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Invitation to Tender - For Cruise Port Selection in the North Sea Region

Companies are invited to submit tenders with regard to Decision Criteria for Cruise Port Selection in the North Sea Region in accordance with the specification as part of the EU North Sea Region Cruise Gateway programme.

http://www.northsearegion.eu/ivb/projects/details/&tid=125 and www.cruisegateway.eu

Please be aware that the deadline for submission is noon GMT, 22^nd November 2011.

Cruise Gateway – Proposal for Study WP3

Tenders invited - To be submitted: by Noon November 22nd 2011

Decision Criteria for Cruise Port Selection in the North Sea Region

You must send your proposal by email to:

David Ralph, CEO, Haven Gateway Partnership at david.ralph@haven-gateway.org no later than 12:00 GMT on 22nd November 2011.

It is intended that contracts will be awarded by end November with a start date in December 2011.

The project is being led on behalf of Cruise Gateway by the Haven Gateway Partnership. Port of Hamburg Marketing are the administrators of the Cruise Gateway project and the Ports of Kiel, Bremen and Antwerp comprise the Project Board.

Invitation to submit proposal

Appropriate companies/consultancies are invited to submit a proposal that support significantly raising the profile and awareness of the Cruise industry in the North Sea region Business to Business.

The study aims to identify the USPs of the NSR and to show and demonstrate the important criteria for the cruise port selection, giving concrete recommendations for specific actions for the Cruise Gateway partnership to consider and progress.

Furthermore the research should focus on the whole NSR (as defined by the Interreg IV B NSR Programme) and not on any specific country.

The results will be part of the WP 3 work and define its further steps and activities and should address.

Ports of call and turnaround ports,
Infrastructure and tourist attractions,
USPs of the NSR,
Short trips and itineraries in the NSR minimizing fuel costs,
Focus on sustainability aspects,
Focus on the whole NSR

Introduction

Cruise Gateway is an innovative EU funded (Interreg IV B NSR Programme) project set up to consider ways of promoting and encouraging more and better cruise activity in the North Sea region – see

http://www.northsearegion.eu/ivb/projects/details/&tid=125

and http://www.cruisegateway.eu/

The common thread of this analysis is sustainability including the promotion of environmental awareness and eco-friendly transport structures.

This contract seeks to identify the decision making criteria to assist Turnaround ports and ports of call in improving their revenues by increasing the number of visits.

Target Audiences and Consultees

There are five distinct audiences that should be evaluated and will be the main targets of any further work and are as follows:

Senior Marketing Executives of the Cruise Operators

These contacts will have responsibility for marketing cruises for their respective organisations and therefore will have a thorough understanding of consumer demand in their core markets. They will have valuable information on the popularity of key cruise routes and be aware of any short, medium and longer term challenges such as security issues in the Southern Mediterranean that could necessitate re –routing. They will also be charged with evaluating the potential revenues for new routes and ships that they may be developing.

Itinerary Planners and Operational Planning Managers of the Cruise Operators

These individuals are responsible for evaluating operational costs of existing and potentially new routes and therefore require a greater degree of technical knowledge. Details such as berthing charges, tidal range, weather patterns, sea/road access, portside facilities and costs will be just a few of the subjects that need to be fully explained.

Host Port Managers and Shore Excursion Agencies

Whilst these key people will have comprehensive knowledge of their own port operations and probably live within a reasonable distance of their place of work, it is not unusual for knowledge of local tourism destinations and attractions to be poor. Details of drive times, coach parking facilities, entry costs and event information will be important for them to understand. These important executives and staff will be regarded as ambassadors for the area that surrounds the port as well as their port but also have an interest in and responsibility for the total ‘visitor experience’.

Regional Tourism Bodies

These bodies too have a responsibility for creating the interest for visitors both in the immediate vicinity of the port as well as further afield. It is common that the attractions around a particular port may the responsibility of many different tourism authorities; therefore there is an important coordination role to be provided. Understanding drive times and linking specific attractions and destinations with the nationalities on-board the cruise ship for example could be a key differentiator with cruise operators. This information provision is the responsibility of Tourist Boards.

Economic Regeneration Organisations

These bodies are often local/national Government organisations whose prime objectives are likely to include the attraction of inward investment and sustainable job creation. The economic impact of the cruise market for both turnaround and transit movements is significant and therefore it is recommended that these bodies are targeted for specific communications highlighting the benefits that encouragement of this sector could bring. It is common in the airline/airport sectors that such bodies provide incentives for carriers to develop routes into their locations.

Specification of the Tender Study

The majority of the time for this work to be completed will be spent on individual meetings with senior representatives of the sectors concerned, in order to ensure that their needs are fully understood.

Given the high number of conferences and events that cruise operators attend, many interviews could undertaken without having to travel to stakeholders individually.

Deliverables and Timeline

Tender Document issued – November 2011
Tenders returned – 22nd November 2011
Tender awarded – 24/25 November 2011 – following possible pre contract meeting (Antwerp)
3-4 month work programme commences – December 2011
Mid project review – Feb/March 2012
Draft Initial report and conclusions - Easter 2012
Final report, presentation and recommendations – June 2012

Value of Submission

Estimated cost of the project is 20000-30000 Euro plus disbursements. Appointment will be based on key value criteria not just cost.

Key Requirements of Tender Submission

To be received by noon 22nd November of any submission should be provided and should include:

Details and track record of lead organisation and individuals leading the project

Outline costed work programme for the 3-4 month period – including individual charge rates and a methodology including target audiences

Cost effective engagement plan for target consultees

The final report and intellectual property will be owned by Cruise Gateway Partners

Contact

For any queries regarding Cruise Gateway, requirements for the proposal or the tender selection process please contact:

David Ralph

Chief Executive