysis Project

The expected results will provide to each stakeholder a useful tool with a methodology, tailor-made (local bodies), place-based and real-time strategic guidelines and management recommendations.

As for the individual stakeholders:

The Ministry of Economic Development and Technology in Slovenia will make better decisions on use different policy measures if needed, from legislative framework to structural funds allocation, with an overview of different local situations, and in dialog with local destinations.

INFORMEST: Service and Documentation Centre for International Economic Cooperation in Italy will promote use of the methodology and interactive visualisation among municipalities.

Municipality of Bled in Slovenia is one of the growing touristic destinations. Municipality must provide tourist infrastructure for visitors and also for their citizens. It is difficult to measure the satisfaction of both, local and visitors therefore the tool can suggest what kind of action the municipality should take, where and when. The results will be used for better policies, based on data.

Association of cities of the Republic of Croatia in Croatia will promote use of methodology and interactive visualisation among municipalities; use output of the tool and methodology to initiate municipal dialogue with bordering and regional authorities on cooperation models to increase tourists’ satisfaction and decrease tourism pressure on infrastructure and living conditions; initiate policy dialogue and legislative activities with national authorities and stakeholders in order to enable local cooperation and policy-making focused on development of sustainable tourism.

Municipality of BREŽICE in Slovenia: The main goal of Brežice tourism strategy is to take maximum advantage of all competitive advantages in the direction of successful development, marketing and promotion and greater visibility of the municipality of Brežice as a tourist destination. The concrete use of the results of the project will be measure the progress on specific quantitative goals (eg. the share of funds allocated by the municipality for the development and promotion of tourism in the total expenditure of the municipal budget) as well on sustainability which is not measured yet.

Association of Municipalities and Towns in Slovenia, will promote use of the methodology and interactive visualisation among municipalities, prepare recommendations for legislative framework changes if needed or supporting environment for local authorities.

Moreover, the stakeholders intend to disseminate the results of this Targeted Analysis through the following activities:

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Ministry is cooperating closely with UNWTO, where TA will be presented. Ministry is also a member of Tourism Advisory Comity at DG Growth, were results will be shared with other key bodies for tourism from EU MS.

At national level in Slovenia, many events are meant to be organized, like international fairs where Ministry shall organize session to present and discus the results. The public agency, Slovenian Tourist Board is a member of different international organizations, where the results of this service contract could be promoted.

Both Associations of LGs in Slovenia and Croatia are member of European Committee of Regions, the voice of regions and cities in the European Union (EU). It represents local and regional authorities across the European Union and advises on new laws that have an impact on regions and cities (70% of all EU legislation) where recommendations of this service contract can make a significant impact. Both Associations are members also of NALAS. NALAS is a network of associations of local authorities of South East Europe. The Network brings together 14 associations, which represent roughly 9000 local authorities, one of their task forces is dedicated to sustainable tourism, where the results of this project will be discussed and results disseminated.

Concrete expected events would be o Bled Strategic Forum, the Tourism panel to be held on 3rd September 2019o 2 General assembly of both associations of local authorities – yearly eventso European week of regions and cities (7-10 October 2020).o Days of Slovenian Tourism (11th – 13th November 2019 in Ljubljana) (yearly

event)

1.8 Competences and skills required

The Service Provider should have the following specialised expertise, experiences and competences as part of the service provision:

Proven experience from European projects and studies of territorial development issues, including experience from policy-relevant and comparative analyses with a European coverage and/or transnational multi-disciplinary research activities. The track record should cover the past 3 years.

Good knowledge in European territorial policy development and publicly available European territorial evidence as a basis for policy making at EU and/or other administrative levels related to territorial development and cohesion.

A sound knowledge and proven experience (minimum 3 years) in projects dealing with the management and measuring the carrying capacity in tourist destinations in the perspective to achieve sustainability. An understandable or good knowledge of the stakeholder's territories is also desirable.

Affinity with translating scientific knowledge and results into concrete messages suitable for policymakers at European, national and regional levels, including broad policy directions and specific policy measures based on evidence.

Specialised technical expertise and knowledge related to analysis of big data, production of innovative indicators based on alternative data sources and interactive data visualisation tools.

A very good linguistic ability to communicate and draft texts in high-quality standard English.

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At least three (3) of the proposed team of Service Provider's experts shall have at least three (3) years of experience and academic background in the field of European territorial development issues in relation to the topic of this service contract, and experience in territorial analysis at international level. The Service Provider must have proven multidisciplinary skills and European/transnational knowledge, expertise and experience relevant to the subject of the contract and required for the successful implementation of the service.

