Accidentally discovered in the WeChat group "Suzhou Municipal Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau's Tender Announcement on Suzhou's Promotion and Marketing Project of North American Tourist Sources"，This is a rare recent case of integrated marketing for inbound tourism，Let’s talk about inbound tourism marketing again，During this period, I did not have any communication with my colleagues in Suzhou regarding this bidding case，It’s all about patting the head。

Everyone knows，Almost all destination marketing projects carried out by domestic cultural and tourism institutions at all levels are carried out through government public bidding。Carefully study these public bidding plans，Can understand the ideas of destination agencies at all levels in carrying out marketing projects、path、Funds、Strategy and other information，You can see the whole thing at a glance。

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Suzhou Culture and Tourism Bureau’s funding for the North American tourist source promotion and marketing project is 2 million yuan，One destination city invests 2 million yuan in a single overseas market，This is probably all Suzhou’s marketing expenses for the North American market，Compared with the business carried out，The amount of funds is not high；On the other hand，Compared to other domestic destination cities，Especially in central and western cities，This amount is huge，The total overseas marketing funds in most cities are far from reaching the million level。Naturally, there are suggestions from industry experts，Why not Suzhou、Jiangsu and even the country’s overseas marketing funds are put together and used，There is considerable difficulty here，Except fiscal system、Except for government bidding system and other restrictions，Also because of the city、Province、Different overseas marketing strategies and different marketing priorities and other factors for destinations at various levels such as countries。

About Destination Marketing Company

"The purchasing unit hopes to continue its North American marketing activities，Increase the share of Suzhou cultural tourism products in the North American market，Enhance the quantity and quality of Suzhou cultural tourism products that consumers can choose from，Also guide North American travel agencies，Enable them to better sell products as a destination in Suzhou，Achieve growth in the number of North American inbound and overnight tourists in Suzhou。This tender is looking for companies with experience in tourism destination marketing management，Based on the marketing results achieved in the North American market，Work closely with purchasing units and various cultural and tourism enterprises，Develop a year-long series of innovative activity plans to promote Suzhou culture and tourism。”

The bidding plan mentioned that "this bidding intends to look for companies with experience in tourism destination marketing management"，It is safe to say that this company will not be an inbound travel agency，Because the winning bidder must "cooperate closely with the purchasing unit and various cultural and tourism enterprises"，If an inbound travel agency wins the bid，Then it is a big problem to cooperate with other inbound travel agencies to complete marketing project tasks，For business interests consideration，Other inbound travel agencies find it difficult to cooperate。There are only a handful of domestic institutions that can independently carry out overseas destination marketing，And even fewer have “experience” in channel integrated marketing，This issue will be discussed below。

About marketing performance appraisal

In recent years，Domestic cultural and tourism institutions at all levels are bidding for destination marketing projects，More and more, the “actual number of tourists visiting” is 188bet app used as the main indicator of marketing performance evaluation。As required in the bidding plan, "focus on promoting the sales of Suzhou routes by North American travel agents，Effectively increase the actual number of North American tourists visiting Suzhou”，And it is further clarified that “the reception volume of the top 20 travel agents in North America who have sold Suzhou tourism products in the previous year is based on the base number，Ensure that the data will increase by no less than 15% year-on-year during the contract period。”Such a condition，Production of marketing content for the winning bidder、Product Organization、Channel integration and mobilization、High requirements for comprehensive destination marketing capabilities such as online channel promotion，Instead of "exposure"、Bad data such as “influence” as marketing performance indicators，Talk directly to the number of people。Such a simple advertising company、It will be very difficult for media companies to win such a case。

