Smithsonian Domestic Tours for Middle and High School Students

The Smithsonian Institution wishes to expand its travel offerings to include educational travel experiences in Washington, DC and other domestic (inside of the United States) locations for middle and high school students reflective of the Smithsonian brand (the "Program"). The Smithsonian, through its Smithsonian Enterprises (SE) Travel division, is seeking a travel company to develop, promote, sell, operate, and administer the Program. A central goal for the Program is to ensure that each traveler has the opportunity to experience high quality, innovative travel offerings that are infused with the characteristics and reputation of the Smithsonian brand, and that demonstrate the Smithsonian mission of "the increase and diffusion of knowledge" and that include possible themes of art, culture, history and science. SE anticipates receiving a royalty on the revenue generated from the sale of tours to each traveler, and anticipates a program launch in the Fall of 2018 with marketing and sales, with the first departures in the spring and summer of 2019, or sooner, if able.

This is not a solicitation for a federal contract and is therefore not governed by federal procurement procedures.

The RFP will be available on or about March 10, 2017. Please note: The Smithsonian anticipates the need to disclose certain confidential information about its business activities during the RFP process. As a result, we will require that requestors sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement prior to receiving a copy of the RFP. If your company is interested in working with the Smithsonian to develop the Program, please contact Susan Engelhardt via email at engelhardts@si.edu to request a copy of the non-disclosure agreement. Proposals are due on April 18, 2017. Requested materials must be submitted by the deadline in order to be considered.

Thank you for your interest.