The Service Provider has the possibility to sub-contract partners with a view to meeting all the selection criteria.

The competences and experience of the service provider within the fields outlined above shall be clearly demonstrated and documented in the CVs submitted, as per sections 3 and 4 below. The service provider has the possibility to sub-contract partners (see Section 3 below).

2 WHAT CAN BE PAID? (CONDITIONS AND BUDGET)

2.1 Duration of contract

The contract is expected to be signed in the second half of 2019 and run for 12 months. The contract remains valid until completion and approval of necessary duties and the release of the final payment.

2.2 Budget available

The maximum available budget for this contract is EUR 275,000.00 (two hundred seventy-five thousand Euros), EXCLUSIVE of VAT but inclusive of all other taxes, disbursements, travel, accommodation and delivery costs.

The contract is not broken down into lots as this is not reasonably possible due to the nature, scope and timing of services requested.

2.3 Main terms for invoicing and payments

Payments will be executed only if the selected service provider has fulfilled all its contractual obligations by the date on which the invoice is submitted. Payment requests may not be made if payments for previous periods have not been executed as a result of default or negligence on the part of the service provider.

The payments to the service provider will be made as follows:

Two interim payments for service provisions related to delivery 1 and delivery 2 shall be admissible. These interim payments shall amount to respectively a maximum of 15% and 30% of the total contracted value, excluding VAT.

Interim payments will be processed upon submission of related invoices and after formal approval of the relevant deliveries by the contracting authority.

One final payment of the balance of the contract value will be processed once all requested deliveries have been approved by the contracting authority, accompanied by the relevant invoice.

The payment will be made by bank transfer within 30 days after the approval of the deliveries and the presentation of the invoice.

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2.4 Complementary contract

The contracting authority reserves the right to conclude a complementary contract with the successful contractor in line with article 43 of the of the Luxembourg Law on Public Procurement of 8th of April 2018.

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3 HOW TO APPLY? (PARTICIPATION IN THE TENDERING PROCEDURE)

Tenderers are advised that all communication from the Contracting Authority in the framework of the procurement procedure will be made via the Luxembourgish Public Procurement Portal. As the Portal is currently available in French language only, notifications may be sent in French, but the message will always be in English language. Tenderers are advised to regularly check their spam folders.

3.1 Who can submit a tender? (Individual contractor, joint tender and/or subcontracting)

Economic operators may submit its tenders as a sole contractor, as joint partners or as a natural person acting on his/her own behalf.

Each tender shall include the duly completed European Single Procurement Document(s) (ESPD) (see Annex A).

Common mistakes in filling in the ESPD, as observed in previous calls, are as follows:

To leave in blank the insured amount of professional risk indemnity (section IV.5) without specifying the amount or at least indicating “not applicable” together with the justification (i.e. excepted public entity, a certain legal provision, etc.)

Not to indicate the proportion the economic operator intends to subcontract (section IV.10), even if the economic operator declared his intention to subcontract in a previous section of the ESPD (Section II.D)

To indicate the same number for average annual manpower as for annual managerial staff, which is inconsistent (section IV.C.8)

Not to sign or date the concluding statement (Part VI)

To include the wrong procurement title

In order to speed up the procedure, filling in the ESPD correctly is of utmost importance.

3.1.1 Joint tender

A joint tender is a situation where a tender is submitted by a group of economic operators (natural and/or legal persons). Joint tenders may include subcontractors in addition to the members of the group.

Joint tenders will be treated in the same way as any other type of tender, each will be assesed for their own merits in relation to the criteria and the evaluation procedure set out in these terms of reference.

1) Liability

In case of a joint tender, the designated duly authorized representative of the consortium or the representative of the legal entity will be the sole contractor and will hold the sole liability towards the contracting authority for the implementation of the contract.

2) Form of the joint tender

If a joint tender is proposed by the tenderer with one or several partners and the organisation has already set up a consortium or a legal entity, this fact should be mentioned in the field “is the

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economic operator participating in the procurement procedure together with others?” (included in Part II, “information concerning the economic operator”, section A of the ESPD (Annex A), together with any other relevant information in this context.

If this step has not yet been taken, the tenderer should be aware that if the contract is awarded, the contracting authority will require giving a legal status to the collaboration before the contract is signed.

This collaboration can take the form of:

an entity with legal personality recognised by EU Member States and ESPON Partner States (i.e. Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland);

Or, given the nature and scope of the contract and the principle of sound financial management of public funds under which ESPON EGTC conducts its procurement procedures, the contracting authority requires signature by all the partners of a “power of attorney” to the designated duly authorized representative of the consortium. The power of attorney should designate contracting rights and sole liability of one of the partners in the consortium towards the contracting authority and any other relevant right. The duly authorized representative of the consortium and its partners will be responsible for organizing internal partnership relations concerning the liability among each other.

