ETC intends to commission the development and execution of a promotional campaign targeted towards the US market to a marketing agency. The overall purpose of the project is to increase the share of sustainable tourists into the Nordic region in order to help reboot Nordic tourism in a sustainable way. The project will consist of multiple communication channels, including digital, in-person and print.

The promotional campaign is targeted at High-spending Free Independent Travellers Explorers and must be well-suited for the niche community of travellers with a specific interest in adventure & nature and outdoor as well as urban experiences. These travellers seek out personalised and meaningful experiences, including private tours, outdoor activities, unique accommodations and engaging with the locals as well as local gastronomy and traditions.

DELIVERABLES

1) Engagement of US Travel Trade Networks and Associations

In the US travel trade market, networking is essential for successful product development and strategic campaign work. Due to the size of the US market, it is essential to network with a selected, relevant group of tour operators. The contractor is therefore expected to negotiate and implement communication campaigns with 3 travel trade networks and associations which will help to raise awareness about the Nordic countries among the US travel trade.

These networks and associations are:

1. Adventure Travel Trade Association (ATTA)

2. Signature Travel Network

3. Virtuoso Travel Network

2) Nordic FAM trip

The contractor must plan at least one or more Nordic familiarization (FAM) trips to represent the region and all Nordic countries involved. If the contractor organises multiple FAM trips, each FAM trip should include at least 2 (two) Nordic countries. The contractor shall come up with relevant options and discuss them with Nordic Consortium’s US project group. The contractor is expected to recruit and invite relevant tour operators, buyers and advisors and shall be responsible for flights and land arrangements. The contractor must liaise with the relevant tourism board(s) to contact the relevant suppliers in the featured countries. These suppliers often have to be involved in covering/helping with land arrangements.

3) Nordic Tour Operator Campaign

The contractor must design, plan and implement an awareness-raising campaign together with multiple US tour operators, to be identified by the contractor. The campaign shall target both B2B and B2C audiences across various relevant digital channels and include at least 3 (three) transnational tours in the Nordic countries, representing all countries. The campaign must include a call-to-action, i.e. with products on the websites of the operators in order to guide the traveller through the region.

4) Engagement of US Trade Media in the Nordic Project

The contractor is expected to develop and enhance communication with the US trade media in order to raise awareness of the Nordic project in the US trade media. This may include the promotion of campaign elements through various relevant techniques and channels as well as raising awareness about new travel routes in the Nordic countries. The contractor must take care of all aspects to implement and manage the assignment.

5) Engagement of US B2C Media in the Nordic Project

The contractor must design and implement at least one B2C campaign to raise awareness about the Nordic countries to the target audience as described in 1.2 Project description. The campaign should be distributed through paid and/or earned media in relevant US travel media outlets. The B2C campaign must showcase all Nordic countries and highlight new travel routes to encourage the target audience to travel to the Nordic countries in a more sustainable way.

KPIs

The contractor shall include in the proposal any estimated outputs and campaign deliverables. The proposal should describe and define in detail the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that will be used, their related target values and how they will be verified for the campaign as a whole in the final campaign report. These include but are not limited to:

• Campaign impressions;

• Engagement rate;

• Clicks and click-through-rate;

• Page views and unique visitors;

• Number of campaign assets;

• Media publications and reach;

• Consumer reach;

• Number of established trade contacts;

• Records of all details of the familiarization trip(s) and related visibility;

• Overview of products sold during the campaign or included in the portfolio of participating buyers in the familiarization trips