About product channels

The main problem in China’s inbound tourism marketing is its long-term focus on image promotion，There is no systematic connection and sinking into the channel，Form a complete marketing system。This plan mentions "targeting the North American market (United States)"、Canada) Top 100 travel agents, especially the top 20 travel agents，Propose a detailed marketing plan。Including but not limited to: providing Suzhou route sales report for travel agents，Develop a top travel agent partner reward program，Organize travel agents to experience in Jiangsu。”There is a flaw here，No clear "ranking" rules，Contact context，Guess it should be ranked according to the number of visitors from travel agents selling Suzhou tourism products。In other words，The purpose of this tender is to discover and stabilize product channels，Instead of developing expansion channels。For domestic inbound travel agency channels，The plan proposes “targeting 15 major domestic travel agencies that are deeply involved in inbound tourism to North America，Propose a detailed marketing plan。Including but not limited to: providing Suzhou route sales report for travel agents，Develop a top travel agent partner reward program。”，This way，The plan also puts forward bidding requirements for overseas travel agent channels and domestic inbound travel agent channels，And the quantity and quality requirements for channel providers are still very high。

Recent，Ctrip enters the inbound tourism business with high profile，In the future, it is inevitable to deal with destination agencies at all levels，Maybe I have to place a bid or something，But there are bidding requirements for product channels，I guess the folks at Ctrip also had to take a breath。

Initiate mobilization and integration of overseas and offline inbound travel agency channels，That is, destination marketing channel management，Is an important strategy for inbound tourism marketing，It is also an important part of the destination marketing system of developed countries。For these things，OTAs such as Ctrip and Tongcheng at Suzhou’s doorstep don’t seem to have figured out the routine yet，This phenomenon does not only appear in inbound tourism marketing，Also includes marketing projects cooperated by OTAs and overseas tourism bureaus，Also includes domestic marketing projects in cooperation between OTA and domestic cultural and tourism institutions。

About inbound tourism products

Develop inbound tourism products accepted by overseas travel agents and included in the product line，This task returns to the core business capabilities of inbound travel agencies。If the bidding company does not have inbound tourism product development and design talents，Still a troublesome thing。Proposal requirement "Encourage and assist North American travel agents to create and sell 3 new Suzhou itineraries of two nights or more，Highlighting the unique experience of North American tourists，Provide detailed plan，Update Suzhou tourism products or route promotional materials currently being promoted in North America，Update activities held during the procurement service period and Suzhou tourism new product promotional materials，Print and distribute at least 1,000 copies to relevant North American tourism operators。"Although not explicitly stated，There is a "pit" here，188bet app How to avoid “unreasonably low-priced products”，This is a problem that both parties will face in the future，Don’t forget: East China is the hardest hit area for unreasonably low-priced tours！Also，Preparing tourism product brochures is the basic activity of destination marketing，But there are many companies that cannot do this。

About channel docking

Destination reception is an important part of inbound tourism，Although the plan proposes "to hold 3 seminars for local travel agencies in Suzhou，On the outbound travel trends and travel delivery system in the North American market、Building and Deepening Business in the North American Travel Industry、Work together to formulate new Suzhou products and routes and provide detailed plans。”，However, no clear indicators were provided for the number of participants in the seminar and the final results，This is a small problem with the bidding plan，This is also where the winning bidder “saves money”。

About travel exhibition

Destination marketing companies or travel agencies represent destination organizations to participate in tourism exhibitions，It is a common practice in many countries and regions，Program Requirement "Represent the purchasing unit at North America including the United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA)、Important travel industry events or exhibitions including the US International Travel Trade Fair (IPW)，No less than 5，And provide participation plan，Including but not limited to basis for participation、Activity scale and expected results, etc.。”。For a very expensive exhibition participation scale，The plan does not make clear requirements，The bidding company breathed a sigh of relief，However, it should be clear that the winning bidder will organize North American travel agency channels to participate in these exhibitions，This is a small shortcoming。For example, in recent years，Overseas travel agency channel partners in Shandong Province participate in tourism exhibitions on behalf of destination agencies，Combining image and products at the exhibition，Blooming everywhere，The effect is obvious。

