final visit winchester retender 2016.docx

Visit Winchester Website Retender

July 2016

Issued on behalf of the Visit Winchester and the Heart of Hampshire Destination Management Partnership by Winchester City Council

Visit Winchester Website CommissionSpecification and Invitation of Expressions of Interest

URL www.visitwinchester.co.uk

(incorporating integration with www.christmasinwinchester.co.uk and www.festivalsinwinchester.co.uk)

Project summary: Website hosting and full Content Management System (CMS) using current content but with design and functionality improvements as outlined in the brief

Anticipated project completion date

30 March 2017

Winchester City Council Project Officers

Ellen Simpson Head of Tourism

Rachel Gander Tourism Marketing and Development Officer

Helen Grant Website Deveopment Officer

SummaryWinchester has been voted the Best Place to Live in the UK by a recent Sunday Times poll, and the various cultural and heritage attractions in the district have seen the destination’s popularity and visitor numbers grow significantly over the last 5 years. Winchester City Council wishes to upgrade and improve the current visitor-focussed website for the Visit Winchester brand. The website needs to encourage day trips and overnight stays within the Winchester District and stimulate economic growth for a wide range of local tourism businesses. It should provide a sense of place and customer-focussed functionality, along with maximum back-end control and flexibility for the Visit Winchester team’s web administration purposes.

The current site uses the Drupal open-source platform and is no longer fit for purpose, providing us with limited development opportunities and a design that restricts our impact in a competitive market. The new website will need to integrate with our campaign sites; both built using the WordPress open-source platform.

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http://www.festivalsinwinchester.co.uk/

http://www.christmasinwinchester.co.uk/

http://www.visitwinchester.co.uk/


July 2016

Initial expressions of interest from appropriate organisations and individuals should be submitted by noon on Friday 26 August 2016, in accordance with the requirements set out in section 5 of this specification.

1. Who we are

The Winchester District Community Strategy (2010 to 2020) sets out three overarching outcome areas, in which the Council and its partner agencies are committed to delivering real change for local people. These are: Active Communities, Economic Prosperity and a High Quality Environment. Tourism is one of our five biggest economic sectors locally, as reflected in the Winchester District Economic Strategy published in 2010.

Tourism is managed by a highly successful public/private destination management partnership (DMP) known as Visit Winchester and the Heart of Hampshire. The 2009 Visit Winchester rebrand saw the introduction of the strap line ‘Vibrant. Ancient. Cultured.’ This recognises the continued importance of heritage and retains this at the centre of Winchester’s appeal, but also captures the thriving arts and events scene across the district.

The Council’s destination management partnership promotes Winchester and the Hampshire area of the South Downs and is supported by East Hampshire District Council, the South Downs National Park Authority and Tourism South East. The area’s tourism product ranges from city and rural attractions; themed trails and walks; outdoor activities to enjoy in unspoilt countryside; high quality local food and drink; a diverse range of accommodation; independent and boutique shopping and world class cultural events. Increasingly these products are showcased via Apps and microsites.

The latest research shows that 5.6m visitors come to the Winchester District every year resulting in a £350m turnover for local businesses, this represents a 37% increase in visitor numbers and an associated 43% hike in their spend that has contributed to a 46% growth in the economic impact of the industry in the 7 years since the current team has been in place. Winchester City Council has a long held commitment to supporting the tourism industry, investing annually in the promotion of the ‘Visit Winchester’ brand via publications, PR and online. Increasingly this investment is being augmented by the private sector members of our local DMP and other advertisers from all over Hampshire who wish to associate themselves with a local and national ‘attract’ brand.

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http://www.winchester.gov.uk/planning-policy/evidence-base/economy/

http://www.winchester.gov.uk/about/council-structure/community-strategy/


July 2016

2. Where we are now…

The current Visit Winchester website www.visitwinchester.co.uk was redeveloped in 2013 using Drupal. The website received over 400,000 unique hits in 2015 (with spikes of up to 8,000 unique hits per day). We are looking to double this traffic level in the next two years via a proactive and rigorous SEO strategy and associated reporting systems.

