(Request for Proposals) RFP for channel micromarketing

February 17, 2010 · Filed Under News & Press 

The Tourism Council of Bhutan would like to assist the marketing effort of the Bhutanese tour operators in partnership with their international counterparts.

The tour-operators and their international counterparts may collectively draft a proposal for destination marketing and submit to the Tourism Council of Bhutan for support. These would be essentially proposals where the international operator campaigns for Bhutan through online or other media (magazines, forums, etc.) which result in higher sales.

Nature of support

The Tourism Council can help:

• Material for destination marketing – provide standard material as photographs, write-ups, etc.

• Contribute on a cost sharing basis

o Tourism Council may share up to 25% of the total cost of marketing or 50% of the cost shouldered by the local tour operator whichever is lower

o It is expected that the international operator contribute as much as the local industry/ council put together

Criteria

Proposals that fulfill the following criteria will be considered for financial support by the TCB

1. The proposal should be in line with Bhutan’s tourism policy, targeting only specific clientele that fit into the profile of the kind of tourist that Bhutan is looking at – high end (and not mass advertising). Activities within the proposal should also adhere to Bhutan’s image and its tourism policy and not be promoting those that are in contradiction with or undermine the values and culture of Bhutan.

2. Proposals that emphasize the promotion of the Paro and Thimphu Tshechu as well as the Jambay Lhakhang Drub are discouraged as these products are already saturated.

3. The proposal should be very clear in terms of deliverables and working procedures. Deliverables in terms of expected number of sales within a certain time frame with clear breakup of costs on various aspects of the proposal should be mentioned. In addition, clear procedures should be outlined on how the marketing campaign will be conducted.

4. The TCB should be convinced of the delivery capability of the ITO through demonstration of earlier partnership examples and the impact that such a partnership has brought in terms of increase in sales and awareness of that destination.

5. The ITO should be reputed as an operator dealing in high end and luxury travel. Visibility in terms of website, reviews, etc. should be demonstrated. TCB may carry out an internal research to be confident of the repute based on pre-defined criteria as unique customers, average package size, target segment, number of monthly visits to the website for online marketing, etc.

The proposal should ensure a minimum commitment that should be in line with the investment stated. Though smaller investment proposals would have a lower expected return on tourist turnaround, an elaborate proposal including online material, media publications, group mailers, etc. would amount to a substantial investment and might need a minimum guarantee of 500 or more new sales in a year. TCB can help the tour operator think through the investment and return trade-off.

In the first phase, TCB will encourage proposals from the target international source markets including the US, UK, Netherlands, France, Germany and Japan. The TCB is also open to other source markets if a strong case is made on the nature and expected volumes from the market.

The TCB will reserve the right to not participate/ contribute to a destination marketing proposal and is not liable to give reasons and explain its position in comparison to any proposal accepted.

A contract with definite terms of agreement will be signed between the three parties (i.e. the international operator, the Bhutanese tour operator and the TCB). The agreement may involve more than one local tour operator. In such a case, TCB will not be responsible for any business distribution dispute resolution between the local operators.

A legal agreement would be drawn up that will also include the payment mode and/or conditional clauses linked to the performance and delivery.

All proposals may be sent to Thinley Wangdi, Assistant Marketing Officer of the Tourism Council of Bhutan. You may also download a copy of the RFP in PDF format from the downloads section on the home page.


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