About the destination inspection

Organize overseas travel agents to visit destinations，Optimistic results for destination agencies，The more the merrier。But in accordance with the relevant financial system，Quite a few areas in China cannot directly afford to reimburse overseas travel agents for their international transportation expenses，So we separately organize overseas travel agents to visit destinations，Very unlikely。The plan focuses on: "Organize at least 20 influential travel agents in North America and 15 major domestic travel agents who are deeply involved in inbound tourism in North America to conduct a 6-day and 5-night Suzhou experience tour (big transportation、And accommodation during stay in Suzhou、Catering、Visiting and other expenses will be borne by the winning bidder)。”International transportation costs for more than 20 people between China, the United States and China，Not a decimal，This is a relatively large “hard” cost in the plan。

About Tourism Roadshow

For quite a long time，There are two unclear distinctions in inbound tourism marketing，One is: I can’t distinguish between destination marketing roadshow activities for peers and marketing promotions for the public in source countries，Operation modes of both、Confused、Communication form、The participants are very different，If they are mixed together without distinction，The effect can be imagined；Another one is: I can’t distinguish between travel exhibitions for the industry and travel exhibitions for the public，Confused，It is often difficult to find a way out of a tree。The plan states: "Hold a professional promotion meeting for more than 30 travel agents and industry media in a central city in North America。”，This is a peer roadshow。But this "central city" is really not a good choice，There is also a small problem that there is no requirement for the quality and effect of the road show，Easy to become formal。

About email marketing

Very simple marketing method，Marketing results are often very good，For example, email marketing。Although it’s not clear，You can still use "Issuing bimonthly new information on Suzhou culture and tourism to the North American tourism industry。"Understood 188bet Online Sports Betting and Casino as email marketing，Unfortunately, there are no quantity and quality requirements。

About marketing content copyright

After many copyright lawsuits，More and more destination agencies are realizing the importance of copyright in marketing content，And it is fully copyrighted。Therefore，Clear copyright requirements in destination marketing bidding plans，Very important。Program "All videos related to this procurement project during this procurement service period、Picture、The copyright of text data belongs to the purchasing unit。”The request is very necessary，It would be better if you add various promotional material design copyrights。

About the destination foreign language website

The construction and maintenance of the foreign language website of the destination is the basic work in inbound tourism marketing，Play the role of information hub in destination integrated marketing projects，So website maintenance is an important part of the destination’s overseas integrated marketing。The plan’s requirements for website maintenance include: “Develop 188bet Online Sports Betting and Casino a detailed website maintenance plan and a detailed website promotion plan；Ensure that the number of visitors to the website will increase by 15% during the one-year contract period；Ensure that at least 1,000 North American tourists book travel routes to Suzhou through this website during the one-year contract period and make the trip；Update homepage picture every month，Page integration for Suzhou tourism promotion activities that occur online，Update website travel routes and product library monthly；Improve website ranking by editing website index and other methods。”In these requirements，"Ensuring that at least 1,000 North American tourists book travel routes to Suzhou through this website and make the trip" is a troublesome matter，This requires the destination website to have e-commerce functions，I’m afraid it can only be solved by linking to the booking function of overseas travel agency websites，Does this count as “booking through this website”？Our counterparts in Suzhou Culture and Tourism Bureau need to make an idea about this issue as soon as possible。Also，Foreign language websites are also government websites，Problems may occur if you are not careful，There should be clear requirements in future contracts。

About Internet Marketing

Destination marketing must focus on the final effect，But we should also pay attention to the marketing process and methods。By limiting online marketing channels and marketing expense limits，Is the correct way to play in destination marketing project bidding。The plan is aimed at the Internet marketing part of "targeting including social media、Paid promotion on search engines such as Google and other professional recommendation websites，Provide detailed plan，Online tourism promotion fee shall not be less than 20% of the winning bid amount (provide written commitment)；Research on keyword search，Please provide detailed plan；Goals that must be achieved during the contract period: the number of natural visitors increases by more than 15% during the contract execution period。”This means that in this marketing project，Internet marketing expenses reach more than 400,000 yuan，Should be a suitable ratio。There are just some loopholes here，There is no requirement for the source region and the region of visitors for online marketing，Should be added to the contract in the future。It is also different from product keyword search，Destination keyword search is a professional activity of destination marketing，Rare domestic companies have researched this。

