RFP 27-17 Hawaii Tourism Destination Brand Marketing China MMA

The Hawaii Tourism Authority is requesting proposals for destination brand marketing services for the Hawaiian Islands within the China major market area under RFP 27-17, with proposals due August 17, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time. The scope is limited to leisure travel marketing; Meetings, Conventions & Incentives (MCI) market segment activities are expressly excluded.

Services encompass consumer marketing, public relations, travel trade engagement, partnerships, and owned channel management. The contractor must achieve three key performance indicators: grow total visitor arrivals by 5% year-over-year, grow total visitor expenditures by 6.5% year-over-year, and increase the average number of islands visited per person by 0.5% year-over-year across all three contract years. The contractor must achieve 85% of approved activity measures and maintain alignment with HTA Brand Guidelines. Activity measures include consumer paid media reach and impressions, travel trade paid media, public relations outputs (media interactions, press releases, earned media stories, familiarization trips), consumer shows, travel trade meetings and trade show participation, and social media metrics across Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

This is a fixed-price contract with a not-to-exceed total compensation of $1.85 million over a thirty-six-month term: $500,000 for January–December 2027, $500,000 for January–December 2028, and $850,000 for January–December 2029. Contract performance commences January 1, 2027. Funding is from Hawaii State General Funds.

Evaluation criteria are weighted as follows: Overall Capabilities of Firm and Qualifications of Personnel (35 points), Brand Marketing Plan (35 points), Familiarity with Hawaii Brand and Product (15 points), Cost Points Conversion (6 points), and Price Reasonableness and Realism (9 points). Proposals are due electronically through the Hawaii eProcurement System (HIePRO). Priority-listed offeror selection and notification are anticipated the week of August 24, 2026; oral presentations with priority-listed offerors are scheduled for the week of August 31, 2026 if needed. Best and Final Offer deadline and Notice of Award are also estimated for the week of August 31, 2026. Prior to award, the successful offeror must obtain a Certificate of Vendor Compliance demonstrating compliance with applicable state tax, employment, workers' compensation, disability insurance, health care, and corporate standing requirements. Required insurance includes $3,000,000 commercial general liability, $1,000,000 automobile liability, and $3,000,000 errors and omissions. A 0.75% transaction fee (not to exceed $5,000 for the total contract term) is payable to Tyler Technologies for HIePRO use. Offerors must submit at least three professional references demonstrating prior experience as a prime contractor on similar projects.