India Trade and PR Representation

The State of Utah Division of Purchasing, in coordination with the Governor's Office of Economic Development, is issuing a Request for Statements of Qualifications (RFSQ) for India Trade and PR Representation services under Utah Procurement Code 63G-6a Part 15 for Design Professional Service Providers and Consultants. The procurement seeks a qualified vendor to provide a comprehensive range of professional services focused on enhancing Utah's economic and tourism impact in India over a five-year contract term. Key deliverables include developing and executing annual travel trade and public relations plans, managing relationships with tour operators and travel agencies through a minimum of 40 training and education sales calls per fiscal year, executing quarterly sales calls with top accounts, developing at least two cooperative marketing programs annually, planning and attending industry trade shows, organizing familiarization tours with established key performance indicators, implementing a media outreach program to amplify earned media coverage, distributing press releases and pitches, managing in-market social media channels with 3-4 posts weekly, generating quarterly and monthly reports, and collaborating with the Utah Office of Tourism on consumer activations and digital campaigns. Mandatory vendor qualifications include the ability to travel to the United States, established offices or an account manager in India, demonstrated public relations experience with consumer and travel trade media, travel trade experience in tourism environments, willingness to participate in committee interviews, and submission of proposals not exceeding 40 pages. The evaluation process consists of three stages: Stage 1 confirms mandatory qualifications; Stage 2 evaluates technical criteria across four categories totaling 70 points, including demonstrated knowledge of public relations, consumer awareness, social media, and travel trade experience (25 points), staff qualifications and Utah/U.S. product knowledge (15 points), and a marketing plan with return on investment proposal for 2026-2027 promotion of Utah in India with an $80,000 budget (30 points), with vendors required to achieve a minimum score of 70 percent to advance; and Stage 3 consists of a 45-minute virtual interview conducted via Zoom where the proposed account manager presents the marketing plan and responds to committee questions (30 points). The solicitation was posted on May 14, 2026, with a submission deadline of June 11, 2026, and all questions must be submitted through the U3P online procurement platform during the designated question and answer period.

This procurement contains no specific set-aside designations or restrictions based on disadvantaged enterprise status; however, vendors must comply with anti-boycott provisions under Utah Code Annotated 63G-27 and certify they are not providing forced labor products or contracting with restricted foreign entities under UCA 63G-6a-121. No incumbent vendors or current contractors are identified in the solicitation materials. Contractors must demonstrate strong knowledge of Utah as a tourism destination and maintain fluency with Salesforce CRM and Asana project management tools, ensuring integration with existing systems used by the Utah Office of Tourism. The contractor will staff the account with specifically approved personnel who may only be replaced with written approval from the Utah Office of Tourism demonstrating equivalent or superior qualifications. Funding is derived from the Tourism Marketing Performance Account, with exact annual budgets determined by the Board of Tourism Development and Utah Office of Tourism staff; compensation will be negotiated with the highest-ranked vendor following selection based on qualifications, with the state retaining the right to proceed with negotiations with the next highest-ranked vendor if fair and reasonable terms cannot be agreed upon with the top-ranked firm. Vendors must note that pricing information should not be included in qualification submissions, as this is a qualifications-based selection process where compensation will be determined through direct negotiation post-award.