If a joint tender is submitted, the ESPD (Annex A) with all required information (i.e. duly completed Parts II, III, IV and VI) must be provided by each partner. Missing documents may lead to the exclusion and/or to the non-selection of the tender.

Also, in case of a joint tender, each economic operator must indicate its share of the contract in Annex E.

Please note that in case of a joint tender where an economic operator relies on the capacities of another to meet the selection criteria: the tenderer may need to provide relevent information (included in Part II “information concerning the operator”, section C ”Information about reliance on the capacities of other entities”of the ESPD ).

In this respect, the tender evaluation detailed in section 4 below for joint tenders will be made in relation to the combined capacities of the economic operators in relation to the requirements laid down in these ToR.

3.1.2 Subcontracting

Subcontracting is defined as the situation where a Contractor assigns part of the obligations and tasks under a contract to another party known as a subcontractor. Subcontracting can be either structural or punctual.

In case of subcontracting, the ESPON EGTC does not have a direct contractual link with the subcontractor(s). The lead contractor will remain solely and fully responsible for the delivery of all products and services under the Contract.

Accordingly, the contracting authority will treat all contractual matters (e.g. payment) exclusively with the main contractor, regardless wheter the tasks are performed by a subcontractor or not. Under no circumstances, the main contractor can avoid liability towards the contracting authority on the grounds that the subcontractor is at fault.

During the contract execution, the change of any subcontractor contributing to the technical performance of the contract and identified in the tender will be subject to prior written approval of the contracting authority.

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Please note that in case of a submission of a tender with subcontracting, the contracting authority requires the lead tenderer to indicate the subcontractors and their share of the contract in Part IV(C)(10) of the ESPD (Annex A) .

As for the nature of subcontractors, there are two options:

3.1.2.1 Structual subcontracting

Structural subcontractors are those on whose capacity the tenderer relies (i.e. subcontractors providing key experts):

Such subcontractors should be identified in the field “is the economic operator participating in the procurement procedure together with others?” included in Part II (A) of the ESPD (Annex A), together with any other relevant information in this context.

The tenderer should answer “yes” in the field “does the economic operator rely on the capacities of other entities in order to meet the selection criteria set out under Part IV below?” included in Part II (C) of the ESPD (Annex A).

These subcontractors have to provide a complete ESPD (Annex A) with all required information (i.e. duly completed Parts II, III, IV and VI).

Missing documents may lead to the exclusion and/or to the non-selection of the tender.

3.1.2.2 Punctual subcontracting

Punctual subcontracting are those subcontractors on whose capacity the tenderer does not rely:

Such subcontractors should be identified in the field ”Does the economic operator intent to subcontract any share of the contract to third parties?” included in Part II (D) of the ESPD (Annex A).

These subcontractors have to provide a duly completed ESPD comprising Parts II, III and VI.

Missing documents may lead to the exclusion and/or to the non-selection of the tender.

Please note that such subcontractors will not be considered when assessing the selection criteria (see Section 4.2 below).

3.1.3 Participation

Participation in this procurement procedure is open on equal terms to all natural and legal persons coming within the scope of the Treaties.

It is also open to all natural and legal persons established in a third country that has a special agreement with the European Union in the field of public procurement on the conditions laid down in that agreement. Where the plurilateral Agreement on Government Procurement concluded within the World Trade Organisation applies, the participation to this procedure is also open to all natural and legal persons established in the countries that have ratified this Agreement, on the conditions it lays down.

For British participants, please be aware that after the UK's withdrawal from the EU, the rules of access to EU procurement procedures of economic operators established in third countries will apply to tenderers from the UK depending on the outcome of the negotiations. In case such access is not provided by legal provisions in force, tenderers from the UK could be rejected from the procurement procedure.

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3.2 Questions and answers

Tenderers are advised to consult the Frequently Asked Questions web page available on the ESPON website at the following link: https://www.espon.eu/participate/calls/faq.

At the request of potential tenderer(s), the contracting authority may provide additional information solely for the purpose of clarifying the nature of the contract. Any request for additional information must be made in writing to the Luxembourgish Public Procurement Portal via the link provided in the Contract Notice or by email to the following address: [email protected]. Additional information will be sent to all tenderers having downloaded or requested the Terms of Reference. The Contracting Authority will not pre-assess individual situations of tenderers in relation to the Terms of Reference. Requests for additional information received less than 7 days before the closing date and time for submission of tenders will not be considered.

