27 - SIN 599-3 Lodging Negotations Services SOW

Travel Services Solutions QMAD-CY-090001-B Refresh #23

B.5.3 SIN 599-3, Lodging Negotiations and Management Services

For any questions, please contact the GSA Vendor Support Center at 1-877-495-4849 or vendor.support@gsa.gov or the Contracting Officer Jason Cross at Jason.cross@gsa.gov.

Please refer to the Price Proposal Template and Commercial Sales Practice (CSP) attachments.

Remember to include pricing with and without Industrial Funding Fee (IFF). For more information on IFF please refer to https://vsc.gsa.gov.

The Service Contract Act applies to SIN 599-3. Please note each individual task order must contain an applicable wage determination in accordance with the Service Contract Act.

B.5.3.1 DEFINITIONS:

Centrally Billed Account: A travel card/account established by the Contractor at the request of the agency/organization. These may be card/cardless accounts. Payments are made directly to the Contractor by the agency/organization.

E-Gov Travel Services (ETS2) - Civilian agencies’ end-to-end travel management service that automates and consolidates the Federal travel process in a secure Web-centric environment.

Defense Travel System (DTS) - A fully integrated, automated, end-to-end travel management system that enables DoD travelers to create authorizations (TDY travel orders), prepare reservations, receive approvals, generate travel vouchers, and receive a split reimbursement between their bank accounts and the Government Travel Charge Card (GTCC) vendor. DTS operates at over 9,500 total sites worldwide.

FedRooms® - FedRooms® provides Federal Travel Regulation (FTR)-compliant hotel rooms for federal government travelers while on official business. The FedRooms® contract is a designated Best In Class (BIC) solution per the Office of Management and Budget. BIC solutions are rigorously vetted, well-managed Government-wide solutions that help Government-wide efforts in optimizing spend under management. Agencies should utilize FedRooms® when booking lodging for official duty travel to take advantage of the benefits and protections.

Fiscal Year: October 1 through September 30

Government Rate: The rates established as a result of this solicitation.

Please note that the Government Rate and the FedRooms rate are distinctly different and that the Government Rates are set by the individual hoteliers and are not always at or below per diem.

Global Distribution System (GDS) - A reservation platform started by code sharing airline partners to enable reservations for airlines. Later on hotels, cars and cruise companies came on board. There are 4 major GDS companies. Sabre, Galileo, Amadeus and WorldSpan (Galileo and WorldSpan are owned by Travelport) offer a comprehensive travel shopping and reservation platform to travel agents worldwide. Agents use one of these systems to book airline, car, hotel and other travel arrangements for their customers. Online Travel Agents (OTA) also use one or more GDS to power some or all of the content on their site. Government booking tools (ETS2 and DTS) currently utilize GDS for airline, car, and hotel inventory.

Group rooms - Group rooms are sold in blocks of a minimum of ten rooms or more (e.g. government groups, group tours, domestic and international groups, association, convention and corporate groups).

mailto:vendor.support@gsa.gov mailto:Jason.cross@gsa.gov https://vsc.gsa.gov/ file://///e04bmv-CIFS01.ent.ds.gsa.gov/R12_FSS_Shares$/QM/QMA/QMACB/QMACB%20-%20NEW%20FILE%20ORG/Procurement/Solicitations/FY2019/QMAC-MM-190001-A%20FedRooms%202020%20TDY%20Lodging/1%20Solicitation%20(Tabs%201-11)/Tab%2010%20-%20RFP-RFQ%20and%20Amendments/Definitions/Best%20in%20Class.docx

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Hotel Attachment - Booking a hotel for a traveler when they book a flight or rail ticket with an overnight stay.

Individually Billed Charge Card: A Government contractor-issued charge card issued to authorized employees to pay for official travel expenses for which the charge card contractor bills the employee.

Industrial Funding Fee (IFF): The IFF reimburses the General Services Administration for the costs incurred in procuring and managing the Travel Services Solution.

Last Room Availability (LRA) - All rooms in the category for which a client rate has been negotiated and agreed upon, should be made available to the client at that agreed rate up to and including the last room in that category. Typically includes standard rooms and excludes suites and concierge floor rooms.

Long Term Lodging (30+ nights): Lodging accommodations for durations of 30 or more nights. Also, see the following link for the Long Term Lodging under GSA Schedule 48, SIN 653-9.

https://www.gsa.gov/travel/plan-book/lodging/long-term-lodging

Room block (also referred to as “group room block”) - A set of rooms reserved to accommodate a single group like attendees to a conference, meeting or event. The blocks are typically available at a set rate for a set period with only certain customers able to book them.

Strategic meetings management (SMM) - Is a disciplined approach to managing enterprise-wide meeting and event activities, processes, suppliers and data in order to achieve measurable business objectives that align with the organization's strategic goals/vision, and deliver value in the form of quantitative savings, risk mitigation and service quality.

Net Billing: Negotiated contract and task order rates are guaranteed at the point of sale.

Per Diem Allowance: A daily payment for lodging, meals, and related incidental expenses used instead of reimbursement for actual expenses.

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): The relocation of an employee to a new official station or post of duty for permanent duty.

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Specialized Conference Facilities (SCF): includes guestrooms, dedicated conference space, food and beverage services, conference technology services, telephone and internet services, business center services, security services and other related services.