There is a thriving festival scene in Winchester and as such, the Festivals in Winchester website (www.festivalsinwinchester.co.uk) provides a platform to showcase the growing festivals’ calendar that has sprung from a fast growing local creative sector.

Winchester is also home to ‘England’s Perfect Christmas’ with 2015 seeing the celebration of 10 years of the Christmas Market and Ice Rink, the arrival of the iconic Coca-Cola truck and a Victoriana-inspired grotto at the tourist information centre. The Christmas in Winchester campaign site www.christmasinwinchester.co.uk successfully highlights the numerous high quality Christmas events in and around the District.

We are currently working to target the Chinese visitor market. In 2014, Chinese international tourism expenditure reached around $165bn (US) and are ranked 1st for global international tourism expenditure (VisitBritain research). We are developing a web presence for the Chinese holiday market to enable individuals and group travel organisers to research Winchester as a destination.

3. What we want

Key Requirements

The Council seeks to commission by outcomes, and wishes to avoid being too prescriptive about the way in which the commission is delivered. In this case, there are two outcomes, as follows:

More people are drawn to Winchester’s on-line presence. They find the information they require with ease. They are inspired to visit, are delighted and surprised by what they see and are therefore inspired to do more whilst they are visiting, stay longer and return more often.

Tourism businesses across the Winchester District benefit economically from the Council’s investment in an on-line presence.

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https://www.visitbritain.org/markets/china

https://www.visitbritain.org/markets/china



http://www.visitwinchester.co.uk/


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The current website is the result of a full redevelopment project that took place in 2013. We are seeking to move it to a flexible, modern platform which reflects the dynamism of the destination and synergises with the brand values ‘Vibrant. Ancient. Cultured.’ The site needs to work well with the Christmas and Festivals campaign sites and all social media functions and facilitate ease of use. The content already exists and does not require major redevelopment.

Due to the increased national profile of the destination there is a renewed call from our 61 paying stakeholders (businesses in the industry who are members of the DMP) for opportunities to raise their profile within the site. We are looking for a commercially viable platform to offer these opportunities for businesses of all sizes.

With Winchester’s growing popularity, we receive many enquiries from the press and the website is a primary interface. The website needs to cater to their needs as well.

Overall, in terms of end product we now require: improved website functionality for visitors – including improved modern

design that conveys a more distinct sense of place and uses high quality photography

opportunities to significantly increase visitor traffic to the website increased income generation including banner advertising and

sponsorship opportunities a product that appeals to new advertisers and satisfies the demand of

existing advertisers improved social integration a streamlined, user friendly and clean back end system that is itself able to

be developed in line with customer expectations in a timely manner

Generally, we are aiming to improve the website, making it more appealing to the visitor and increasing the time they spend on it (correspondingly lengthening their planned stay). Information should be easy to find and the visitor should encounter useful prompts for geographically close and associated product. The website will in this way act as an inspiration base for someone planning their visit to Winchester, rewarding local tourism businesses who invest in advertising on the site with direct measurable benefits and creating an ongoing income stream to ensure future development.

In general terms, the new site should: give a ‘sense of place’ using the strap line of ‘Vibrant. Ancient.

Cultured’ to inspire the user provide for customers in search of ideas, and for also those

searching for specific information

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be visually stimulating, dynamic and intuitive, losing some of the present ‘boxy-ness’ about the design

offer maximum integration with the campaign sites www.christmasinwinchester.co.uk and www.festivalsinwinchester.co.uk

The features around which it should be constructed are as follows: Customer-friendly and timely technical support Flexibility – the site should be built with maximum flexibility allowing

VW admin to add, edit, and amend elements as necessary to keep the site dynamic and fresh

Live updating An easy-to-use CMS system for use by multiple users, from editors to

super administrators Google Analytics compatible Social integration including embedded film and integration with our

other online and offline marketing channels (.e.g. publications including the visitor guide and explorer map, e-newsletters)

Mobile functionality – giving equal emphasis to mobile and desktop design and functionality (based on user statistics)

Search engine optimisation – should be accessible to search engine spiders and be coded with good on-page SEO

Ability for future development and possible incorporation of third party software (eg Booking.com, LateRooms, TripAdvisor or similar)

Robust platform – 24/7 uptime (live), able to handle periods of a high volume of traffic of up to 8,000 unique visits per day