3.3 Submission of offers and deadline

All tenders must be submitted electronically and in English language at the latest by 03/06/2019 at 15h00.

Tenders must be submitted electronically with the option of an additional physical back-up copy by following the procedure set out below. All tenders sent by other means (e.g. paper versions or electronic versions submitted by e-mail) will be automatically rejected.

The submission of a tender is made according to the provisions of the national (Luxembourg) modified Regulation of the 27th of August 2013 on the use of electronic means in public procurement procedures10 and it is done via the Luxembourg Portal of Public Procurement (PMP, www.pmp.lu). Please note that the PMP is currently only available in French language. A user guide in English language on the Luxembourgish Public Procurement Portal is available here: https://www.espon.eu/participate/calls/faq

In order to submit a tender, the economic operators need to:

a) Create an account on the Luxembourg portal of public procurements (PMP)

The economic operators must create an Enterprise account in the PMP – www.pmp.lu

The following browser is recommended to be used according to the PMP: Internet Explorer 32 bit

To create an account in the PMP, (www.pmp.lu) the economic operators have 3 options:

1. By the creation of a username/password to login

2. Registration by using a LUXTRUST product

3. Registration via eIDAS

The authentication procedure can be made by using a LUXTRUST product (smart card or signing stick, issued by the Luxembourg relevant authorities, or with a recognised eID card.

The procedure to obtain a LUXTRUST product is described at the following website: https://www.luxtrust.lu/.

10 (Règlement grand-ducal du 27 août 2013 relatif à l'utilisation des moyens électroniques dans les procédures des marchés publics modifiant le règlement grand-ducal modifié du 3 août 2009 portant exécution de la loi du 25 juin 2009 sur les marchés publics et portant modification du seuil prévu à l'article 106 point 10° de la loi communale du 13 décembre 1988).

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https://www.luxtrust.lu/

http://www.pmp.lu/

http://www.pmp.lu/

https://www.espon.eu/participate/calls/faq

http://www.pmp.lu/

mailto:[email protected]

https://www.espon.eu/participate/calls/faq


Please note for the economic operators outside Luxembourg that the procedure to obtain a LUXTRUST product can be longer (approximately 4 weeks). Information regarding the procedure can be found at the following link https://www.luxtrust.lu/en/simple/206 .

If needed the ESPON EGTC can also provide additional information on the procedure to obtain a LUXTRUST. Any request for additional information must be made in writing to the Luxembourgish Public Procurement Portal via the link provided in the Contract Notice or by email to the following address: [email protected].

Natural persons (economic operators) with Luxembourgish citizenship can use also their e-Identity Card to access the Luxembourg Portal of Public Procurements.

More information on the specific procedure to follow in this case can be found at the link below:

https://guichet.public.lu/citoyens/en/citoyennete/papiers-identite/carte-identite/gestion-certificats/index.html

Other eID cards recognised by the Luxembourg Portal of Public Procurement can also be used in order to create an account.

More information on the specific procedure to follow in this case can be found at the link below:

https://eidas.services-publics.lu/cisie-node/ServiceProvider?req_lang=fr

b) Submit the electronic tender

The tender can be submitted as PDF, Word and Excel files.

Tenders submitted electronically must also be electronically signed by the economic operator, respectively by his representative, through an electronic signature as foreseen by the Luxembourg Law modified on 14th of August 2000 related to electronic trade11.

The electronic signature to be used can be a LuxTrust or any other qualified certificates of the Trusted List of EU Commission (https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/tl-browser/#/). The Luxembourg Portal of Public Procurement allows for economic operators to test if their electronic signature is valid and can be used to submit a tender at the following adress: https://pmp.b2g.etat.lu/index.php?page=commun.VerifierSignature&callFrom=entreprise

Economic Operators must electronically sign their tender:

- Either by electronically signing, at least, the ESPD of the consortium leader;

- Or by electronically signing the whole tender directly via the Luxembourg Public Procurement Portal which offers that option at the moment of submission.

If an economic operator does not have a valid electronic signature certificate, he will need to request one from the authorised institutions. The procedure to obtain an electronic signature certificate can take some time.

The tenders must be submitted at the latest by the deadline mentioned above.

