BRCD Contracts for Innovation Challenge 1

Buyer

Newry Mourne & Down District Council

Estimated value

Value not stated

Location

Northern Ireland

Deadline

11 December 2026

Published

9 November 2026

Category

Networks

Trade

Security services · IT, software and digital · Research and development

Suitable for SMEs

Not flagged

View the official notice on Find a Tender

In plain English

Newry Mourne & Down District Council seeks a solution to predict and manage visitor demand at Castlewellan Forest Park, shifting from reactive measures to predictive decision-making. No special requirements are stated.

Description from the notice

The tender opportunity (Tender 65/2026) will be published on Simply Do platform under the challenge titled: Predicting Demand. Managing Tomorrows Visitors, Today. "How can local authorities anticipate and manage visitor demand and movement across key destinations, while understanding the factors driving these changes, so they can proactively mitigate potential impacts before they become a problem." This challenge is focused on transforming how local authorities manage visitor destinations. Using Castlewellan Forest Park as a real-world test environment, the initiative addresses the growing pressures that large rural tourism destinations face from fluctuating visitor demand, which impacts local roads, parking, waste services, biodiversity, and infrastructure. Historically, council management has relied on static measures and reactive interventions, such as annual visitor numbers or seasonal passes, which fail to provide real-time insights or predictive intelligence. The proposed project aims to transition local authority management from a fragmented, reactive approach to a connected, evidence-led, and predictive decision-making model.