About marketing effectiveness evaluation

In the past, there have been destination agencies bidding for marketing projects，Introducing a third-party company to conduct performance evaluation。This time the Suzhou Culture and Tourism Bureau proposed: "The bidders will perform various activities and report every other month。Select a third-party monitor from the designated purchasing unit and guarantee to cooperate with the third-party monitoring company in the monitoring and performance evaluation of this project。A third-party issued an effectiveness evaluation report on the above-mentioned marketing behaviors in the North American market。All KPI indicators are determined by a third party to determine whether 188bet app download they have achieved the promised results。The designated purchasing unit range is as follows: Nielsen、Germany GFK、Social Baker、Klarity、Admaster、Adobe Social or other monitoring service providers of the same level (endorsement from a professional Internet data research institution is required)。”This requirement makes the marketing project more difficult，It still costs a lot of money。However，Whether the above institutions can assess the number of visitors as required，Still a bit professionally difficult。

About joint bidding

“This project does not accept consortium bids” at the end of the plan，Maybe some of the company’s bids were auctioned off。The bidding plan is blocked before being blocked，Block and hit，If bidding requirements are strictly controlled，It is estimated that domestic bidding companies can be counted in one slap。

Hmm，For those who have been busy discussing inbound tourism recently, you can take a look，Look at the doorway。

Attachment: Suzhou Municipal Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau’s Bidding Announcement on Suzhou’s Promotion and Marketing Project for North American Tourist Sources

https://www.zfcg.suzhou.gov.cn/html/project/596726b4b10547de94f003877203ca66.shtml

[Publication time: 2019-10-31]

Suzhou Times Tendering Co., Ltd. is entrusted by Suzhou Municipal Culture, Radio, Television and Tourism Bureau，Conducting domestic public bidding for government procurement of its Suzhou promotion and marketing project for North American tourist destinations。We welcome qualified bidders to bid。The details of this bidding are as follows:

一、Tender number: SZSD2019-G-053

II. Brief description of bidding projects:

1、Tender content: Suzhou promotion and marketing project for North American tourist destinations

2、Purchasing budget: two hundred thousand yuan (￥2000000.00 yuan)

3、Service period: within one year after signing the contract，The specific start time of the project is determined by the purchasing unit

4. Service location: location designated by the purchasing unit

3. Tender content and requirements:

1、Project Overview: The purchasing unit hopes to continue its North American marketing activities，Increase the share of Suzhou cultural tourism products in the North American market，Enhance the quantity and quality of Suzhou cultural tourism products that consumers can choose from，Also guide North American travel agencies，Enable them to better sell products as a destination in Suzhou，Achieve growth in the number of North American inbound and overnight tourists in Suzhou。This tender is looking for companies with experience in tourism destination marketing management，Based on the marketing results achieved in the North American market，Work closely with purchasing units and various cultural and tourism enterprises，Develop a year-long series of innovative activity plans to promote Suzhou culture and tourism。

2、Travel industry promotion: focusing on promoting the sales of Suzhou routes by North American travel agents，Effectively increase the actual number of North American tourists traveling to Suzhou。

2.1 for the North American market (United States)、Canada) Top 100 travel agents, especially the top 20 travel agents，Propose a detailed marketing plan。Including but not limited to: providing Suzhou route sales report for travel agents，Develop a top travel agent partner reward program，Organize travel agents to experience in Jiangsu。

2.2Based on the reception volume of the top 20 travel agents in North America who have sold Suzhou tourism products in the previous year，Ensure that the data will increase by no less than 15% year-on-year during the contract period。

2.3 Targeting 15 major domestic travel agencies that are deeply involved in inbound tourism to North America，Propose a detailed marketing plan。Including but not limited to: providing Suzhou route sales report for travel agents，Develop a top travel agent partner reward program。

