Visit USA Organisation Seeks Australian PR Firm

The mission of the RFP which has been issued is to manage the Visit USA Organisation’s public relations  and  Australian  media profile and exposure, maintaining a flow of information through and engagement with Visit USA  members,  stakeholders, and  the Exec and non-exec committees.

Background

Visit USA Organisation (Australia) is an industry body that promotes travel to the United States of America. It is funded by individual members from the Australian travel trade as well as from associate members in the USA. There is no funding from the U.S. government. The board members of the organisation work vigorously to promote the U.S. as a desirable destination of choice to Australian audiences.

This work supports the Australian travel trade members of the organisation, who do the important work of promoting  U.S. destinations and products through:

• Travel  publications and brochures;
• The sales effort of the field sales  teams;
• Printed and Electronic dissemination of product and information.

Since its inception, the organisation has been actively involved in bringing U.S.- based travel and tourism representatives to Australia for city and regional expos as well as media events.

Scope of Work

Prepare an annualized calendar of PR activity to be approved and measured for performance periodically throughout  the contract period

Maintaining up-to-date media database for key Australian cities;

Attendance at each of the Visit USA Week expos in Sydney Melbourne and Brisbane, and managing the organization of whichever media event is to form part of this week in 2018 and beyond, where duties may be but are not limited to;

• liaising with trade press in relation to coverage for each of the nights and prize winnings
• organizing one on one media interviews for delegates
• working with sponsors to organize press releases for the day
• welcoming media on the day  and managing photographers and timely dissemination of images to ensure trade news coverage;
• Assisting the Event Manager in the co-ordination and management of each of the following annual Visit

USA events held in  Sydney:

• US  Commercial Service IPW briefing (held in late May)
• Mid Year Member Update (mid  August)
• Thanksgiving Breakfast

Prior to these events the Public Relations Officer will assist in promotion of the events through the quarterly newsletter, the Organisation’s Facebook page and the website.

At these events it will be expected that the Public Relations and Communications Officer will maximise attendance of key industry media to report on the event and organize photography and dissemination of images to other media in a timely manner.

Liaising with government departments, in particular the US Commercial Service, to acquire relevant statistics for media  press releases as required;

Preparing and distributing press releases (prepared in advance) to gain key trade media coverage of Visit USA events  and updates;

Providing a quarterly EDM to Visit USA Members using mailchimp and the Company’s website as distribution channels – to be approved and distributed  no later than 10 days post  the end of the quarter;
Managing the  Visit USA website, including but not limited  to:

• Adding new members and encouraging them to update and manage their profiles
• Updating  event information
• Generating and encouraging an increase in member engagement in use of the website
• Providing  analytics and measurements to  showcase engagement
• Emailing members quarterly to remind them of their ability to upload  training presentations,  calendar dates and relevant  news items
• Work in conjunction with the Website Committee to continually enhance the  Organisation’s website for the  benefit of members;
• Handling Visit USA member, journalist, trade and any consumer queries in a timely manner and ensuring that they are directed to the relevant recipient;
• Attending Visit USA Board meetings (6 times per year approx. for 1.5 hours maximum), preparing and delivering a PR and Media report on any key communications developments.

This report to be reviewed /approved by the Head of the PR and Media Committee prior to presentation at each Committee  meeting;

Managing Visit USA social media channels (Facebook,  Instagram  and  Twitter) with a view to increasing the organisation’s social media engagement with at least one post per weekday   to be shared across all platforms;  and use pr@visitusa.org.au for all member facing PR and administration communications in line with all communications from  the organization

Due Date:
July 29th 2017

Address:
Kylee  Kay – President
Visit USA Organisation  Australia
president@visitusa.org.au

Strong PR firms in Australia include Ketchum PR and Ogilvy PR.