Visitor study at Whitby Abbey, Eltham Palace and Audley End

1. Historic England invites organisations to submit tenders for undertaking data collection for a qualitative study focused on understanding the motivations behind visitors' choices to visit Whitby Abbey, Eltham Palace, and Audley End. The target demographic encompasses visitors to these three historic sites.

2. The primary aim of this study is to gain in-depth insights into the reasons why visitors choose to visit these sites, including their experiences, whether the visit was part of a multi visit, and perceptions of the heritage value of these locations.

3. The length of the survey will be around 15/20 questions. These questions will mostly be close ended, asking demographic, trip information, travel costs and time, site experience.

4. Participating organisations are tasked solely with the execution of the survey interviews. The responsibilities exclude the formulation of the interview and the subsequent analysis of collected data, which will be undertaken by Historic England.

5. Historic England will design the interview guide and then use the data collected to conduct the analysis.

6. The successful bidder will conduct face-to-face interviews aimed at a representative sample of visitors at each of the three sites, aiming to capture detailed qualitative insights into the visitors' motivations and experiences.

7. The face-to-face interviews are expected to have all been conducted by the 7th October, 2024.

8. The budget for this project is capped at ?15,000 excluding VAT for the period of the contract. Proposals will be evaluated based on their ability to deliver within this budget, focusing on the Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT) criteria.

9. Tenders should be submitted by the 12th of August 2024 by 09.30am with the contract start date on the 19th of August 2024 and the project expected to end by December 18th, 2024.