Integrated events and product upload with www.christmasinwinchester.co.uk and www.festivalsinwinchester.co.uk (upload a single event to the website but can pull through to the campaign sites if selected)

Content Type Homepage – should give visitors a visual overview of the site, a sense

of place and what they can expect from Winchester at a glance. Easy to use with a clear, uncomplicated, modern appearance and a focus on current events and activities in Winchester

Landing Pages – pages collecting themes (ie/ things to do, culture, where to stay, what’s on, food and drink, shopping, seasonal activities) that offer visitors some information and the chance to feed through to more specific pages (ie/ free things to do, museums, hotel accommodation, family friendly days out, trails)

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Information Pages – basic pages for general information that can host images, videos, brochures, maps (sometimes of a large file size) and text in a visually pleasing way

Business / Product Listings – to include attractions, things to do, shopping, accommodation, food and drink, conference and events.

o Basic details – name, contact details, map, images/videos, brochures and leaflets, information (to include information such as overview, rates, awards and other necessary information – editable by admin)

o Icons for downloadable files (e.g. videos and pdfs)o Share buttonso Possible to tag other pages in a “you may also be interested”

sectiono Events tagged to the business visible in a “What’s On” section o Special offers, that are time limited, tagged to the business

visible in a “Special Offers” sectiono Category tagging – to include type of business (ie/ self-catering,

hotel, restaurant, café, museum…), location, price etc.o Businesses to then show on a main map with all other business

listings (see bullet below).

Events:o Event details – title, dates, times, summary, ticket information, o Image/Video carouselo Contact details – address, phone number, social media links,

booking details, programme downloadso Location mapo Date defines the auto un-publish date upon which date the event

disappears from all front end areas of this site and campaign sites including site-wide search listings and other search engine results. VW to be able to select whether the event deletes from the back end after end date or just remains unpublished so that recurring events can just be updated and republished.

o Date defines an auto publish dateo Category tagging (should be editable by super-admin)o Share buttonso Contact/location auto-filled by pre-selecting the business that

the event is being hosted at (see business listings above)o Each business listing shows a “What’s On” section where all

events tagged to the business are shown (if they exist) (as mentioned above)

o Overall events calendar with options to filter based on the tags and selections on individual events (ie price, dates, location etc)

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o Events tagged as “Festival” or “Christmas” auto-feed through to the individual campaign sites’ events calendar.

Search Results

o Show as an image, title and basic information. Visually-pleasing layout

o Ability to prioritise products within search results (ie/ DMP members)

o Search results should be randomised with each refresho Search is customer-friendly, allowing users to search by

appropriate filters.

Main map page

o Content page with map embedded which pulls through all business listings

o Editable by VW admin

o Ability for customers to filter businesses on a map according to the categories of where to stay, shopping, food and drink, events, things to do.

o Option to include other categories such as picnic sites, play parks etc.

Special Offers

o Basic information – title, category, season, image/video, start/end date, description

o Tagged to related businesso Equivalent of a search results page that can be filtered by type

of business (shopping, accommodation, food and drink, attraction) and season

o Shows up in a “Special Offers” section on the related business page

o Automatic removal from the site after the end date

Advertising and sponsorship opportunities – open to suggestions but possibilities include banner advertising, skins, featured/highlighted businesses/events…

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Video – video content block on homepage to showcase all videos produced by Visit Winchester. Should be clean and modern in design and offer the chance to feature videos depending on season/current campaigns. Shouldn’t take the visitor away from the Visit Winchester site. Should also be a separate page hosting all Visit Winchester films (see www.youtube.com/visitwinchester)

Publications – brochures and leaflets available for order or download should be displayed in a visually-pleasing way with the ability for users to print them off in a readable format. Should filter through to an order form.

eForms – branded Visit Winchester eForm to be used for the following (and all allow for the integration of MailChimp newsletter sign-up):

o Brochure request formso Competition entrieso Business advertising submissionso Event submissions

We wish to have the ability to create new forms in flexible formats as and when needed. We would like to have the option for forms to be received as .xlsx files, formatted emails and PDF documents as required. Event submissions should lead to a draft event being submitted that can be reviewed and edited by an admin before it is published live.

