Brecon Beacons Marketing Coordination Group
Project Brief for the Facilitation and Development of a Three
Year Tourism Marketing Action Plan including an Audit of the
Tourism Marketing Strategy & Action Plan for the Brecon
Beacons
Draft
Introduction
We are looking for an individual or a team of consultants to help us update and
refresh our marketing plans and strategies for the coming three years. The
successful individual or team will work with the Marketing Co-ordination Group.
The Brecon Beacons Marketing Co-ordination Group is composed of public and
private sector representatives who work together to market the Brecon Beacons
National Park as a destination (the members of that group are described in the
background information at the end of this document)
The successful team will be able to demonstrate:
Their ability to analyse existing activity and tools across the partners to produce an
audit of marketing
Their ability to facilitate a workshop of all partners to agree marketing priorities and
produce a 3 year action plan
Experience of developing integrated marketing plans – including social media
They may also have Tourism and destination marketing experience
Relevant Strategies and Action Plans – most are available on the
www.beacons-npa.gov.uk/communities
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Tourism Marketing Strategy for the Brecon Beacons 2010
A Strategy and Action Plan for Sustainable Tourism in the Brecon Beacons
2012 – 2016
The Brecon Beacons Visitor Information Plan
The Brecon Beacons Visitor Management Plan 2013
Visit Wales, Partnership for Growth: Strategy for Tourism 2013 - 2020
Individual marketing strategies from local authorities within the Marketing
Group – where available.
The brand guidelines for the new destination brand are available on request
Project Aims
To audit the current marketing performance of the Brecon Beacons Marketing Coordination Group in delivering the existing marketing strategy,
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To identify what is working well
To identify areas for improvement,
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To undertake a gap analysis, in order to identify priorities for expenditure
and action in the coming three years.
To facilitate the development of a 3-year Tourism Marketing Action Plan
working with members of the Brecon Beacons Marketing Coordination
group.
Project Objectives
To produce an effective integrated Tourism Marketing Action Plan, which includes
Marketing, Marketing Communications and Social Media Action Plans that identify
actions, agreement on who does what together with, a timetable and measurable
performance indicators The plan should strengthen the marketing of the Brecon
Beacons as a destination and optimise use of available resources.
The successful consultancy will:
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Undertake a review of relevant strategies, action plans and reports; audit
research, market and performance data and produce a concise report.
Present their findings to the Marketing Co-ordination group
Facilitate workshop/s with the Marketing Co-ordination group to enable
them to develop and own the agreed marketing priorities and three year
action plan including marketing objectives, marketing communications
objectives and social media objectives.
Write up the three year marketing action plan and agreed outcomes from
the facilitated meeting.
Provide recommendations to strengthen marketing, making the best use of
available resources and identifying what skills / activities need to be
contracted to enable effective delivery.
Develop a route map to implement the recommendations and manage
change
Scope and payment schedule
The total budget available for this project is £5,000.
We propose to make a payment of 30% of the budget at the beginning of this project
and the remainder on successful completion of the project.
Deliverables
I. Kick off meeting with Chair and members of Brecon Beacons Marketing
Coordination Group. A project plan including deliverables and a timetable to
be presented at this meeting
II. Presentation of Audit findings to Chair and members of Brecon Beacons
Marketing Coordination Group
III. Minimum of one workshop held with members of Brecon Beacons
Marketing Coordination Group
IV. Tourism Marketing Action Plan 2015 to 2018, submitted electronically, to
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include:
 Plans for Marketing, Marketing Communications and Social Media to
include measurable performance indicators, who does what by when
together with realistic budget estimates
 Recommendations on strengthening the marketing, optimising resources
and on what skills and activities should be contracted to support the
delivery of the action plan
 Route map to include options to implement recommendations and
manage change
Project Key Performance Indicators
The performance of the contractor on this project will be assessed and reviewed
against the following primary performance indicators:
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Production of the deliverables outlined above to time and to budget as
outlined in the proposal, and to expected quality thresholds
The project will be reviewed against these criteria following delivery of the final
report.
Project Timescale
The deadline for receipt of applications is 12.00 Noon 14 January 2015
We will shortlist on 15-16 January and shortlisted applicants will then be invited to
interview, which will be held Tuesday 20 January 2015 we would be grateful if you
could save this date.
It is our intention to select a consulting company by Friday 23rd January 2015.
The total project timescale shall be 10 weeks with the final report submitted by
Friday 10th April 2015.
Project Proposal and Format of Response
The Brecon Beacons Marketing coordination Group is seeking proposals to include
details of:
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Your intended approach to the work
Anticipated names and CVs of the staff who will be carrying out the project
Your proposal should include a draft project timetable for your proposals.
Details of your experience and capabilities in relevant areas
A fixed fee cost including expenses to produce the deliverables required.
