The State of Tennessee, Department of Environment and Conservation (the "State"), issues this Request for Proposals (RFP) to define minimum contract requirements; solicit responses; detail response requirements; and outline the State's process for evaluating responses and selecting a contractor to provide a modern, integrated, internet-based central reservation, registration, and point-of-sale (POS) system (the "System") for Tennessee State Parks. RFP # 32701-26-331.
Purpose: By the end of 2026 the State will operate 70 state parks. The State seeks a long-term partner to deliver a modern, integrated, internet-based central reservation, registration, and POS system to replace or upgrade existing systems with a commercially proven, centralized solution that streamlines operations, improves data accessibility, and fosters revenue optimization across all parks.
Goals: Enhance visitor experience with simple, reliable, mobile-friendly reservation tools; improve operational efficiency through real-time data and reduced manual processes; increase visibility with real-time inventory, occupancy, and revenue insights; support revenue growth via advanced inventory controls and dynamic pricing; equip staff with flexible administrative tools and robust reporting; ensure a secure, scalable, high-availability platform supporting all parks.
Scope and Key Requirements: The System must support reservations for campsites, cabins, day-use facilities; retail POS; marina operations (docks, contracts, boat rentals); event registrations; and CRM for visitor data and communications. All modules must integrate in real time to prevent overbooking, allow same-day bookings, and support online, call center, kiosk, and mobile access. The System must provide configurable business rules (stay lengths, fees, cancellations, group sizes), advanced analytics, secure payment processing (encryption, fraud protection), and support credit/debit cards, gift cards, and digital wallets. The procurement excludes lodge/hotel operations, food & beverage services, and golf course management, focusing on core park overnight, recreation, and retail functions.
Delivery Model: The desired solution must be a SaaS or similarly hosted, commercially proven platform that is centralized, secure, and universally accessible, meeting accessibility, payment security, and data protection standards and applicable federal or international regulatory requirements. Respondents must demonstrate proven implementations in similar state, provincial or regional park systems, provide references from at least three comparable projects, and commit to comprehensive implementation support including data migration, training, ongoing maintenance, and a disaster recovery plan.
Operational Data Highlights (as stated in the RFP): 70 state parks (target Dec 2026); FY2025 reservation system transaction volume $39,132,060; 86,193 user accounts in current system; ~1,000 staff users; 3,229 campsites at 43 locations; 356,778 camping nights (FY2025); 321 cabins at 15 locations; 377 day use facilities at 57 locations; 96 retail locations with ~$5,000,000 annual retail revenue; 4 marinas with 931 slips; FY2025 program registrations and participation numbers provided.
Contract and Terms: The RFP includes a Pro Forma Contract (Attachment 6.6.) that substantially represents the contract the successful Respondent must sign. Contract term provisions, scope of services, payment terms, standard and special terms and conditions, insurance, security, data ownership, disaster recovery, SLAs, liquidated damages, and detailed technical, financial, and operational obligations are described in attachments. The State retains sole ownership of all data; requires data be accessible in non-proprietary machine-readable formats and provides direct, read-only database access as specified; requires compliance with PCI DSS, SOC 2 Type II, FIPS encryption, NIST and other security and disaster recovery standards; requires the Contractor to host State Data within the continental United States; sets RPO/RTO objectives and disaster recovery testing obligations; and specifies reporting, accounting, and integration obligations (including Edison/PeopleSoft integration for accrual accounting and deposit interfaces).
Evaluation and Award: Responses are evaluated on General Qualifications & Experience (15 points), Technical Qualifications, Experience & Approach (40 points), Oral Presentation/Field Test (15 points), and Cost Proposal (30 points). The State will invite the top four ranked respondents for mandatory oral presentations. The RFP details technical response and cost proposal submission requirements, evaluation processes, clarifications, negotiations, and contract award and signature deadlines.
Response Requirements: Responses must include a Technical Response and a Cost Proposal. The Technical Response must follow Attachment 6.2 (Technical Response & Evaluation Guide) and must not contain any pricing or cost information. The Cost Proposal must be recorded exactly on Attachment 6.3 (Cost Proposal & Scoring Guide), signed and submitted separately. Specific mandatory attachments (certifications, references, bank reference, insurance affirmation, state park references) are required. Respondents must provide three state/provincial/regional park system references and demonstrate prior experience and capacity to deliver the System. The RFP contains detailed functional, technical, security, training, implementation, support, reporting, marina, POS, program/event registration, permit issuance, integration, and accounting requirements across Attachments 6.2, 6.3, 6.4, 6.5, and 6.6.
Important Dates (Schedule of Events included in the RFP): RFP Issued November 6, 2026; Disability Accommodation Request Deadline November 12, 2026; Pre-response Conference November 16, 2026; Notice of Intent to Respond Deadline November 18, 2026; Written Questions & Comments Deadline November 30, 2026; State Response to Written Questions December 18, 2026; Response Deadline January 11, 2027 at 2:00 p.m. CT; Technical evaluations completed February 5, 2027; Oral Presentations February 16-26, 2027; State opening and scoring of cost proposals March 1, 2027; Notice of Intent to Award March 11, 2027; Contractor signature deadline March 24, 2027. The Go-Live target date for the System is on or before June 1, 2027.
Communications: The Solicitation Coordinator is the designated contact for the RFP. The RFP prohibits unauthorized contact with State employees outside the designated contacts and requires that questions and requests for clarification be submitted in writing by the Written Questions & Comments Deadline. Official written responses from the State are the only binding communications.
Pre-Response Conference: A Pre-response Conference is scheduled (virtual meeting details provided in the RFP). Attendance is not mandatory but prospective Respondents must submit any questions in writing by the stated deadline to receive binding responses.
Other: The RFP includes extensive mandatory contract terms (insurance, indemnity, confidentiality, debarment representations, nondiscrimination, immigration requirements, AI usage policy requirements, data privacy and PII handling, and other State-mandated clauses). The RFP requires the Contractor to provide specified SLAs, reporting, training, a dedicated liaison, help desk and escalation procedures, and to support integrations with State websites, accounting systems, gift card and merchant services processors, analytics tools, GIS, and third-party systems at no additional cost as specified.