The electronic submission of tenders leads to an acknowledgment of receipt, issued automatically by the PMP, which states the date and hour of submission. Any tenders that may be submitted or for which the acknowledgement of receipt may be issued after the above-mentioned deadline will not be considered.

c) Submit a tender in a physical version – as back-up copy (optional)

11 http://data.legilux.public.lu/eli/etat/leg/loi/2000/08/14/n8/jo

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https://pmp.b2g.etat.lu/index.php?page=commun.VerifierSignature&callFrom=entreprise

https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/tl-browser/#/

http://data.legilux.public.lu/eli/etat/leg/loi/2000/08/14/n8/jo

https://eidas.services-publics.lu/cisie-node/ServiceProvider?req_lang=fr



https://www.luxtrust.lu/en/simple/206


The economic operator can also submit, in addition to the electronic tender submitted, a tender in physical version, as a back-up copy. This is an option to be considered by the economic operator and is neither imposed nor requested by the Contracting Authority.

The back-up copy must be submitted to the following address:

ESPON EGTC Attn.: Ilona Raugze4, Rue ErasmeL-1468 Luxembourg

Either against receipt by hand delivery at the ESPON EGTC premises, (4 Rue Erasme, L-1468 Luxembourg) during the following hours: Mondays to Fridays, from 9h30 to 12h00 and 13h45 to 16h30.

Or by registered mail with notice of receipt to reach the recipient in its premises (4, rue Erasme, L-1468 Luxembourg).

Any back-up copies that may be delivered or for which acknowledgement of receipt may be issued after the deadline for submission of tenders at the ESPON EGTC premises will not be considered.

The back-up copy must be placed inside a sealed envelope bearing the following information:

The name of the tendererThe address of the tendererZip Code, City and Country of the tenderer

ESPON EGTCTo the attention of Ilona Raugze

Back-up copy for offer: “Carrying capacity methodology for tourism”

“DO NOT OPEN”The mention “do not open” must be marked to avoid that the internal mail department opens the sealed envelope.

The sealed envelope must also contain two sealed interior envelopes, marked as:

- “Envelope No.1 – Administrative and Technical Offer” containing the administrative and technical specification,

- “Envelope No. 2 – Financial Offer”.

The back-up copy is opened only in the following situation(s):

- when the documents transmitted via the portal are damaged or corrupted, in particular when a malicious computer program is detected, during the opening session, in the documents transmitted electronically, the proof of the technical problem being preserved;

- when a tender has been submitted via the portal and has not arrived on time or could not be opened, provided that the backup copy is received in time.

Please note that if an economic operator submits an electronic version of the tender and a physical version of tender which is not marked as “back-up copy”, the latter, even if received more recently than the electronic version tender, will not be taken into consideration.

Please note that when several electronic versions of tenders or physical versions of tenders have been submitted by the same economic operator, only the most recently submitted offer will be taken into consideration. The other offers will be destroyed at the end of the procedure.

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3.4 Content of the offer (administrative - technical offer and financial offer)

All tenders must be submitted in English language and drafted in a clear, complete and consistent way and must meet all the requirements laid down in the tendering documents.

Tenders must be:

• Signed by the tenderer or its duly authorised representative;• Perfectly legible so that there is no doubt about words and figures.

A tender is composed as follow:

1) File 1 – Administrative part

2) File 2 – Technical Offer

3) File 3 – Financial Offer

Tenderers are requested to structure their tender and submit the requested documentation as presented in the table below which serves both as a table of content and a checklist for documents to be submitted.

Tenders will only be considered up to the allowed number of pages indicated for the Technical Offer (regardless of the formatting but excluding cover pages, indexes, table of content). Any additional pages exceeding the indicated page limits will not be considered.

FILE n°1 – ADMINISTRATIVE PART

Please include your documents in the following order, as relevant and per partner/subcontractor:

N° Document

Refer to Section of ToR

and/or Annex

Sing

le te

nder

er o

r M

ain

tend

erer

in a

join

t ten

der

Oth

er p

artn

ers i

n a

join

t ten

der

Sub-

cont

ract

or (s

ee

Sect

ion

3.1.

2)

Section 1 General

1 a. European Single Procurement Documentb. Annex E

Section 3.1& Annexes A&E

2

Only if applicable: If you intend to employ or contract the services of previous ESPON EGTC staff for this tender, please add a note justifying how their involvement in preparing this procurement procedure is not capable of distorting competition.

n/a(no template provided)

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FILE n°2 –TECHNICAL OFFER (Maximum 30 pages)

Please include your documents in the following order, as relevant:

The technical offer must cover all aspects and tasks required in the technical specification and provide all the information needed to facilitate the subsequent evaluation of tenders against the technical award criteria (see Section 4.4). Offers deviating from the requirements or not meeting all requirements may be excluded on the

basis of non-conformity with the terms of reference and will not be evaluated. The contracting authority will reject tenders where no technical offer is included.