Miscellaneous:

o Seasonal menus o Accessibilityo Cookies policyo Disclaimer and privacy policyo Press informationo Information for businesseso Text search – preferably Google Custom Search to be linked to

Google Analytics account SEO:

o Administrators must have the ability to customise the Meta-keywords

o All URLs, especially dynamically generated ones, must have friendly URL aliases so they are picked up by search engines

o Allow admin to specify alt tagso SEO reporting

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http://www.youtube.com/visitwinchester


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4. Who we want

The Council has no preconceived view about the type of provider suitable for this commission, but expects the work to be completed to a high professional standard and for the successful applicant to be proactive in developing the relationship with the team and ensuring communication is maintained. To this end, it is anticipated that the successful bidder will have knowledge, skills and capacity in some or all of the following areas:

projects of a comparable nature, ie designing/producing websites a broad range of marketing/communications tools a strong understanding of the tourism industry partnership working with local authorities working in consultation with the private sector a track record of innovation in the field of on-line media proven experience of consistently building a brand across online and

offline channels creative problem solving the ability to explain technical information to non-technical clients excellent communications and interpersonal skills excellent organisational skills straightforward project management system that enables timely

responses to issues dedicated account manager or project manager, regular face-to-face

meetings adequate support staff including clear accountability for administrative,

technical and financial matters local to Hampshire (highly desirable but not essential)

In terms of agency support we are looking for: a proactive and creative approach to the site development quick response to issues on the website without a lengthy administration

process, with a transparent and well managed billing infrastructure a robust, well manned support structure with a dedicated account manager

in the selected agency clear project schedules, plans and realistic deliverables clear, open communication channels and regular visits and conference

calls from our dedicated account manager at the selected agency monthly and weekly reports documenting broken links, content that

requires reviewing and other necessary information

In terms of what we will provide: A finite annual budget that is divided between

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development spend software, licence and maintenance costs

a Project Manager with the support of a dedicated support officer

clear deadlines which we will monitor with support and input from the account manager at the selected agency

5. How to apply

Where?

This commission is intended to ensure the effective promotion of tourism offering to increasing numbers of online visitor traffic and also ensure that our businesses are adequately promoted and the partnership receives private sector investment.

To this end, we are advertising this opportunity to work with the Council and destination management partnership members via:a) the South East Business Portalb) local mediac) professional networks andd) our own database of local practitioners/organisations.

Please respond to this via an expression of interest on the South East Business Portal. Shortlisted companies will then be asked to submit a full proposal and invited for interview before the chosen supplier is appointed.

Expressions of Interest (EoI)This commission has been advertised on the South East Business Portal and via local and regional networks. Expressions of interest (EoI) may be submitted by any organisation (private, public, voluntary sector) which considers itself able to fulfil the brief effectively or indeed by an individual on the same basis. Where individuals or organisations feel they would benefit from working together to deliver this project, the Council will accept bids from a combination of partners. However, the contract will only be with one lead individual or organisation and this lead partner must be made clear on the EoI submission.

There is no set format for an EoI, but you must include the following information:

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Full description of your organisation(s) including governance arrangements, or – for individuals – a current CV

For lead organisations, a copy of the most recent annual accounts A clear description (not exceeding 4 pages) of the work you have

produced which is relevant to this commission A preliminary response to this brief (maximum 3 pages), with any ideas

about how you might deliver this commission (an excessively lengthy bid or one that is written in jargon, may reduce your score)

A description of the expertise available for delivery of this commission A short statement explaining how you meet the evaluation criteria for

the commission set out below Clear indication of project and technical processes and customer

support, including the process of communication between client and agency

Outline invoicing and payment methods Confirmation that you would be available to work on the commission for

delivery in 2016 Two referees for work of a comparable nature

Process:

shortlisting of EoIs will be undertaken by a panel including – but not limited to – relevant Council officers; the Portfolio Holder for Economic Development; representatives of Visit Winchester and the Heart of Hampshire Destination Management Partnership;

the process will be overseen by the Council’s Head of Tourism shortlisted individuals/organisations will be given a further period of

weeks (likely to be around 4) to complete detailed design concepts for public consultation and final evaluation.

