Public Affairs Request for Proposal (RFP) - the California Tourism ...

To All Prospective Bidders:
The California Travel and Tourism Commission d.b.a Visit California, a privately funded nonprofit corporation, is
seeking a qualified public affairs contractor that will develop and execute a strategic communications
strategy to promote the importance of California’s travel industry to key decision makers and the public.
Visit California is a private non-profit 501(C) 6 funded by assessed businesses that have an interest in
promoting tourism to California. California Tourism is marketed exclusively by Visit California. The Tourism
Assessment Program was created under the California Tourism Marketing Act in 1995 with the passage of SB
256. The legislation authorized self-imposition of an assessment by businesses that benefit from travel and
tourism. It also authorized the establishment of a non-profit, public benefit corporation, Visit California, to
oversee the promotion of California as a premier travel destination.
Visit California oversees the production of a variety of marketing activities, including on and offline
advertising, visitor publications and maps, cooperative programs, public relations and tradeshows – all
designed to promote California to travelers, tourists and the travel trade. For more details please visit
http://tourism.visitcalifornia.com in the “Travel Industry” section.
The purpose of this Request for Proposal (RFP) is to obtain a public affairs contractor who will assist Visit
California in unifying industry leaders to elevate the perceptions of elected officials on why travel matters,
and to help position travel and tourism’s overall image, through the media and other venues, by raising
perceptions of the California tourism industry across the globe.
Attached is a RFP for those capable of meeting minimum requirements and carrying out the scope-of-work.
All proposals will be carefully reviewed and evaluated based on the criteria noted in the attached
document. Notice of Intent to Bid (a non-binding document), as well as any questions you may have to
clarify this RFP, are due to Visit California no later than 5:00 p.m., Pacific Standard Time (PST) June 10, 2013.
Sincerely,
Caroline Beteta
President and Chief Executive Officer
Visit California

A. INTRODUCTION
VISIT CALIFORNIA
Request for Proposal
Agency of Record
As the number one travel destination in the United States, California annually generates more than $106
billion each year in travel and tourism spending into the economy, directly supports jobs from almost one
million Californians and generates over $6 billion in state and local tax revenues. Tourism is California’s fifth
largest employer among those industries with an export component, accounting for 2.5% of earnings and
4.4% of employment. Since 1998, the California Tourism program (a joint marketing venture of Visit California
and the California Division of Tourism) has reversed a decade-long decline in domestic market share and the
resulting loss of jobs and billions of dollars in travel-related revenues for California.
About Visit California
Visit California is a not-for-profit, 501(C)(6) corporation formed in 1998 to work jointly with the State of
California’s Division of Tourism to implement the annual Marketing Plan, which promotes California as a travel
destination. While these two partners (Visit California and Division of Tourism) are separate legal entities, they
are commonly referred to jointly as California Tourism.
From 1998 to 2003, California Tourism consisted of the originally conceived private-public joint marketing
venture partnership of Visit California and the State of California. The primary source of California tourism
marketing budget is now directly derived from assessed businesses in the travel and tourism industry, car
rental assessment, and a small contribution from the State.
Visit California operates under the auspices of the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency. Agency
Secretary Brian Kelly currently serves as Board Chair of Visit California.
Visit California’s 37-member board of commissioners is composed of individuals from all 12 designated regions
of California. Members represent five principal industry sectors: Accommodations, Restaurants and Retail,
Attractions and Recreation, Transportation and Travel Services, and the Passenger Car Rental Industry.
Twenty-four of the commissioners are elected by the approximately 5,000 assessed California businesses; 12
are appointed by the governor; and the 37th is the California Business, Transportation and Housing Agency
Secretary. The Commission meets three times a year to direct Visit California’s programs and activities. A 34-
member statewide Marketing Advisory Committee also provides input in developing the marketing plan.
Tourism is California’s fourth largest employer and fifth largest contributor to the gross state product.
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B. PURPOSE
The purpose of this request is to seek and retain a qualified public affairs contractor for Visit California that will
develop and execute a strategic communications strategy to promote the importance of California’s travel
industry to key decision makers and the public. The selected agency will assist in unifying industry leaders to
elevate the perceptions of elected officials on why travel matters; and to help position travel and tourism’s
overall image, through the media and other venues, by raising perceptions of the California tourism industry
across the globe.
C. MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS
Proposals must address each item listed, giving specific details of techniques to be used in meeting these
requirements. Proposals may be rejected if minimum requirements are not met. All proposals wishing
clarification of this RFP must submit questions via email to: RFP Submissions rfps@visitcalifornia.com by 5:00pm
June 10, 2013. Questions must be submitted in an excel format, and must be categorized based on scope of
work elements.