Two referees who are able to testify to the consultant’s competence on
similar projects - these references may be taken up by the selection panel
Provide evidence of professional indemnity insurance
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Informal Discussion
Consultants are welcome to contact Elizabeth Jeffreys, Chair: Brecon Beacons
Marketing Coordination Group for an informal discussion before submitting a
tender. Her contact details are:
Email: elizabeth@jeffreys.org.uk Mobile: 07870 610068
Proposal Criteria
In submitting a tender for the Tourism Marketing Strategy & Action Plan Audit the
tenderers are offering to execute and complete the work required to be performed
in accordance with the details given in the brief. Tenderers are tendering at their
expense.
The criteria the tenders will be assessed against will include (not necessarily in order
of priority):
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Reputation and experience
Knowledge / expertise
Quality of project team
Proposed approach and timetable
Value for money
Financial stability, confidentiality and quality assurance
The Brecon Beacons Marketing Coordination Group reserves the right not to
accept the lowest, or any, tender
The successful tenderer will enter into an agreement with the Brecon Beacons
National Park Authority acting on behalf of the Marketing Group to undertake the
work for the fixed tender price and within the timescales noted above. Your
submission should be comprehensive but concise. The selection panel may interview
prospective consultants prior to making an appointment
Proposal’s should be submitted by email to:
Carol Williams – carol.williams@beacons-npa.gov.uk
The deadline for receipt of applications is 12noon Wednesday 14th January
2015
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Background
In 2010, Visit Wales granted the Brecon Beacons National Park ‘Destination’ status.
For the first time the area was able to stand alone as a destination in its own right.
The same year a ‘Tourism Marketing Strategy for the Brecon Beacons’ was
commissioned by the Brecon Beacons Marketing Co-ordination Group, made up of
the key players in tourism marketing of the area , particularly the Local Authorities,
Brecon Beacons National Park Authority and Brecon Beacons Tourism. This was
subsequently updated in the development of the Sustainable Tourism Strategy for
the Brecon Beacons in 2012.
Vision
In 2016, the Brecon Beacons is well established and recognised as a leading rural
destination for sustainable tourism in the UK, receiving appropriate levels of business year
round. Visitors appreciate the high quality, well-maintained and varied landscapes as well
as the cultural and historic heritage of the area, which in turn benefit from tourism. The
National Park Authority, their public sector partners, tourism businesses, local communities
and other interests work effectively together to ensure the ongoing success and quality of
the visitor experience and of the destination as a whole.
During 2014 /15 the management of the destination has seen a period of significant
change. The sustainable development partnership has been re-organised and the
way that key funders Visit Wales work has also been re-organised. We now wish to
design a strategy and action plan to ensure that all elements of the marketing
infrastructure are integrated and that work delivers partner objectives for marketing
the destination. We require a plan that responds to visitor and market needs and
supports Visit Wales’s strategic priorities. Namely delivering key elements of the
tourism strategy under the five themes - Promotion, Place, Product, People and
Profitable Performance. In this context ‘The Tourism Marketing Strategy and Action
Plan’ need’s to be audited and revised to provide the Action Plan for 2015 to 2018
Brecon Beacons Marketing Coordination Group
The Marketing Group comprises representatives from: the Brecon Beacons National
Park Authority’s tourism, communications and visitor services teams, Powys,
Monmouthshire and Carmarthenshire County Council’s senior tourism officers, the
trade is represented by two Directors of Brecon Beacons Tourism plus three other
trade representatives (N.B. These representatives are already giving significant
profile to the BBNP area in their own marketing) together with a representative
from Visit Wales’s regional engagement team.
Marketing Focus 2014/15
The marketing focus for 2014/15:
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Improving the content and functionality of the destination website
www.breconbeacons.org
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Maintaining the online visitor survey and finding new ways to increase the
profile of this survey
Rolling out the visitor facing destination brand for the Brecon Beacons
Strengthening business engagement
Maintaining an agreed PR and Social Media plan with all partners and the
external PR consultants.
Key Achievements 2014 to October.
The destination website is achieving good rankings in the search engines achieving
1,499,177 visits and 265,545 unique visitors (71.1% were new to the site) since the
beginning of January 2014.
The area has enjoyed significant media coverage achieving £475,337 in value and a
reach of over 29 million for the period April to the end of October.
The key stakeholders are also engaged in marketing the destination in their own
right:
Brecon Beacons National Park Authority
The Authority has responsibility for its own website (www.beacons-npa.gov.uk) and
shares responsibility for the destination site (www.breconbeacons.org ) with BBT
(Brecon Beacons Tourism) which is aimed at people wishing to enjoy and explore
the National Park. The Authority runs a Facebook page and several twitter account
which are intended to contribute a “sense of place” further developing a
contribution to the brand for the area. They have recently begun a Instagram feed
and have a youtube channel.
The Authority has a large photo library available for its use although many of the
photos cannot be offered freely to other organisations because of the copyright
restrictions on them. The most recognisable images of the National Park are
probably the central Beacons and Sgwyd y Eira. There is no research on the
penetration in target audiences for this recognition however.