Criteria: The evaluation criteria which will be applied to all EoIs are as follows:

a. the ability of the individual/organisation(s) to deliver the commission successfully, based on: previous portfolio relevant skills and experience response to the brief;

(maximum 20 points)

b. the capacity of the bidder(s) to deliver the commission within the deadline;

(maximum 5 points)

c. the stability and reliability of the bidder (track record, financial status, man power) and their ability to devise transparent and

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workable systems around administration, technical support, communication and invoicing

(maximum 10 points)

d. the style and medium of previous work, and its perceived appropriateness for this specification.

(maximum 15 points)

Please submit your bid electronically by noon on Friday 26 August 2016 to:

Helen GrantWebsite Development OfficerWinchester City Councilat [email protected]

Please head the email ‘Website Tender’, along with your company name.

Contact Helen in advance if the file size is greater than 5MB. Helen can be reached by phone on 01962 848 361.

For an informal discussion about this brief, contact Helen as above.

Timescale

Action Deadline

Expressions of Interest to be submitted

Noon on Friday 26 August 2016

Evaluation panel meeting Thursday 22 September 2016

Shortlisted bidders* notified (max 4) Friday 23 September 2016

Shortlisted bids to be submitted Noon on Wednesday 19 October 2016

Evaluation panel meeting Thursday 20 October 2016

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mailto:[email protected]


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Presentations to the panel by shortlisted bidders

Thursday 27 October 2016

Contract awarded Monday 31 October 2016

Estimated project completion date Thursday 30 March 2017

*A shortlist of 3 - 4 organisations/individuals will be invited to develop detailed bids. These will be used as a basis for consultation with stakeholders, other technical officers and Council Members.

BudgetThere is no fee at this expression of interest stage.

The City Council’s total budget for year 1 of this project is £28,960. This has been allocated as follows:

£3,000 One off fees for preliminary proposals from shortlisted organisation/individual (in the order of £750 each)

£17,000 Total fee for final contract, to include all aspects of design, construction and support during the delivery phase

£8,960 Annual licences, support and hosting fees for website(s) and Apps including a degree of development - to be agreed by both parties. This includes emergency and out of hours service costs.

The eventual project fee of £17,000 will be payable in instalments, staged according to the needs of the project and to be agreed at inception. This will normally include 25% on initiation of the contract, and a final payment on satisfactory completion of the project which will include a reasonable retention period for the remedying of defects etc.

The annual licence fees of £8,960 will be paid upon launch of the website for the duration of the contract.

There are no other monies available to support the commission and no additional expenses are payable, so it is essential that the selected bidder works within the fee identified above.

The above figures are exclusive of VAT.

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6. Additional information

Desirables Map pages should be easy to navigate, use on a mobile device and

print. Should have business type key and basic business information displays when a pin is clicked – links to the business’ main page. Search function on the map page (search for businesses so you can immediately see their location in relation).

Image upload should have cropping/auto-resize tool options. Links to open in new tabs. Ability for text searches in the back-end of the website. Clear and searchable file and image storage in the back-end of the

website Enhanced social media integration. Enhanced e-newsletter sign-up options. Enable contact details to be more easily available from anywhere on

the site. All pages must be print-friendly. Social media auto-image selection (must be the selected images for

the page shared on social media). Customisable text for social media share buttons. Cleaner search – autofill, suggestions & results are sometimes too

general and completely unrelated to the website content. Use icon and images more than text where possible. Constant footer/header when scrolling (for call-to-actions to stand out). Income generation opportunities. Competition forms integrated with MailChimp

AccessibilityThe site should be designed so it incorporates relevant accessibility features.

TestingShould be tested with:

IE6+ on PC

Safari on PC and Mac

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Firefox PC and Mac

Chrome PC and Mac

Mobile and tablet – IOS, Android, RIM, Windows Mobile.

User Access Levels

Super Administrator – top level access to VW, includes ability to edit navigation, labels etc.

Administrator – TIC staff (add events, amend listings etc)

Reports The system must have ability to set up reports to run as required.

Monthly

Broken links

List of pages due for review

Weekly

Email alerts for content needing review

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final visit winchester retender 2016.docx

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