RFP 27-14 Hilo Urban Trails Content and Experience Development

The Hawaii Tourism Authority is requesting proposals for professional services to plan and develop content, storytelling, trail framework, visitor orientation, and community engagement components for the Hilo Urban Trails Project under RFP 27-14, with proposals due August 31, 2026 at 2:00 PM Hawaii Standard Time and written questions due July 31, 2026 at 2:00 PM HST.

Minimum qualifications require ten years of professional experience in tourism, destination management, visitor experience development, cultural interpretation, community engagement, trail planning, or related fields. Offerors must obtain a Certificate of Vendor Compliance and maintain minimum insurance coverage of $1,000,000 per occurrence for commercial general liability and $1,000,000 for automobile liability.

Deliverables include a Hilo urban trail framework, interpretive content and storytelling materials, community and business participation plans, visitor orientation and wayfinding concepts, participatory engagement strategies, non-construction physical activation materials, and implementation-ready digital content packages. Proposals must include detailed budgets itemizing project management, trail framework development, content development, community engagement, physical activation materials, and reporting, along with hourly rates and personnel allocation.

The fixed-price contract is not to exceed $225,000 for the initial eight-month contract term from October 2026 to May 31, 2027, with no renewal options. Funding is provided through U.S. Economic Development Administration Funds. The State reserves the right to adjust funds based on proposal quality or to cancel the solicitation entirely.

Evaluation criteria are experience and qualifications (20 points), proposed approach (40 points), past performance and case studies (20 points), references (5 points), and price (15 points). Priority-listed offerors will be notified the week of September 14, 2026; contract award is estimated for the week of September 21, 2026. Contract performance is scheduled to begin the week of October 5, 2026. Proposals must be submitted via the Hawaii State eProcurement System (HIePRO).