REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
Notice is hereby given that proposals will be received by the City of Kirkland, Washington, for:
Tourism Community Currency Program Consultant
File with Purchasing Agent, Finance Department, 123 – 5th Ave, Kirkland WA, 98033
Proposals received later than 12:00 p.m. on November 12th, 2021 will not be considered.
A copy of this Request for Proposal (RFP) may be obtained from City’s web site at https://www.kirklandwa.gov/. Click on the Business tab at the top of the page and then click on the Request for Proposals link found under “Doing Business with the City”.
The City of Kirkland reserves the right to reject any and all proposals, and to waive irregularities and informalities in the submittal and evaluation process. This RFP does not obligate the City to pay any costs incurred by respondents in the preparation and submission of a proposal. Furthermore, the RFP does not obligate the City to accept or contract for any expressed or implied services.
A Service Provider response that indicates that any of the requested information in this RFP will only be provided if and when the Service Provider is selected as the apparently successful Service Provider is not acceptable, and, at the City’s sole discretion, may disqualify the proposal from consideration.
The City requires that no person shall, on the grounds of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, age, marital status, political affiliation, sexual orientation, or the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be otherwise subjected to discrimination under any program or activity. The City further assures that every effort will be made to ensure non-discrimination in all of its programs and activities, whether those programs are federally funded or not.
In addition to nondiscrimination compliance requirements, the Service Provider(s) ultimately awarded a contract shall comply with federal, state and local laws, statutes and ordinances relative to the execution of the work. This requirement includes, but is not limited to, protection of public and employee safety and health; environmental protection; waste reduction and recycling; the protection of natural resources; permits; fees; taxes; and similar subjects.
Purpose of Request
The City of Kirkland, herein referred to as “City”, is soliciting proposals from qualified consultants to create, execute, manage, promote and report on a tourism incentive program that incorporates a Kirkland-branded community currency ‘voucher’ as the incentive element to encourage hotel stays and local shopping for benefit of local hotels and businesses. The City seeks expert implementation and deployment services to implement this tourism incentive program, to link it to the existing Shop Local Kirkland initiative and the Explore Kirkland tourism program and platforms, and ensure broad uptake from Kirkland hotels, businesses and tourists. The consultant must be able to design the community currency incentive program; establish and manage the backend administration and voucher issuance process; create the public relations, marketing and advertising campaign and collateral; ensure robust uptake on the part of Kirkland hotels and local businesses and ensure their onboarding with the program; promote the program broadly using multiple platforms and strategies to reach tourists both local and more than 50 miles away; and analyze, track and report on the program metrics during and after the program timeframe.
The City requests firm-fixed-price proposals to provide the above services for two program periods of approximately 3 months each:
- the first anticipated to commence in winter 2021/22, and;
- the second during the fall/winter period 2022/23.
These dates may be subject to change based on consolations with the selected contractor and stakeholders
Dated this 21st day of October, 2021
Jay Gewin
Purchasing Agent
425-587-3123
City of Kirkland
jgewin@kirklandwa.gov