The Authority has a press office which generates approximately 100 news stories a
year - about 90% are picked up locally and about a quarter of which are picked up
by national news and disseminated through news web sites – eg BBC News. These
are often stories about activities and events in the Brecon Beacons National Park
and tend to concentrate on quirky and interesting people as well as support for a
range of sustainable (green) activities. The designation of the National Park as a
Dark Skies Reserve – one of only five in the world – was very popular nationally and
internationally
Approximately half of the park area has been granted Geopark status. Dark Skies in
the Brecon Beacons does not have a visual brand in its own right (though there is a
logo) and some impressive photography associated with it. Geopark does have its
own visual identity and a visitor/resource centre, it is a sub-brand which sits below
the Brecon Beacons National Park in the branding hierarchy. The Authority is the
guardian of all the above brands.
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A recent report (the Brecon Beacons National Park Character Landscape
Assessment) produced on the area for the National Park Authority described the
unique features of the landscape and characterized them into groups – the report is
available on the Authority’s website if required.
Brecon Beacons National Park Authority Sustainable Tourism
Department and Rural Alliances.
The National Park Authority’s Sustainable Tourism Department generally works on
a project basis gaining external funding to achieve its objectives a key one is
developing the area as a recognised sustainable tourism destination. Some of the
projects generate awards for businesses with their own logos for businesses to use –
for example the Ambassador Scheme which trains businesses about the National
Park, or the Green Tourism Business Scheme, which recognises sustainable practise
and is run in partnership with an external commercial certification company. When
relevant, funders require logos to be placed prominently on activity generated using
their support.
There have been two Interreg projects funded by the European Union.
COLLABOR8 came to an end in June 2012 but has had a limited extension to fund
this and other projects. Rural Alliances started when COLLABOR8 finished and is
has extended the work of clusters formed under the earlier project into local
communities. Much of the European funding support has been used to help establish
product development and marketing activity for different activity groups and
towns/villages.
Work under both projects has included the development of separate “brands” for
individual towns/villages across the National Park.
IThe Sustainable Tourism Department and Brecon Beacons Tourism have a
collective database of 1,200 businesses with approx 850 of their email addresses.
County Councils
There are 9 County Councils with land which falls within the National Park
boundaries. Powys County Council has the largest percentage of land within the
Park. Powys (a relatively large county) has traditionally marketed itself as Mid Wales
and the Brecon Beacons – with limited mention of the National Park designation.
Powys has its own identity. Similarly the other County Councils with land in the
National Park have been tasked with marketing the whole of their areas not
differentiating the National Park area as special or different in character to the rest
of their counties. Monmouthshire have identified an area of the Brecon Beacons as a
destination in its own right and channel publicity resource to it accordingly .
Brecon Beacons Tourism
Brecon Beacons Tourism is the key trade partner on the Brecon Beacons Marketing
Co-ordination Group and the main partner for the National Park Authority on the
destination website. Brecon Beacons Tourism is a membership organization, which
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represents over 220 businesses and activity providers working in tourism, including
key privately owned attractions and holiday agencies. Currently members pay to
join and the organisation also receives some funding from the destination allocation
from Tourism Partnership Mid Wales / Visit Wales. The organisation also receives
revenue from selling advertising on the destination website. The organisation
manages the Brecon Beacons Online year- round visitor survey which has been run
continuously since 2009 averaging over 1000 responses each year from visitors
following their visit. The results of which will be made available
On behalf of the the Brecon Beacons Marketing Coordination Group, Brecon
Beacons Tourism manages the Destination PR contract with the PR company
Alexandra Marr Associates (AMA) who promote the destination mainly through the
travel press. The focus is on pitching stories, responding to travel media enquiries,
sending out event and activity information, special packages, and offers from tourism
businesses as well as organising Familiarisation trips for travel writers. They write a
number of blogs and articles for various online media including the Visit Britain blog
and Wales Online.
They also undertake the Social Media Activity for the Destination including:
Daily activity, posts, images and bulletins on Facebook & Twitter and Pinterest. They
administrate the following pages:
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Brecon Beacons
Crickhowell Walking Festival
Hay-on-Wye Walking Festival
Llandovery Sheep Festival
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Businesses in the National Park
Many (though not all) of the businesses in and near the National Park promote
themselves and their activities using their proximity to the National Park as a
positive feature for their clients. The different businesses each choose their own
way of marketing the area and probably the only thing they have in common in their
representation are the use of the words Brecon Beacons National Park and some
concentration in images on either the Waterfalls or the Central Beacons as places to
visit. And on the Festivals & Events in the area that have a national and /or an
international reputation e.g the Hay Festival, the Green Man, Abergavenny Food
Festival and Brecon Jazz
Key businesses and organisations that feature the Brecon Beacons National Park
include:, Brecon Beacons Holiday Cottages, The National Trust, Penderyn Whisky
and Brecon Carreg.
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