City of Wauwatosa Issues RFP For Tourism Marketing
The purpose of this Request for Qualifications (RFQ) is to solicit proposals from various candidate organizations, conduct a fair and extensive evaluation based on criteria listed herein, and select the candidate who best represents the goals of the Wauwatosa Tourism Commission to serve as the city’s tourism entity.
All work must:
- Drive visitation and increase travelers and visitor expenditures
- Establish Wauwatosa as a place to visit in the minds of travelers and potential travelers
- Inspire travelers from out of town to visit Wauwatosa and entice them to visit again
- Increase awareness among all audiences of the value of Wauwatosa as a tourism destination, raising awareness of things to do in the community, and encourage community support of businesses and special events.
Background:
The City of Wauwatosa, in conjunction with the City of Wauwatosa Tourism Commission, is interested in obtaining the services of a tourism entity, destination-marketing firm, non-profit, or private marketing and PR firm to provide tourism marketing services for Wauwatosa. This work is as defined in Wisconsin State Statute Section 66.0615, which shall include but not be limited to tourism promotion and tourism development services significantly used by transient tourists and which is reasonably likely to generate paid overnight stays in Wauwatosa hotels. This work is funded entirely by City of Wauwatosa room taxes and the decision to enter into a contractual agreement with any selected firm is subject to the Wauwatosa Tourism Commission’s review and approval.
The City of Wauwatosa currently has seven hotels with two additional hotels approved for construction;
A Spring Hill Suites with 120 rooms and a Renaissance by Marriott, the first Renaissance in Wisconsin, with approximately 200 rooms.
The City of Wauwatosa, population 48,000, is the hub of what’s happening right now. Wauwatosa is central to the metro-Milwaukee region and is a destination retail and office development center. Home to a talented and skilled workforce, Wauwatosa is pivotal to innovation in medical research, information technology, and advanced manufacturing. Wauwatosa offers vibrant and well-established housing choices, is always walkable to shops, restaurants, and entertainment. Speaking of entertainment, there is something for everyone in Wauwatosa. From festivals, to concerts, to beer gardens, premier shopping and dining, and a new emphasis on public art, we are proud to be one of the most desirable destination cities in the region.
Originally chartered as a City in 1897, Wauwatosa is a premier inner ring suburb of Milwaukee. Its close proximity with the large city center makes it a great place to work, live, and visit for the many residents of the Milwaukee area and beyond. It is also home to the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center, supporting Wauwatosa’s reputation as a center of high quality patient care and medical research.
Scope of Work:
The selected firm will conduct market research and calculate data on the effectiveness of work performed for the City. Advertising success rates via click-through, web landing pages, etc., produce, and present an annual report for the Tourism Commission and Council on work completed.
The Tourism Commission has identified the following scope of the work that the City of Wauwatosa is seeking. The items below are ordered from the top with items of most importance to the Tourism Commission to items of less importance to the Tourism Commission at the bottom. Work includes but is not limited to these items. We welcome your input and recommendations as part of your proposal on what is missing from this list that would take our tourism initiatives to the next level.
- Website: develop and manage the city’s tourism website to promote local businesses, events, and hotels to transient tourists. Develop content for and maintain the website by enhancing content on at least a monthly basis. Must be able to book a room through the website at Wauwatosa hotels.
- Social media: provide content to the city of Wauwatosa for dissemination on our social media channels, this content must meet all social media best practices, including video, photo, and text. In addition, the selected firm will create and maintain social media outlets for the city that deliver destination awareness and engagement, such as a Pinterest account for visiting Wauwatosa, including monthly promotions in the peak tourism season. The firm will work in concert with city staff in year one of the contract to identify which social media channels would best be used to market visiting Wauwatosa.
- Event marketing to tourists: we are home to so many tourist attractions and special events. The selected firm will market these opportunities to transient tourists.
- Media kit: create and distribute media kits highlighting Wauwatosa as a tourism destination.
- Securing business visitors, meetings: place meetings and conferences at our hotels. Secure Wauwatosa as a key place to stay for large conferences in Milwaukee – use transit as needed to shuttle conference guests between Milwaukee and Wauwatosa.
- Itineraries: create itineraries for tourists featuring things to do in Wauwatosa, including shopping, dining, and other popular destinations.
- Media buys: conduct media buys at least quarterly on other organization’s websites in the region and the state. This would include both digital and hard copy. Will recommend to the city after thorough research which media buys to undertake. This scope of work also includes social media buys annually. The selected firm will consider large scale media buys as well, such as magazines with reach in the greater Midwest, as well as across the nation.
- Travel trade promotions: host tour operators, travel writers and bloggers, and others to familiarize them with our community.
- Visit Wauwatosa guide: brochure will be designed, printed, and distributed to hotels and businesses by the Contractor(s) every 2 years.
- Tourism Commission special projects: as described in section X, part of the pool of extra money as described in the pricing section. Work includes developing social media content, web content, advertising promotion of projects, and integrating these exceptional tourism amenities with the other marketing collateral created.
- Securing athletic tournaments at Hart Park: generate associated hotel stays and market tourist activities to participants and guests.
- Publications: design, print, and distribute print media, posters, rack cards, and print advertising to attract visitors from hotels and at tourism destinations in Wauwatosa to amenities in the city. Creation of all print publications in a digital format and posting on the tourism website.
- B-Roll, Videography, and Photos: a number of professional photo and video shoots in Wauwatosa annually. Photos, videos, and b-roll will be the property of the City of Wauwatosa.
Wauwatosa has dynamic plans to attract tourism and needs to couple this with strategic and targeted marketing initiatives, in addition to securing business stays and conferences at our hotels. We are implementing a public art campaign with annual, temporary public art sculpture installations in Hart Park and a new public art mural programming coming in 2018 and 2019. Other items that may be considered in the future include a chalk art festival, athletic events, holiday shopping events, a holiday shopping shuttle that circulates from hotels, the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center and other large employment sectors to shopping districts, expanded theater offerings and more. We are also home to:
- Festivals (Hartfest, Scottish Fest, the Holiday Train, Chil’n on the Ave, and more)
- Independence Day Parade and Festivities
- The Landing Hoyt Park Beer Garden
- Outdoor Concert series (Tosa Tonight, Mayfair Collection Series, Root Common)
- A 4,900+ capacity multi-sport stadium at Hart Park
- The Village
- East Tosa
- Mayfair Mall and its neighbor the Mayfair Collection
- Tosa Farmers Market
- Premier shopping and restaurants
The Tourism Commission seeks several qualified marketing/PR firms to assist in bringing these projects to fruition. Firms will be hired on a project-based contract, and the first step towards being considered is to respond to this RFQ.
These projects all have the goal of creating a coordinated image and associated campaign for the City of Wauwatosa to entice residents and visitors alike. The selected firm will assist the Tourism Commission to develop a strategic plan for Wauwatosa’s tourism initiatives for 2019 to 2024.
Due Date:
August 24th
Address:
Melissa Weiss
Director of Administrative Services
City of Wauwatosa
7725 West North Avenue
Wauwatosa, WI 53217
