13 consortiums submitted bids for the country's brand auction

The envelopes containing the tender of companies planning to attend the auction for Romania’s brand opened on May 5. The deadline was Monday, May 4, 12 p.m.

The Ministry of Tourism announced that 13 consortiums participated at the competition for developing the tourism brand of the country. The participants are companies from United Kingdom, United States of America, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Romania.

The 13 bidders are:
- Colorado
- Saatchi & Saatchi Design – leader of partnership, GFK NOP – partner
- Siegel + Gale Limited – leader of partnership, Grapefruit SRL- partner, Flamingo Research Limited – partner
- Saffron Brand Consultants SA – leader of partnership, Brandient Consult SRL- partner, Acacia Avenue Limited – partner
- Kohl & Partner GmbH - leader of partnership, McCann Erickson GmbH - partner
- Brandflight AB - leader of partnership, ReD Associates Holding A/S – partner, Branding Patres SRL - partner
- Inarea Strategic Design SRL - leader of partnership, Cappelli Communication SRL – partner, IPK International GmbH - partner
- Nouveau Monde DDB Ecomonic Interest Group (EIG) (DDB Travel & Tourism) - leader of partnership, Detente Consultants – partner, IPSOS - partner
- BBDO Portugal - leader of partnership, Graffiti BBDO SA – partner, Mercury Research SRL – partner
- Landor Associates GmbH - leader of partnership, Millward Brown - partner
- Hypermedia Solutions LLC dba FutureBrand
- THR, Asesores en Turismo, Hoteleria y Recreacion SA - leader of partnership, Taylor Nelson Sofres SA - partner
- SC TBWA Bucuresti SRL - leader of partnership, SC GKF Romania SRL- partner

The Commission of the Ministry will thoroughly verify the submitted forms and decide which bidders qualify for the next phase of the auction. The second phase includes submission and evaluation of technical tenders, of the actual projects of development of Romania’s tourism brand.

In order to develop the tourism national brand, Romania allocated European funds of EUR 2 mil., through the Regional Operational Program, Axis 5 – Sustainable development and tourism promotion, major domain 5.3 – Promoting tourism potential and developing the necessary infrastructure in order to make Romania more attractive as tourism destination, the operation “Creating a positive image of Romania by developing and promoting the National Tourism Brand”.

The project of developing and implementing the country’s brand will be entirely supported by European funds. The necessary investment reaches approximately EUR 75 mil. The Ministry of Tourism plans to implement the “Romania’s tourism brand” project in six months from signing the contract with the winning bidder.

Sursa: Bloom Biz [04.05.2009], einformatii [05.05.2009], Hotnews [04.05.2009], Wall-Street [05.05.2009]