Published date: 18 December 2020

Closed opportunity - This means that the contract is currently closed. The buying department may be considering suppliers that have already applied, or no suitable offers were made.


Closing: 8 January 2021, 6:30pm

Contract summary

Industry

  • Business and management consultancy services - 79410000

  • Training services - 80500000

Location of contract

South East

Value of contract

£22,000

Procurement reference

EXP- WP2.2.2

Published date

18 December 2020

Closing date

8 January 2021

Closing time

6:30pm

Contract start date

18 January 2021

Contract end date

31 May 2021

Contract type

Service contract

Procedure type

Open procedure (below threshold)

Any interested supplier may submit a tender in response to an opportunity notice.

This procedure can be used for procurements below the relevant contract value threshold.

Contract is suitable for SMEs?

Yes

Contract is suitable for VCSEs?

Yes

Description

In light of the current Covid-19 crisis, the tourism, leisure and hospitality industry is having to re-think how to move forward and rebuild business, demand and revenue. Many organisations, both nationally and locally will be forced to re-examine business operations and products, in order to adhere to social distancing measures and respond to changing consumer behaviour. To survive, businesses will need to adapt existing products, collaborate with others in and out of the sector, and reach out to new audiences to recover and drive business growth. The sector has also been shown to be particularly vulnerable due to the seasonality of the visitor economy demonstrating the need for development of off-season product to make businesses more resilient in the future and to deliver more year-round jobs.

As part of the Interreg Channel EXPERIENCE project, Visit Kent has launched the Experience Development Programme which will work with 125 organisations from across Kent and Medway to help them develop new experiential tourism products for the off-season. We have received over 70 applications for the first round of the programme from a range of businesses including traditional tourism businesses, individuals with a skill they'd like to turn into a new business and businesses from other sectors looking to diversify. Applications are still open for the second round of the programme until the end of December 2020 and will be informed if they have been approved by the end of January 2021.

The programme offers successful applicants a package of support to develop their product concept and take it to market. The support delivered through the programme includes 1:1 business consultation, product testing, content development, product photography, inclusion in B2C campaigns and B2B distribution through travel trade partners.

Following successful award of the 1:1 business consultation contract, Visit Kent are looking for a provider to deliver the next stage of the programme - the development and initial roll out of a peer networking framework. The framework will provide a basis for the Experience programme participants to meet regularly to share best practice, build relationships with their Visit Kent Account Managers, continue to gain support on various professional areas as well as developing local relationships with other businesses. The framework will provide the Visit Kent team with the tools and training to deliver the peer networking effectively and efficiently meetings themselves within existing resource, supporting the long-term community objectives of the Experience programme in a sustainable manner.

More information

Attachments

About the buyer

Contact name

Visit Kent

Address

10 Best Lane
CANTERBURY
CT12JB
England

Telephone

01227 812900

Email

enquiries@visitkent.co.uk

Website

www.visitkentbusiness.co.uk