Invitation to tender for the provision of R support services for Visit Belfast
1. Organisation and background to the requirement Visit Belfast is a public-private sector partnership funded and supported by Belfast City Council, Tourism Northern Ireland and the private sector. It is the official destination marketing and management organisation (DMMO) for the Belfast city region, dedicated to promoting Belfast as a city break, conference and cruise ship destination. It is also responsible for the operation of three gateway tourist information centres. Visit Belfast represents around 500 tourism businesses and services across the industry including accommodation providers, attractions, conference venues and services, tour operators, transport providers, event organisers, entertainment venues, restaurants and cafes, and pubs and clubs. 2. Tender details Visit Belfast is seeking to appoint a competent agency to provide a number of public relations support services. The appointed agency will be appointed for three years, from 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2020, with an option to extend by a further one year. This tender has been publicly advertised, and will be open for submissions until 5pm on Monday 5th June 2017. 3. Tender specification Visit Belfast is inviting quotations for the provision of call-off public relations support on an ad hoc basis, as well as regular media monitoring services. ublic relations The appointed contractor may be required to provide support in the following areas (but please note this is not an exhaustive list): Consumer and corporate R, supporting Visit Belfast s key aim of promoting Belfast as a premier tourism destination Safeguarding Visit Belfast s reputation and that of its Board, sponsors and funders, including providing R advice and early warning on potentially reputation damaging issues.
Media briefings and events in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain. repare and deliver R activities including press, radio, TV, interviews and webbased communications and prepare press releases, key messages and stories on both a corporate and destination basis. As this is a call-off contract, Visit Belfast requires a competitive hourly rate for services with named staff and pen profiles detailing relevant experience. Media monitoring, evaluation and related services Visit Belfast requires press, online, and broadcast monitoring on a daily basis and monthly evaluation and analysis of the monitored media. This entails the provision of full daily clippings by 10am from Monday to Friday which includes material relevant to Visit Belfast, its core business, role and remit and the sectors in which it operates. Weekend coverage and analysis should be provided by 10am on Monday morning. Analysis (providing information on advertising value equivalent and opportunities-to-see for all coverage) should be provided within five working days of the end of the month for the previous month. The service should also provide appropriate advance warning of critical news any day of the week, which could impact the organisation on an ad hoc basis as appropriate and advance warning of any potential meetings and events relevant to its business locally or internationally. Visit Belfast seeks to appoint a competent agency with a professional approach and a proven track record, preferably within tourism related industries, who will maximise results. The keen oversight of appropriately-qualified and experienced personnel to deliver the service is therefore key, and Visit Belfast expects that a senior member of staff will be responsible for overseeing the account. 4. Evaluation of tender submission All submitted quotations will be assessed according to the following criteria:
Experience and credentials including named team profiles - 70% o lease detail your company s ability to meet the specification as detailed above, providing; two examples of previous and relevant public relations experience your approach to and experience of media monitoring and evaluation o lease also provide details of the named team who will be responsible for the account, listing their job title / grade, qualifications and experience Cost - 30% o lease provide the following; Monthly cost for media monitoring and evaluation, indicating the cost of each Hourly rates for named team according to job title / grade o lease also demonstrate how your company offers value for money, detailing any discounts offered Visit Belfast will select the quotation that it considers to be the most economically advantageous. The costings submitted in this tender will form the basis of the contract, and will be fixed and firm for the provision of the services throughout the initial two year period. After the initial period the costs may be reviewed by agreement between the parties no more frequently than on an annual basis. 5. Selection All tenders will be evaluated in line with the evaluation criteria as set out above and based solely on the tender submission. 6. Response format lease detail how you can meet the specification above, along with details of previous, relevant experience and a suggested hourly rate for services. lease limit your response to ten sides of A4. Cover sheets are not included in this page limit. ages should be in Arial 10 font with single line spacing, 10 font paragraph spacing and at least 3cm margins. Appendices
- if included - will not be scored. Responses should be sent in hard copy (two copies) to Judith Carville at the address below: Visit Belfast 9 Donegall Square North Belfast BT1 5GB lease contact Judith Carville at Visit Belfast by email if you have any queries in relation to this tender. This tender has been publicly advertised, and will be open for submissions until 5pm on Monday 5th June 2017. Late responses will NOT be accepted under any circumstances. 7. Conflict of Interest Bidders should confirm that they have no perceived conflicts of interest relating to the procurement of R support services for Visit Belfast. 8. Terms and Conditions The successful bidder will be expected to operate under standard Visit Belfast terms and conditions of contract which are attached. These terms and conditions along with the tender submission of the successful bidder, any subsequent clarifications, the contract award letter and any associated correspondence will constitute the complete contract between Visit Belfast and the contractor.