N° Document/Chapters

Refer to Section of ToRand/or Annex Si

ngle

tend

erer

or

Mai

n te

nder

erin

a jo

int t

ende

r

Oth

er p

artn

ers i

n a

join

t ten

der

Sub-

cont

ract

or

1 A description (max 6 pages) of the concept for addressing the research need expressed in the ToR and description of how objectives will be achieved.

Section 1

2

A description (max 18 pages) of the specific approaches and methods to be applied, the rationale behind, and the sources and data to be used, as well as:

- Outline of the conceptual and methodological framework to be applied.

- Description of the main sources and data to be used and collected.

- Description of the main outcomes and results expected and their added value

Section 1

3

Description outlining the intended organisation, milestones and management of the work including (max 6 pages)

- Explanation of the role and extent of the team members’ participation in the service provision, and if relevant how the composition of the team will be organised and utilised

- Allocation of human resources (i.e. duly filled in Annex D).

- Detailed work plan and timetable with first descriptions of the content of the deliverables envisaged

- Assessment of the potential challenges involved, description of the quality control measures proposed to be applied to the service foreseen concerning the quality of the deliverables, the language check, and continuity of service in case of absence of team members.

Section 1 & Annex D

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FILE n°3 – FINANCIAL OFFERThe contracting authority will reject tenders where no financial proposal is included.

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1 Financial Offer (original dated, signed and stamped by the authorised representative of the tenderer)

Section 2& Annex B

The tenderer shall submit a price covering the services in EURO using the financial offer template provided (see Annex B). Annex B must be signed by the tenderer’s representative and the template must not be modified.

The price must include all the costs associated as well as the travel and accommodation costs for meetings, and the pertinent delivery costs to the ESPON EGTC, if any. No other expenses will be paid by the contracting authority.

No indexation of the price is allowed. The price quoted must be firm and not subject to revision. Tenderers from countries outside the Euro zone have to quote their prices in Euro. A price quoted may not be revised in line with exchange rate movements. It is for the tenderer to select an official exchange rate and assume the risk of the benefits deriving from any variation.

The contracting authority will reject offers where the price for services is not provided. The lack of prices for any of the assignment types mentioned in the price list will invalidate the offer. No financial guarantee is required for this contract.

Tenders not including the necessary evidence may be rejected. However, the contracting authority reserves the right to request clarifications or additional evidence in relation to the exclusion and selection stages after the opening within a time limit stipulated in its request. If clarification is required, the contracting authority may contact the tenderer to obtain further explanations and/or additional evidence, provided that, and only if, the tender is not modified as a result. The contact person designated by the tenderer in Annex A will be the recipient of clarifications and additional evidence request. Therefore, the tenderer must ensure the correctness of contact details (in particular of email addresses) given therein.

3.5 Opening of the tender

The tenders received in due time and place will be opened immediately after the submission deadline mentioned above at the premises of the ESPON EGTC, 4, Rue Erasme L-1468 Luxembourg and the tender opening report will be sent to all tenderers.

One representative per tenderer may attend the opening session. Please inform the ESPON EGTC beforehand by email at [email protected], mentioning the procedure in the subject line of the email.

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4 HOW TO BE SELECTED? (EXCLUSION, SELECTION AND AWARD CRITERIA)The evaluation is based solely on the information provided in the submitted tender. It involves the following:

- Verification of non-exclusion of tenderers on the basis of the exclusion criteria;- Selection of tenderers on the basis of selection criteria;- Evaluation of tenders on the basis of the award criteria.

4.1 Verification of non-exclusion

Participation in this tender is only open to tenderers who fully meet the requirements laid out in Part III: Exclusion grounds of the ESPD (Annex A), which has to be duly completed and submitted.

Tenderers are advised that, in case of contracting, supporting documents proving the statements made in the ESPD have to be submitted (see Section 4.5 below). Please note that in line with article 90 of the national (Luxembourg) Regulation of 8th April implementing the Law of 8th April 2018 on public procurement the following supporting documents have to be issued within in the timeframe of three months preceding the submission deadline up to the submission deadline:

To exclude that the economic operator is in breach of its obligations relating to the payment of taxes or social security contributions (Article 57(2) of Directive 2014/24/EU): A certificate issued by the competent authority in the Member State or country concerned.

Tenderers are advised accordingly to be in the possession of properly dated documents regarding these criteria when submitting the tender.

The contracting authority may, where appropriate, ask tenderers to supply supporting documents and may also, when having doubts concerning the personal situation of such candidates or tenderers, request from the competent authorities any information it considers necessary to clarify its doubts.

Where the information concerns a tenderer established in a State other than the one of the contracting authority, the latter may seek the cooperation of the competent authorities. Having regard for the national laws of the State where the tenderers are established, such requests shall relate to legal and/or natural persons, including, if appropriate, company directors or/and any person having powers of representation, decision or control in respect of the tenderer.

