VisitScotland contract for New Mind
Liverpool-based technology company, New Mind has won its first contract with a national tourism organisation this week. VisitScotland has selected New Mind’s e-tourism solution to power all of the country’s official tourism websites as well as provide the front-of-house software for all the Visitor Information Centres in the country.
The win follows a rigorous nine-month tender process involving 50 expressions of interest, whittled down to 12 tenders and eventually shortlisted to the final three contenders.
Richard Veal, Managing Director of New Mind, based at Brunswick Business Park said: "We are very pleased to be working with such a high-profile organisation such as VisitScotland.
“This project will be one of the most significant pieces of work we have ever undertaken, and is our first project for a National Tourism Organisation, representing the interests of a whole country.
“We are very much looking forward to starting on the project and are keen to bring our own unique set of skills and experience to the party."
The four year contract is of significant value and will enable New Mind to employ an additional six members of staff over the period.
One of VisitScotland's primary objectives as an organisation is to grow Scottish tourism through the digital environment. New Mind's technology has been selected as a 'best in class' platform to deliver this objective, based on the strength of its functionality and flexibility.
The existing www.visitscotland.com website already receives 12.7 million unique visitors a year and the ambition for the future is to increase this by improving online communication with both Scottish tourism businesses and consumers alike. New Mind’s e-tourism solution will be central to that goal.
Martin Ogg, Head of Digital at Visit Scotland, said: "VisitScotland is delighted to have New Mind on board to deliver this new system. New Mind were awarded this following an intensive and detailed tender process.
“VisitScotland believes that New Mind have both fully embraced the ambition for the website and also have the technical experience and knowledge to deliver on the ambition. To date, New Mind have demonstrated a flexible, pro-active approach underlining their expertise within their market.”
The project is scheduled to start by the end of the month, with a view to delivering the initial phase of the solution within the first quarter of 2012.
On the strength of this and other new contract wins both in the UK and in Europe, New Mind is now looking to expand significantly its technical development team in Liverpool over the coming months.
Steve Smith, digital director for Liverpool Vision, said: “New Mind has been a consistent performer for the best part of a decade and this win demonstrates their dominance of E-Tourism software in the UK and bodes well for expansion into mainland Europe.
“They are well organised, well led and one of Liverpool’s hidden gems and I congratulate them on a well-deserved success.”
