Invitation to tender

Plan your day at the Visitor Information Centre, Centre

Introduction The Department of Transport has awarded funding to Hampshire County Council, New Forest NPA, South Downs NPA, together with the highway authorities of Brighton & Hove, East Sussex, West Sussex, Surrey and Wiltshire to develop initiatives to reduce the impact of traffic on the two National Parks.

The funding has been awarded through the Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF) and will allow the Authorities to focus on:  Improving key public transport services in to the two National Parks  Making it easy to reach visitor attractions within the two National Parks  Promoting travel by cycle, bus and rail to and around the National Parks  Managing traffic effectively within the Parks, so that it does not detract from the visitors’ experience

As part of this funding, we seek to install a ‘plan your day’ interactive area within the New Forest Centre, Lyndhurst. Part of the Centre acts as the Visitor Information Centre for the New Forest destination, and is the only remaining one staffed by Council in their destination management capacity. The Centre received 230,000 visitors in 2014, and there is considerable scope to convey sustainable transport messages within the information and itinerary ideas offered. The plan your day area will complement print and face to face information by offering access to digital based content on sustainable ways of enjoying the New Forest.

The plan your day interactive will enable visitors to access:  Maps  Walking routes  Cycling routes  Itinerary ideas using sustainable transport  Information on the New Forest Tour, a flagship open top bus tour around the Park  Video content on sustainable transport experiences  Other related information as agreed

We are also interested in the possibility of:  Integration with National Park social media channels

The plan your day interactive will be accompanied by WiFi access for visitors and associated graphics. It is envisaged that information will be accessed by touchscreen, but this could be via a table, on the wall or by another device.

The National Park Authority, in commissioning this work, is acting on behalf of a partnership between the Authority, New Forest Centre and New Forest District Council.

Description of work required Aims of the project: To provide sustainable transport information to visitors to the New Forest Centre in an attractive and user friendly way, and which compliments the print and face to face information already available at the Centre.

For the purposes of quoting for the work, submissions should assume:

 That all content or links to content will be provided by the New Forest National Park Authority and partners  That the National Park Authority will share relevant audience research into interests (we have plenty of information on what people are looking for, but not on how they interact with digital information in a visitor centre setting)  That the content will be drawn as far as possible from existing sources of maintained information, for example drawing from data available on the internet  That several people will be able to use the interactive device at once  That the interactive device is easy to use, being fast and responsive  That the visitor can browse the information either via location (e.g. village and surround), activity (e.g. cycling, walking), ability, interest (e.g. wildlife interest itinerary, historic interest itinerary)  Ability to use the software again on another system elsewhere (e.g. other information points)

Prospective suppliers will submit a contract work plan which is expected to include and make provision for:  A start up meeting with New Forest National Park, District Council and New Forest Centre staff to discuss the project and refine the specification  Proposed software and hardware solutions  Design of the installation  A meeting with the partners to sign off the final design proposal  Delivery and installation of hardware including power and cabling and software with instruction

There is additional budget available to deliver training to visitor information staff and volunteers, which will be discussed with the supplier once selected.

Content

The content will consist of:

 Map base. This could use open source as well as bespoke.  Video / audio content, such as is available on our YouTube channel  Cycling routes and cycle map, potentially delivered via a system akin to Cycle Streets  Walking routes  New Forest Tour information  Other bus and train route information

Schedule To be installed by end May 2015, but the equipment purchased and majority of the work carried out before the end of March

Preparing and submitting a quote In the submission, prospective suppliers should show:  The fixed price cost of meeting the commission to include all expenses and costs broken down into different lines- e.g. software development, research, graphics etc.  Evidence of previous relevant work and reference sites  Detailed specification of the proposed methodology/approach  Work schedule to show the steps which enable the commission to be met on the timescales set out in this document  A contract work plan as set out within this document  CVs of those employees who will work on the project

The total budget for this, including the hardware solution is in the region of £40,000

A response to this brief should be submitted to the contact details below by: 5pm on Tuesday 10th February. Responses will be evaluated on price (20%) and quality (80%). Quality will be evaluated by ease of use by public, ease of use by those maintaining it, meeting audience needs and the level of compatibility with other sources of information. A previous track record in delivering this type of application will also be taken into account.

The appointment will be announced by 17th February.

If you have any questions, please contact: Jim Mitchell, Interpretation Officer New Forest National Park Authority Town Hall, Avenue Road Lymington SO41 9ZG Telephone: 01590 646681 Email: [email protected]