2.4 Encourage and assist North American travel agents to create and sell 3 new itineraries for two nights or more in Suzhou，Highlighting the unique experience of North American tourists，Provide detailed plan，Update Suzhou tourism products or route promotional materials currently being promoted in North America，Update activities held during the procurement service period and Suzhou tourism new product promotional materials，Print and distribute at least 1,000 copies to relevant North American tourism operators。

2.5 held 3 seminars for local travel agencies in Suzhou，On the outbound travel trends and travel delivery system in the North American market、Building and Deepening Business in the North American Travel Industry、Work together to formulate new Suzhou products and routes and provide detailed plans。

2.6 represented purchasing units in North America including the United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA)、Important travel industry events or exhibitions including the US International Travel Trade Fair (IPW)，No less than 5，And provide participation plan，Including but not limited to basis for participation、Activity scale and expected results, etc.。

2.7 Organize at least 20 influential travel agents in North America and 15 major domestic travel agents who are deeply involved in inbound tourism in North America to conduct a 6-day and 5-night Suzhou experience tour (big transportation、And accommodation during stay in Suzhou、Catering、Visiting and other expenses will be borne by the winning bidder)。

2.8Hold a professional promotion meeting for more than 30 travel agents and industry media in a central city in North America。

2.9Distribute bimonthly new information on Suzhou culture and tourism to the North American tourism industry。

2.10All videos related to this procurement project during this procurement service period、Picture、The copyright of text data belongs to the purchasing unit。

3、Website maintenance: for the existing Suzhou Tourism North America official website (www.traveltosuzhou.com) for maintenance and updates，Further enhance the visibility of Suzhou Tourism among North American travel agents and tourists through the marketing of this website，And help travel agents achieve sales growth of Suzhou tourist routes through this website。

A、Develop 188bet Online Sports Betting and Casino a detailed website maintenance plan and detailed website promotion plan。

B. Goals to be achieved during the contract period:

(1) Ensure that the number of visitors to the website increases by 15% during the one-year contract period；

(2) Ensure that at least 1,000 North American tourists book travel routes to Suzhou through this website during the one-year contract period and make the trip；

(3) Update homepage picture every month，Page integration for Suzhou tourism promotion activities that occur online，Update website travel routes and product library monthly；

(4) Improve website ranking by editing website index, etc.。

4. Online promotion and marketing

A、Including social media、Paid promotion on search engines such as Google and other professional recommendation websites，Provide detailed plan，Online tourism promotion fee shall not be less than 20% of the winning bid amount (provide written commitment)。

B、Research on keyword search，Please provide detailed plan。

C、Goals that must be achieved during the contract period: the number of natural visitors increases by more than 15% during the contract execution period。

5. Third-party monitoring and performance evaluation

The bidding unit performs various activities and reports every other month。Select a third-party monitor from the designated purchasing unit and guarantee to cooperate with the third-party monitoring company in the monitoring and performance evaluation of this project。A third-party issued an effectiveness evaluation report on the above-mentioned marketing behaviors in the North American market。All KPI indicators are determined by a third party to determine whether 188bet app download they have achieved the promised results。The specified purchasing unit range is as follows:

Nielsen、Germany GFK、SocialBaker、Klarity、Admaster、Adobe Social or other monitoring service providers of the same level (endorsement from a professional Internet data research institution is required)。

4. The bidder shall meet the following conditions:

1. Have the ability to independently bear civil liability;

2、Have good business reputation and sound financial accounting system；

3、Have the necessary equipment and professional technical capabilities to perform the contract；

4、Have a good record of paying taxes and social security funds in accordance with the law；

5、Within three years before participating in government procurement activities，No major illegal records in business activities；

6. Other conditions stipulated by laws and administrative regulations;

7. This project does not accept consortium bids.

……

*Source of this article: WeChat public account "Weituo Yichu" (ID:cn12301），Author: Yan Xiangjun，Dean of Shandong Tourism Vocational College，Expert Author，Original title: "Talk about inbound tourism marketing from a government bidding case - Fengqi Qingping’s Talk No. 82》.