This is for an annual contract for creative services, public relations, and social media promotion to support the tourism mission of the Punta Gorda/Englewood Beach Visitor & Convention Bureau (hereafter referred to as "VCB"). The VCB is responsible for coordinating a countywide program of tourism promotion and development for Charlotte County’s travel and tourism industry, and implementing its national and international marketing, advertising and public relations programs.
Goals:
- Build brand recognition and equity around ecotourism.
- Strengthen place name recognition for Englewood, Punta Gorda, and Port Charlotte
- Develop tourism as a year-round industry.
- Increase visitation and overall spending by tourists.
- Develop meetings market to capitalize on the increase in meetings facilities.
- Develop business from international markets, specifically: Germany, United Kingdom (UK), Canada and other emerging markets.
- Engender community support for preservation and protection of Charlotte County’s ecosystems.
- Provide a central source of information about tourism-related resources and events.
- Leverage bureau resources through local, regional and state marketing partnerships.
- Galvanize tourism industry partners through improved communications.
- Continue to develop programs in PGD lift markets.
- Maintain agility to address projected market growth over the next three (3) years.
Background:
The VCB promotes Charlotte County as an eco-tourism leisure vacation destination. The County seeks to contract with a full-service advertising firm to become a proactive partner with the VCB in working to increase awareness of Charlotte County within the U.S. and international travel marketplace, and continue to brand the area as a premier, year-round ecotourism travel destination. See www.CharlotteHarborTravel.com. Additionally, the County has a 45,000-state-of-the-art square-foot meeting and event center. The Charlotte Harbor Event & Conference Center enables the VCB to market the venue as a small to mid-size meetings destination. Collateral materials and a microsite www.CharlotteHarborMeetings.com were developed as part of this marketing effort. The County also promotes the area as a top sporting destination with its many outdoor event venues and state-of-the-art Major League Baseball quality stadium, spring training home to the Tampa Bay Rays and summer home to the minor-league affiliate Charlotte Stone Crabs. Marketing efforts should primarily target consumers, and increase awareness of how to obtain information about traveling to the area, particularly through the internet. The objective should also be to target areas of opportunity which would increase leisure tourism activity during the spring, summer and fall shoulder seasons; as well as developing the meetings market. The goal of this contract shall be to create a consistent message and identity for the VCB which will engender visitor interest and drive visitation, increasing tourism tax collections and building brand equity. Success will be measured by response to ads created based on figures provided by the VCB for the same period during the previous year, measured both by Fiscal Year October through September and media/calendar year January through December. If the County determines the firm’s performance has been such that these goals have not been met or may not be achieved, the County shall have the right to terminate the Contract.Scope of Work:
The scope of services to be provided under the direction of the Director of the Tourism Department shall include, the following:- Integration
- Advertising/Promotion
- Social Media – In conjunction with current Public Relations Agency of Record and VCB staff, create media-rich content to engage quality followers and push across platforms to generate measurable results domestically and in key international markets.
