Manatee County Issues Marketing RFP

The County is located on the Gulf of Mexico in West Central Florida and consists of six incorporated municipalities and a population of about 363,000. The County government has approximately 1,700 employees working in 12 departments in multiple locations throughout the County. It is home to nearly 30,000 acres of conserved public land which includes coastal habitats, estuaries and rivers to inland areas, and artificial reefs. The County maintains recreational facilities within 43 parks, two golf courses and miles of beaches. Past procurement for this service has been issued through a Request for Proposal and services provided through a multi‐year contract. The current contracted provider is Research Data Services, Inc.

The Bradenton Area Convention & Visitors Bureau (BACVB), requires professional services to include tracking, focus group(s), conversion studies, image and use study and economic impact study. Compilation of research data will aid in the definition of a marketing concept for the BACVB.Estimated annual budget for these services is $110,000.

Scope of Work

Successful Offeror shall furnish all equipment, labor, materials, supplies, licensing, transportation, and other components necessary to provide Professional Marketing and Research Services that will meet the requirements of the County.

Successful Offeror’s services shall include but not be limited to providing the following specific services for travel studies to include, but not be limited to:

1. Hotel Tracking –Offeror shall provide quarterly a visitor profile report using at least a dozen properties with diverse location, geographical sizes, markets served, and amenities approved by the County. A sample of registration card data shall be collected and included in the
2. Occupancy/ADR Study
3. Visitor Trend Analysis
4. Focus Group – Offeror shall conduct focus groups to explore various decisions and choices as well as provide a means to put advertising, collateral material and concepts in front of the market members and get their response. Studies shall be conducted in at least two cities approved by the
5. Conversion Studies – Offeror shall conduct conversion studies to obtain information regarding the effectiveness of a campaign, a medium, publication or TV
6. Image and Use Study – Offeror shall conduct an Image and Use Study to determine the perception of Manatee County within a specific market approved by the County. The Offeror will obtain from the respondents a complete survey regarding their choices, reason for choice, image and interest in various competitive destination and satisfaction with destination and complete an overall report on the
7. Economic Impact Study –Offeror shall conduct interviews with a sample of respondents from the County’s advertising inquiries using a stratified sample of owner and managers who shall be interviewed to determine expenditures in the local economy including a study of the sales taxes, ad valorem taxes, payroll and employment data. The study will demonstrate the actual expenditure caused by the tourism into the local economy.
8. Monthly Visitor Profile Reporting ‐ Offeror shall provide a detailed monthly visitor profile. This monthly longitudinal tracking database should provide detailed origin, economic, demographic, and motivational profiles of Manatee County’s overnight commercial lodging visitors. This is the critical core of the CVB’s research into visitor The profile’s data provides key input to the estimation of visitor volume and economic impact which gives feedback to the return on investment of the CVB’s marketing efforts.
9. Sports and Niche Marketing Analysis – Quantification of the economic impact of sporting events and festivals is key to gauging the desirability of attracting such events to the Promoting such events has helped to fuel the growth of Manatee County tourism. Sports and niche marketing research is typically undertaken on an “as needed basis”. Offeror shall provide a sports and niche market analysis on an “as needed basis”.
10. Meetings Marketing Analysis – Many Florida beach destinations profit from the “compensating effects” of the meetings and group market. Some destinations draw as much as sixty percent (60%) of their visitation from this The BACVB has successfully promoted the destination as a venue for convention, conferences and business meetings. Conference and meetings travel also have positive influences on future leisure and vacation visits. In collaboration and consultation with the BACVB, Offeror shall develop special post event profiles that include the occupancy impact generated by the event.
11. Special Projects – As requested by the BACVB, Offeror shall provide other related special project services on an as‐needed basis

EXPECTED OUTCOME:

Research provided will result in detailed reporting, these reports will provide valuable information to the BACVB for current and future planning. Reports may include but are not limited to:

1. The estimated number of visitors from the Bradenton Area’s core feeder markets by
2. The estimated number of visitors from the Bradenton area’s core feeder markets by
3. The estimated per capita spending of Bradenton area visitors from key origin
4. Length of stay in the
5. Estimated economic impact of each
6. Population and percent of the population with household incomes of $120,000.00 or more (U.S. Census).
7. Demographic and psychographic profiles of visitors by market

Due Date

 September 25th, 2018

Contact

Maria Goldaraz, Procurement Team Leader, Goods

(941}749-3074,Fax(941}749-3034

maria.goldaraz@mymanatee.org

Manatee County Financial Management Department

5WPR and Hunter PR are strong travel related PR agencies.