U.S. Department of the Interior, National Business Center, Acquisition Services, 1849 C Street NW, Room 1324, Washington, DC 20240

R -- SERVICES FOR HOSTING DRYLAND TOURISM WORKSHOP IN NAMIBIA SOL NBCAOZ00018/1 POC Ni'mat A. Shakoor, Contract Specialist, 202-208-5106 The U.S. Department of the Interior intends to negotiate and make an award on a sole source basis with the Desert Research Foundation of Namibia (DRFN) based at Gobabeb, Namibia for the following service: Coordinate and manage a five-day workshop with southern African and U.S. Specialists on methods to develop dryland tourism as an alternative livelihood in local communities. The workshop will be held at the DRFN Training and Research Centre at Gobabeb, Namibia. Participants will exchange views and experiences, and plan how to improve their management of tourism. Community-based experts in areas such as resource protection, water and waste management, marketing and public relations from dryland areas of southern Africa will be bought together to present information and participate in discussions and planning. Workshop participants will include four representatives from seven communities currently active in dryland tourism in Southern African Development Conference (SADC) countries and two national participants from each of the SADC countries. The workshop will be held April 2000 in Namibia. DRFN is the only known responsible source (in accordance with FAR 6.302-1) able to provide the required service. No solicitation exists. No telephone inquiries will be accepted. A request for solicitation will not be considered an affirmative response, however, if issuance of a solicitation is determined appropriate, requesting firms will be included on the mailing list. To be considered, all responsible parties must submit data sufficient to determine capability to meet the requirement and must be received by the Contract Specialist by e-mail (Ni'mat_A_Shakoor@nbc.gov) or facsimile (202-208-4956) by December 8, 1999. See Note 22. Posted 11/24/99 (W-SN403382). (0328)

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