BTA2235 - Product Audit, Development Tools and Skills Support

Procurement reference

BTA2235

Procurement description

BACKGROUND

VisitEngland (VE) is responsible for growing the value of England's visitor economy, working with and through a national network of Local Visitor Economy Partnerships (LVEPs). To direct product development, investment and campaign activity effectively, VE requires a complete, consistent and current view of England's tourism product and experience, segmented against priority market segments and viewable at LVEP region level.

VE does not currently hold this view in a single, structured and maintainable form. A manual audit at national scale would be slow, inconsistent and quickly out of date, and would not provide LVEPs with usable, region-level insight on where their product can be improved.

VE therefore wishes to appoint a Supplier, or Suppliers, with strong and demonstrable artificial intelligence (AI) expertise to deliver an AI-enabled product and experience audit, a national AI-based analytical tool that turns the audited inventory into actionable outputs filterable by LVEP region, and training that builds the capability of the LVEP network to use these outputs.

VE has carried out, or commissioned, initial audit work and will make this available to the appointed Supplier where possible. VE will also request product listings from LVEPs and will provide a data schema that the audit output is required to follow. The intention is that the Supplier builds on and enhances this existing work, minimising duplication and giving the AI a sound starting basis.

OVERVIEW OF REQUIREMENT AND LOT STRUCTURE

The requirement is divided into two lots:

• Lot 1: Product and Experience Audit and Tools.

• Lot 2: Training and Knowledge Transfer.

Tenderers may bid for Lot 1, Lot 2 or both lots. A single Supplier may be awarded one or both lots, and the lots may also be awarded to separate Suppliers. Each lot will be evaluated separately.

Note on AI: VE requires demonstrable AI expertise but does not mandate a specific AI model, platform or vendor. Tenderers are free to propose the technology stack that best meets the requirement, subject to the intellectual property, data protection, security and accessibility requirements set out below.

Main category

Services

Delivery regions

• UK - United Kingdom

Total value (estimated, excluding VAT)

120000.00 GBP to 120000.00GBP

Contract dates (estimated)

19 October 2026, 00:00AM to 31 March 2027, 23:59PM

Extension end date (if all the extensions are used): 31 March 2029

British Tourist Authority t/a VisitBritain/VisitEngland

Procedure type

Below threshold - open competition

Is the total value above threshold?

Below threshold

Description

Background

VE requires a complete and consistent picture of England's tourism product and experience offering, including attractions, experiences, experiential transport, performances/festivals, and more, with the possibility to overlay the national/regional accommodation audits/studies, and other national datasets such as protected landscapes, to provide an overall picture for regions/LVEPs. The Supplier will deliver an AI-enabled audit of this product and experience set, and a national analytical tool that interprets the audited inventory and identifies, for any LVEP region, where product can be improved and where gaps and opportunities exist.

Requirements

VE is seeking to appoint a Supplier who has a proven track record in delivering AI-enabled data collection, analysis and tool development, ideally within tourism, place marketing or a comparable sector. VE specifically requires the Supplier to deliver the following:

a) An AI-enabled product and experience audit.

b) A national AI-based analytical tool.

c) Data, schema and integration.

d) Intellectual property and handover.

Further details are contained in the Invitation to Tender documents.

CPV classifications

• 48100000 - Industry specific software package

Delivery regions

• UK - United Kingdom

Lot value (estimated)

90000.00 GBP Excluding VAT

108000.00 GBP Including VAT

Sustainability

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)

Voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSE)

Contract start date (estimated)

19 October 2026, 00:00AM

Contract end date (estimated)

31 March 2027, 23:59PM

Extension end date (estimated)

31 March 2029, 23:59PM

Can the contract be extended?

Yes

Description of extensions

Lot 1 - Initial contract ends on 31st March 2027 with the option to extend for a further 2 x 1-year periods.

Lot 2 - Initial contract ends on 31st March 2027.

Simple description of award criteria

Technical (Quality) - 60%

Social Value - 10%

Price - 30%

Further details are contained within the Invitation to Tender documents.

Description

Background

VE requires training that builds the capability of the LVEP network to understand the various use cases of AI. The training will aim to showcase the work in Lot 1 as it is developed and will focus on enabling LVEPs to apply the outputs to product development in their regions. VE also requires a programme of webinars/blended learning that builds on feedback from LVEPs in the previous upskilling work, including using AI to build reports, deeper dive into Microsoft Copilot, and more.

Requirements

VE is seeking to appoint a Supplier who has a proven track record in designing and delivering practical training and knowledge transfer, ideally on data, AI or digital tools, to a geographically dispersed audience. VE specifically requires the Supplier to deliver the following.

• A training and knowledge transfer programme aimed at the LVEP network (currently 38 LVEPs, expected to rise to c40-45).

• Training that showcases the audit and the analytical tool throughout delivery, so that LVEPs understand how the outputs are produced and how to use them.

• A practical focus on building LVEP capability to interpret and apply the outputs to product development in their region.

• A cohesive delivery of webinars/blended learning to dive deeper into elements that LVEPs have identified for AI use through previous sessions.

• A blend of delivery appropriate to a dispersed audience, for example live virtual sessions, recorded materials and written guidance, to be proposed by the Tenderer.

Where Lot 1 and Lot 2 are awarded to the same Supplier, the training will draw directly on the audit and tool being built.

Where the lots are awarded to separate Suppliers, the Lot 2 Supplier is required to work with the Lot 1 Supplier to understand the audit and tool in order to design and deliver the training.

We expect the Lot 1 Supplier and Lot 2 Supplier to create a single process map on how this will be delivered once awarded.

CPV classifications

• 80500000 - Training services

Delivery regions

• UK - United Kingdom

Lot value (estimated)

30000.00 GBP Excluding VAT

36000.00 GBP Including VAT

Sustainability

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)

Voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSE)

Contract start date (estimated)

19 October 2026, 00:00AM

Contract end date (estimated)

31 March 2027, 23:59PM

Extension end date (estimated)

31 March 2029, 23:59PM

Can the contract be extended?

Yes

Description of extensions

Lot 1 - Initial contract ends on 31st March 2027 with the option to extend for a further 2 x 1-year periods.

Lot 2 - Initial contract ends on 31st March 2027.

Simple description of award criteria

Technical (Quality) - 60%

Social Value - 10%

Price - 30%

Further details are contained within the Invitation to Tender documents

Tender submission deadline

15 September 2026, 12:00PM

Enquiry deadline

08 September 2026, 17:00PM

Submission address and any special instructions

Completed Tenders must be submitted to the BTA via the Atamis eSourcing portal accessible at https://visitbritain.force.com/s/Welcome before the closing date indicated in the ITT Timetable (the deadline for receipt of Tender responses). Tenderers should ensure that they allow sufficient time when responding to this invite prior to the closing date and time.

May tenders be submitted electronically?

Yes