Mississippi seeks consultant to coordinate and deliver tourism marketing in Europe

Target countries will include:

• UK
• Ireland
• Germany
• Austria
• Switzerland
• Denmark
• Norway
• Sweden
• France
• Netherlands
• Belgium

Contractor will target trade, consumer and media segments by building upon and expanding existing tourism promotion programs.

Duration of contract will be 2 years with a combined total of 36 months of renewals at the discretion of the Mississippi Development Authority, contingent upon funding being made available by the Mississippi Legislature.

Deliverables will include:

• European Marketing Plan campaign
• Fulfilling requests for MS information
• Attending conventions and shows
• Conducting seminars
• Organizing FAM trips
• Running ad campaigns and promotions
• Organizing annual sales missions
• Conducting training for agents and operators
• At least one each brochures in English, German and French
• Provide in-country staff to promote MS in Germany, France and UK sufficient also to cover Ireland, Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and Scandinavia. Any subcontractors must be qualified to represent MS tourism.
• Coordinate Deep South USA regional tourism co-op (AL, LA, TN, KY, MS) promotions and social media in the UK and Germany. Coordinate multi-state FAMs, shows, events.
• Attend annual MS Governor's Conference on Tourism and conduct seminars to educate local partners about European market
• Provide MS website for German-speaking markets

Contracting officer is:

Tricia Shannon

Mississippi Development Authority

501 North West Street Suite 419

Jackson, MS 39201

tshannon@mississippi.org

Letters of intent are due 12 April 2023.

Proposals are due by 2 PM CST 1 May 2023.

Proposals must be submitted by mail or hand-carried to the address above as 4 signed hard copies on 8.5"x11" paper in a sealed envelope plus copies in a searchable format (preferably PDF) on a "single identifiable USB drive" .

There are other, more specific requirements re proposal format; see the RFQ (linked below).

Pricing:

• Blended hourly labor rate for total contract shall be $90/hour.
• Media commission rate shall be 10% for traditional media placements and 6% for digital media placements.

Comment: This is an enormous deal that will have to involve numerous subcontractors - ad creative, web design, magazine publishing, training, seminar delivery, more - as well as staff on the ground in Europe. Qualifying potential contractors and subcontractors need to be talking.