A tenderer shall be excluded if the provisions of the article 29 of the national (Luxembourg) Law of 8 April 2018 on Public Procurement are not fulfilled.

Furthermore, tenderers should take into full consideration:

- none of the team members proposed in the offers should have any prior knowledge of the terms of reference whatsoever (i.e. being involved in their commenting, consultation process with the stakeholders, etc.), have advised ESPON EGTC or otherwise been involved in the preparation of the procurement process. In such case, the tender proposal may be excluded in accordance with article 13 of the national (Luxemburg) Law of 8 April 2018 on Public Procurement;

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- not providing the declaration of no conflict of interest by the tenderer or by the service provider, before or after the award of the contract, may lead to the exclusion of the tenderer or of the service provider or to the cancellation of the contract;

- in case the contracting authority acquaints itself with a situation calling into question the autonomous and independent nature of a tender, it shall request the parties to provide information and evidence in rebuttal;

- in case distortion of the market is detected, the tenderers involved will be excluded accordingly.

4.2 Verification of the selection criteria

Tenderers must prove their legal, regulatory, economic, financial, technical and professional capacity to carry out the work subject to this procurement procedure.

The tenderers must be in a stable financial position and have the economic and financial capacity to guarantee continuous and satisfactory performance throughout the envisaged lifetime of the contract. In addition, the tenderers are required to have sufficient technical and professional capacity to perform the tasks outlined in these Terms of Reference.

To this end, the following information has to be provided in the ESPD.

4.2.1 General information

Please provide the information required in “Part II: Information concerning the economic operator” of the ESPD (Annex A).

4.2.2 Economic and financial capacity

Please provide the information required in Part IV(B)(1a, 1b, 2a, 3 and 5) of the ESPD (Annex A). All related information has to be provided for the last three financial years.

The tenderer must be in a stable financial position and the total turnover of the tenderer (or the consortium, see Sections 3.1.1 and 3.1.2) for the last three financial years (see Part IV(B)(1b) of the ESPD (Annex A)) must equal or exceed the maximum available budget for this contract as stated in these Terms of Reference.

Please note that an economic operator may, when appropriate and for a specific contract, rely on the capacities of another entity not taking part in the tendering process to meet the selection criteria. (art. 33 of the Law on Public Procurement of 8 April 2018).

4.2.3 Technical and professional capacity

Tenderers must have the appropriate technical and professional ability to carry out the tasks required for this call for tenders, as described in Section 1, by providing the required information in Part IV (C) of the ESPD (Annex A).

a) A list of the relevant services successfully conducted during at least the last three years, including a description of work, indicating the budgets, dates and recipients, whether public or private. (Part IV(C)(1b) of the ESPD)

b) the professional capacity and size of the company (Part IV(C)(8) of the ESPD)

c) The team members who are proposed to carry out the tasks requested must demonstrate professional experience and background in the field of the services requested. Relevant specific information on the competencies and skills are detailed in Section 1.

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Please attach detailed CVs of all team members proposed for the assignment to the ESPD (Annex A), taking into account the minimum expertise requirements detailed in this paragraph as well as in Section 1. The ESPON EGTC strongly recommends submitting the CVs in the EU CV format12. It should be clearly indicated by using the table in Annex E which profile requirements/competencies are met by which member of the team.

Please complete Annex E ‘list of all team members’ (one single list for all partners/subcontractors if relevant) involved in the implementation of the contract for whom CVs are submitted.

4.3 Financial evaluation

The value of the financial proposal (calculated in accordance with the scenario and the financial proposal supplied in Annex B) will be evaluated according to the best value for money principle.

The lack of providing a price in the financial proposal will invalidate the offer. Tenders with a financial offer that exceeds the total budget available will not be selected for the evaluation on the basis of the award criteria and will be excluded.

Calculation mistakes and discrepancies with the price per unit, if any, will be corrected by the evaluation committee based on the price per unit provided by the tenderer and the confirmation of the tenderer will be requested.

4.4 Evaluation of the tenders on the basis of the award criteria

Only the tenders meeting the requirements of the exclusion and selection criteria are evaluated in terms of quality and price. The assessment of the technical quality is based on the ability of the tenderer to meet the purpose of the contract, as described in the technical specifications.

The following evaluation criteria shall be used to determine the technical merit of the offers, producing a total score of maximum 100 points:

No Qualitative award criteriaWeighting

(maximum points)

1 Level of understanding of the tasks and services to be carried out 20

2 Quality and appropriateness of the proposed methods 50

3 Organisation, planning, and management of the service contract 30

Total number of points 100

In order to guarantee a minimum threshold of quality, offers that do not reach a minimum score of 50 points at the end of the technical evaluation will not be considered acceptable and will therefore be rejected.