**Costs for developing proposals are entirely the responsibility of the proposer and shall not be reimbursed by
Visit California. This RFP is not subject to state contracting rules and regulations and that Visit California
reserves the right to modify any and all terms and conditions in its sole and absolute discretion.
Proposal inclusion check list:
Notice of Intent to Bid, Attachment A, must be received by June 10, 2013
Proposer Services & Activities
Client List / No Conflict of Interest
Organizational Structure / Contract Manager / Account Team
Scope of Work, Attachment B
Budget Form, Attachment C
Evaluation Criteria, Attachment D
Financial Statement
D. CONTRACT TERM
The successful proposer will enter into a contract for services with Visit California. The duration of the initial
contract between Visit California and the successful proposer is expected to begin upon the date of
contract approval (approximately Aug 1, 2013)) and terminate on June 30, 2014. Visit California reserves the
right to renew its agreement prior to the end of each contract term for total of (3) years, providing funding to
do so is appropriated for this purpose in subsequent budgets. There will be a 6 month oral review in 2014 and
subsequent reviews annually in each year the contract is renewed. Proposed renewals are also assessed
according to program direction, funding, and consistency of price and scope of work.
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E. TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
This tentative schedule may be altered at any time at the discretion of the Commission.
June 3 RFP Dissemination *select agencies
June 10 Intent to Bid Due; Q & A agencies
June 17 Q & A sent to agencies
July 10 Proposals Due
July 17 3-5 Finalist Chosen
July 23 Oral Presentations by Finalists
July 29 Selected proposer Announced
July 30 Contract Negotiations
August 1 Start Date
F. DELIVERY OF PROPOSAL
Each bidder is required to deliver (6) typed copies of its proposal. The proposal must be delivered on a web-
based platform, emailed, or CD or USB to Visit California office at the address below, no later than July 10,
2013 5:00pm PST. Proposals may not be faxed.
Proposals may be sent by courier such as FedEx or UPS to:
Visit California
Public Affairs Request for Proposal
ATTN: RFP Submissions
555 Capitol Mall, Suite 1100
Sacramento, CA 95814 USA
All web-based or emailed versions of proposals need to be sent to RFP Project Manager: Debi Robarts
rfps@visitcalifornia.com
G. DESCRIPTION OF PROPOSER:
Company/Client Overview
• Describe the nature of your services and activities. Note the company’s history in the travel and tourism
industry, if any.
• Proposers are required to have offices in California. An office in Sacramento, California will be
favorably considered and should be noted in the proposal.
• Size of company by headcount.
• List all tourism-related clients for whom you have acted in the United States during the past 12 months,
and certify that there is no conflict of interest between any existing contract, client relationship and the
ability of your company to fully and vigorously represent the public affairs needs of Visit California.
• The proposer should list all tourism-related clients for whom it has acted in the United States during the
past 12 months, and certify that there is no conflict of interest between any existing contract. Client
relationships that could potentially be a conflict of interest must be listed together with a discussion of
how the proposer will resolve the potential conflict of interest.
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Personnel / Management
The proposer should identify those individuals on the proposer’s account team who will manage the
contract work.
Please document overall experience in tourism accounts; please include current resumes/biographies.
Provide education, experience and expertise with pertinent information demonstrating qualifications for
this RFP. Include length of time with agency.
Do not exceed two (2) pages (print or web) per person.
Subcontractors*
The Proposer should identify all proposed subcontractors for work that exceeds $5,000 and document
which portions of service will be performed by subcontractors and their ability to perform the work.
Additionally, proposer should submit resumes of proposed subcontractor’s key personnel.
Do not exceed two (2) pages per person.
*The use of subcontractors is subject to approval by the President and CEO of Visit California. Therefore,
not all work recommended by the Proposer will necessarily be approved and not all subcontractors
listed in the Proposal will necessarily be selected. The Proposer must make it clear to any subcontractors
included in the Proposal that even if the Proposer is selected, the subcontractors may not necessarily be
selected.
H. REQUIRED PROJECT
We want to understand your agency philosophy as it relates to developing and executing a strategic
communications strategy to promote the importance of California’s travel industry to key decision makers
and the public.
I. WORK PLAN
Proposals must address, at minimum, each item listed in the Scope of Work including each of the Project
Tasks, using the Criteria / Skill Set to provide details of techniques used to meet the objective of promoting
travel to California by out-of-state visitors thereby meeting the needs of their constituency of assessed
businesses and Destination Marketing Organizations resulting in expanding the tourism revenue and
employment base for the State of California.
