By Greg Hazley
Israel’s Ministry of Tourism has put out an RFP for PR agencies in the U.K. and Ireland to award a contract for up to five years promoting the country as a tourism destination.
The ministry, which has a London office, wants to reach media, the travel trade, and consumers – both general and Jewish – in the U.K., Ireland and Scotland under the scope of work outlined in the RFP.
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Melissa Ramsden, PR manager for the tourism office, told O'Dwyer's that the ministry does not currently have a PR firm in the U.K.
Travel to Israel from the U.K. was down 8% through June 2010 in-line with a seven percent decline since 2008. The ministry wants to boost Christian travel by 25% annually and overall bookings by 15%, according to its goals for the U.K.
The RFP for the U.K. follows a move by Israel’s Foreign Ministry in January to seek PR support in several European countries to pitch the country’s tourism, industry and culture and move beyond the narrative that associates it with its tense relationships in the Arab world.
Rubenstein Associates, MWW Group and 5W PR are among agencies that have worked for the Israeli tourism ministry in the U.S. since 2004.
Agencies that work for Greece, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Turkey, Cyprus and the Palestinian Authority are excluded from the U.K. review process as they are viewed as competing destinations by the ministry of tourism.
The call for pitches asks that PR firms have a London-area office and be “expert in tourism destination management and promotion” with prior experience with a regional tourism organization covering at least an area with 100,000 residents. Agencies must have at least five staffers and have billed at least from £600K-£1.2M in annual PR fees in the target areas.
The tourism ministry is spending about £1M annually on advertising in the U.K. market.
Proposals are due by Feb. 22.
Click for a copy of the RFP (PDF).
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