12 For the template please see http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/documents/curriculum-vitae/templates-instructions

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http://europass.cedefop.europa.eu/documents/curriculum-vitae/templates-instructions


The contract is awarded to the tenderer submitting the tender that offers the best value for money as represented by the highest score (i.e. the highest X) by weighting the price and the quality respectively, by applying the formula below:

X=( Cheapest price excl. VATPrice of tender X excl . VAT

∗100∗30 %)+(technical evaluation score of tender X∗70 %)

After the award decision has been taken, the contracting authority informs tenderers about the outcome of the assessment, including the reasons for the decisions taken.

4.5 Principles for awarding the contract

Before awarding the contract, the contracting authority will require the tenderer to which it has decided to award the contract to submit up-to-date supporting documents in accordance with the requirements of the present Terms of Reference and with Article 31 of the Law on Public Procurement of 8 April 2018 and, where appropriate, Article 32. The contracting authority may invite economic operators to supplement or clarify the certificates received.

Initiation of a tendering procedure imposes no obligation on the contracting authority to award the contract. Fulfilment of the conditions of the call for tenders imposes no obligation on the contracting authority to award the contract. The contracting authority shall not be liable for any compensation with respect to tenderers whose tenders have not been accepted. Nor shall it be liable if it decides not to award the contract. Expenditure on preparing and submitting tenders is non-refundable.

5 ADDITIONAL CONTRACTING INFORMATION

5.1 Contracting Authority

The ESPON EGTC is conducting the Single Operation implementing the Priority Axis 1 of the ESPON 2020 Cooperation Programme.

ESPON EGTCAttn: Ilona Raugze4, Rue Erasme L-1468 LuxembourgTel: +352 20 600 280 / Fax: +352 20 600 280 01 / E-mail: [email protected]

The ESPON EGTC is the contracting and awarding authority of the present contract.

5.2 Working Language

Pursuant to Article 10 of its statutes, the official language of ESPON EGTC is English. Therefore, all oral and written communication and deliveries of the services will be in English language.

5.3 Place of execution

All services shall be delivered by default to Luxembourg, unless mentioned in Section 1 or agreed with the ESPON EGTC.

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5.4 Competent jurisdiction

The contract is a service contract governed in accordance with the laws of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg. All disputes arising out or in connection with this service contract shall be settled by the competent jurisdiction of the District Court of Luxembourg in the first instance.

5.5 Ownership of results

Unless otherwise provided in the present service contract and its annexes, ownership, title, industrial and intellectual property rights resulting from the operation, results, reports and other documents related to the implementation of the present service contract shall be solely owned by the ESPON EGTC. They may use, publish, assign or transfer them as they see fit, without limitation, except where industrial or intellectual property rights exist prior to the service contract related to this tender.

Notwithstanding the provisions of the previous paragraph, the service provider and the ESPON EGTC shall find individual arrangements in cases where the intellectual property rights already exist and are owned by third parties.

The service provider acting in its own name and potentially on behalf of joint tenderers or subcontractors, will not invoke any intellectual property rights, including copyrights and sui generis database rights, in relation to his contribution to the ESPON database.

Any commercial use of the results by the service provider (or, if relevant, by any of the joint tenderers or subcontractors) is prohibited.

The ESPON EGTC shall agree to potential dissemination activities that the service provider plans to conduct based on results from this activity.

5.6 Draft service contract

The draft service contract and its provisions which specify the rights and obligations of the contractor, particularly those on performance of the contract, duration, liabilities, suspension and right of withdrawal, conflict of interests, confidentiality, controls and audits, are presented in Annex C. The final service contract, further elaborated, will be presented during the kick off meeting.

5.7 Data protection

Regarding the processing of personal data by ESPON and in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation), please consult the legal notice in the ESPON’s website:

https://www.espon.eu/legal-notice

5.8 Other conditions

Variants are not allowed.

The material provided for the preparation of the tender can only be used for the preparation of the tender and has to be kept confidential. All the documents submitted by tenderers will be kept by the contracting authority for archive purposes. These documents will be considered as confidential.

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https://www.espon.eu/legal-notice


6 ANNEXES

Annex A – European Single Procurement Document (ESPD)

Annex B – Financial offer template

Annex C – Draft service contract

Annex D – Allocation of human resources

Annex E – List team members and economic operators

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What is to be done? (Definition of the contract) · Web viewThe tender can be submitted as PDF,...

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