Proposals may be rejected if minimum requirements are not met.
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Proposals must include a preliminary work plan as described in Attachment B, Scope of Work, in detail and
should include a schedule for completion of the following Project Tasks:
The Visit California public affairs strategy must achieve the following:
Reinforce Visit California’s value to travel-related businesses
Position and enhance visibility of Visit California’s corporate brand.
Analyze and monitor the state of the industry and Visit California’s position among stakeholders.
Publicize Visit California’s research and marketing programs to establish industry leadership.
Grow Visit California’s relationship with elected officials, assessed travel businesses and associations.
Unify industry leaders to raise the relevance of the travel industry
Reach key decision makers, constituents and media (new and traditional).
Promote Visit California’s contribution to national travel promotion efforts.
Promote Visit California’s leadership as thought leaders in the industry.
Align with and leverage national tourism outreach efforts.
Position travel and tourism to elevate California’s overall image
Provide public awareness of California’s $106 billion tourism industry.
Promote travel and tourism as a catalyst for improving the well-being of all Californians.
Identify and monitor relevant issues facing the travel and tourism industry.
Protect the reputation of California’s travel and tourism industry.
Through:
Integrating with Visit California industry relations and marketing efforts.
Develop and achieve “measures of success” for the public affairs program.
Provide a written monthly report on activities and accomplishments.
Pitching business stories, act as a media liaison for Visit California on economic stories and leads.
J. BUDGET FORM
A completed Budget Form must be included, Attachment C, and all costs associated with this Proposer’s
Attachment B, Scope of Work must be included under the format provided; the bid format shall not be
altered. In addition, hourly rates and fees for professional skills must be broken out; out-of-pocket
expenditures or reimbursable costs must be shown for each task. Account administrative costs should be
estimated.
K. AVAILABLE FUNDS
Visit California will initially fund the contract with a maximum budget of $110,000 for services rendered for the
2013-14 fiscal year. Funding at this level is entirely dependent on an overall Commission budget of $50M.
A complete budget form must be included, Attachment C. All costs associated with this Proposer’s
Attachment B, Scope of Work must be included under the format provided; the bid format shall not be
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altered. Please outline your method for billing (commission, hourly, etc.) for each project task and any
necessary out-of-pocket expenditures or reimbursable costs must be shown for each task.
L. FINANCIAL STATEMENT
Proposer must provide evidence of financial stability. The proposer must document sufficient financial
statement or audit report.
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Name of Proposer:
Contact Person:
Mailing Address:
Agency URL:
Telephone:
Fax Number:
Email Address:
Signed
Attachment A
NOTICE OF INTENT TO BID
Due: June 10
5:00 PM Pacific Standard Time
Send to:
Debi Robarts
Operations Coordinator
555 Capitol Mall, Suite 1100
Sacramento, CA 95814
PHONE: 916-319-5404
In addition
Email Copy to:
rfps@visitcalifornia.com
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ATTACHMENT B
SCOPE OF WORK
Public Affairs Contractor
This Section describes the work plan that must be included in the Proposal and details to the content and
format that should be utilized in preparing the work plan. The proposed work plan should describe how the
Proposer intends to perform the scope of work during an 11-month period and shall be subject to
negotiation between Visit California and the Awardees’ for the initial contract period. The work plan will be
used to negotiate the contract scope of work, and to score several of the point categories of the RFP, as
described in Attachment D, Evaluation Criteria.
Proposals must be based on a maximum funding level of $50 million.
1. To assist with your response, please reference the following background and informational resources.
Visit California Mission:
http://industry.visitcalifornia.com/About-CTTC/
Strategic Business Plan:
http://industry.visitcalifornia.com/media/uploads/files/editor/VisitCalifornia_BusinessPlan_FINAL_lores.pdf
2012/13 Work Plans:
http://industry.visitcalifornia.com/1213Workplans/
5 Year Strategic Marketing Plan:
http://industry.visitcalifornia.com/media/uploads/files/editor/CTTC%205-
Year%20Strategic%20Plan%20FINAL.pdf
5 Year Executive Summary:
http://industry.visitcalifornia.com/media/uploads/files/editor/5yr-ExecSumm.pdf
White Paper on California Tourism:
http://industry.visitcalifornia.com/media/uploads/files/editor/Industry%20White%20Paper_June%20Upda
te.pdf
2. Work Plan: Proposer must submit a preliminary work plan for completion of the following Project Tasks
based on a contract period of August 1, 2013 through June 30, 2014. The objective of the work plan is to
give Visit California an opportunity to study how Proposers would schedule various elements and
distribute the workload among staff.
For each of the following Project Tasks, the Proposer should prove capability, describing strategies to be
used and quality controls. Sufficient detail must be given and must include examples of past projects,
ability to meet deadlines, and managerial experience.
The Proposer should demonstrate knowledge and understanding of brand in a global marketplace,
and the shifting dynamics of how consumers need information today.
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a. Strategic Planning: Provide for us an “insiders look” at your strategic planning process. Present Visit
California with a comprehensive summary on how you can help unify industry leaders to raise the
relevance of the travel industry (industry level), and position travel and tourism to elevate
California’s overall image (state level). Provide a strategy that will illustrate value and relevancy to
the stakeholders. Show how your agency will unify messaging through media, key partnerships,
industry segments and elected officials. Explain what goes into your development of a brand?
What type of testing do you do? How much time is allocated to strategy vs. execution?
b. Promotional and Added Value Elements: Where do strategic partnerships or alliances fit into your
overall strategy. Give some examples of how you would elevate perceptions of elected officials on
the importance of the travel industry. Show us how your current client base may open doors for
California in the way of cross-promotion or leveraging additional exposure due to partnership
opportunities.
c. Research & Analytics. Provide an overview of how you determine success. What are your analytic
tools or services that you use, and what type of information will you be reporting back to Visit
California as it relates to meeting our objectives. Please define how your analytics can be
converted into research, and how the research will help guide us in making decisions on how we
collaborate with our partners and elected officials in the future.
d. Travel and Administration. The Proposer should estimate travel (3 commission meetings / yr),
monthly meetings (can be done virtually), communication and postage/shipping expenses
expected to incur during completion of the contract, and any additional reserve funds to be held
for marketing contingencies. Travel and per diem expenses shall not exceed rates authorized by
Visit California’s President & CEO.
3. Visit California will require the contractor to attend three (3) Board Meetings per year in addition to two
(2) one-day workshops, all held in California.
4. Visit California will request the contractor to develop and achieve “measures of success” for public
affairs program and to provide a written monthly report on activities and accomplishments
5. Visit California will require the contractor to provide monthly budget re-caps.
The Visit California public affairs strategy must achieve the following:
Provide public awareness of California’s $106 billion tourism industry
Position and enhance visibility of Visit California’s corporate brand
Reach key decision makers, constituents and media (new and traditional)
Analyze and monitor the state of the industry and Visit California’s positional among stakeholders
Identify and monitor relevant issues facing the travel and tourism industry
Protect reputation of California’s travel and tourism industry
Grow visit California’s relationship with assessed travel businesses and associations
Penetrated new industry and stakeholder audiences
Develop compelling messages, press materials and other communications tools
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Publicize Visit California’s research and marketing programs to establish industry leadership
Provide balance and fairness among Visit California’s principal industry sectors
Promote Visit California’s contribution to national travel promotion efforts
Promote Visit California’s leadership as thought leaders in the industry
Align with and leverage national tourism outreach efforts
Integrate with Visit California’s industry relations and marketing efforts
Develop and achieve “measures of success” for public affairs program
Provide a written monthly report on activities and accomplishments
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ATTACHMENT C
BUDGET FORM
COST PER PROJECT TASK or HOURLY RATES / PROJECTED OVERALL COST *as it relates to % of budget
Strategic Planning $___________
Promotional and Added Value Elements $___________
Research & Analytics $___________
Travel and Administration $___________
Account Administration $___________
Total Cost $___________
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FOR VISIT CALIFORNIA/AGENCY USE ONLY
Bid/Proposal:
Evaluated By:
Date:
ATTACHMENT D
PROPOSAL EVALUATION CRITERIA
Proposals will be reviewed, evaluated and scored by an evaluation committee. Evaluation of proposals will be
based on the criteria shown as follows for each component; each criterion will be scored according to the
degree of responsiveness present in the proposal being evaluated.
1. RELEVANT EXPERIENCE/DEMONSTRATED RESULTS OF FIRM Experience
with developing and implementing related services. Quality and
relevance of work samples/experience. References.
2. SCOPE OF WORK
Quality, creativity, points addressed in scope of work, and likelihood of
achieving program objectives within stated time frames.
3. CREATIVITY AND RESPONSE
Ingenuity, innovation in both general approach and tactics to achieve
program results. Professionalism. Alignment with organizational goals.
3. QUALIFICATIONS OF PERSONNEL
Prior experience and how it relates to this project.
4. COST EFFECTIVENESS
The maximum services are provided in relation to the fee charged and
value of overall project. The budget is reasonable and appropriate.
TOTAL POINTS 100
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Max. Points Score
30
30
20
10
10