Special Publication 800-87 (SP 800-87): Provides agency organizational codes used under this schedule for reporting purposes. This standard data element may be used for the interchange of information on federal operations when that information is identified by organization. This publication is available at http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/index.html

Temporary Duty Travel (TDY): Travel to a place, away from an employee’s official duty station, where the employee is authorized to travel.

Transient Lodging (1-29 nights): Lodging accommodations to include short term and extended stays for durations of less than 30 nights.

Travel Management Center (TMC) or Commercial Travel Office (CTO): A company under contract with an agency to arrange travel services for Federal employees on official travel, including tickets and transportation, and reservation of accommodations.

B 5.3.2 DESCRIPTION OF WORK

The Contractor shall provide lodging negotiations and management services to assist the Government in meeting its lodging needs for temporary duty travel, relocation and/or temporary/permanent change of station. This may include but is not limited to the following:

Analysis Assessment Auditing Benchmarking

Change management Consulting Data collection and analysis e-commerce Marketing Market research Negotiations Studies Lodging management Operational overviews Operational support Outsourcing Per diem and allowance Performance metrics Policy development/review Reporting Preferred supplier programs Surveys Evaluations Re-engineering Tax reclamation Tenant management Property management

Financial interface Lease management Development/assessment

Requirements development Group room blocks

Typical tasks may include, but are not limited to:

Locating sources

Negotiating lodging contracts and programs to meet agency needs

Analyzing agency lodging spend and making recommendations to maximize use of funds http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/index.html

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Managing TDY lodging contracts and programs up to 29 nights Managing long term lodging needs of 30+ nights Managing group room blocks of 10 or more travelers Collecting and analyzing hotel/lodging property data Providing automated tools to support lodging contracts and programs Auditing of proprietary government managed rates in the Global

Distribution Systems (GDS)and with other service providers Measuring performance of managed lodging contracts and programs Providing commercially available ancillary support services for lodging contracts and programs (e.g., disaster preparedness, shuttle services, meeting and event services and meeting and event space)

B 5.3.3 SCOPE & COMPLEXITY

The Contractor shall

Provide the full range of services necessary to satisfy ordering agencies’ lodging requirements.

The Government is seeking services that industry normally affords to commercial customers.

Be capable of providing services for ordering agencies with multiple organizational levels and geographic locations nationwide and/or worldwide as specified in the Scope of the Contract clause.

Be capable of handling multiple task orders simultaneously.

B.5.3.4 REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall:

Provide lodging services as ordered by agencies and specified herein.

Ensure that its company and staff maintain any generally required professional certification, accreditation, license, bond, and proficiency relative to their area of expertise. The Contractor shall retain documentation of such records. The Government will not pay for expenses to meet this requirement.

Perform services and ensure deliverables that are compliant with Government regulations to include, but not be limited to, the Federal Travel Regulation, the Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM), the, Joint Travel Regulations (JTR), other applicable travel regulations, and related agency policies that establish the Federal travel process.

Provide the same or better level of service as provided to its commercial/corporate customers.

B.5.3.5 TRAVEL MANAGEMENT SERVICE/SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

In support of ETS2/DTS, the Contractor shall ensure that products/services provided to participating agencies complement and support the E-Gov Travel Service (ETS2) and Defense Travel System (DTS) and their respective objectives in an efficient and cost-effective manner.

Provide ETS2/DTS the ability to book, reserve and modify room reservations through online systems to include the Government’s travel management systems through the Government’s preferred suppliers.

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B.5.3.6 PROPERTY REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall ensure properties used meet the following requirements:

(a) For hotels/motels, have a two crown/star/diamond rating or higher as defined by the American Automobile Association (AAA), NTM Crown, Mobil Travel Guide or approved equivalent.

(b) Properties in the U.S. must be certified in compliance with the Hotel and Motel Fire and

Safety Act. All properties must be referenced on the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) Master list and in compliance with the Hotel and Motel Fire and Safety Act.

(c) All properties must be in compliance with all applicable federal, state and local health, safety, security and building code regulations, including those standards for physically disabled persons.

(d) Participating properties must be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Virginia Graeme-Baker Act (pool suction entrapment avoidance).

(e) Participating properties must provide security 24 hours each day through video monitoring of the property or must have staff on property 24/7 trained in security protocols in case of emergency.

B.5.3.7 TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall:

(a) Have the ability to accept reservations made by the individual traveler, group travelers, travel management centers, travel manager, administrative personnel or any other person that may be designated by the ordering agency, subject to availability.

(b) Ensure that negotiated rates are current, accurate and complete, and accessible to

Government users in a cost-effective manner. This may include, but is not limited to, working and exchanging data with the ETS2 or DTS contractor(s) under contract with the Government and interfacing/integrating with the ETS2/DTS provider by providing contact information, telephone numbers, file formats/sample PNRs, open branch access/pseudo city codes; participating in subcontractor/teaming agreements;

participating in training and/or meetings; non-disclosure agreements; synchronization and security requirements; testing requirements; etc.

(c) Ensure that negotiated rates are aligned with FTR/FAM/JTR requirements and are disseminated in a timely fashion and in accordance with the Contractor’s commercial means of providing negotiated rate information throughout its distribution channels. Provide the ability to book and reserve rooms/properties through on-line or other means.

(d) Ensure the negotiated rate is the rate sold to the user.

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(e) Honor tax exemption for Federal travelers in accordance with the governing state and local municipality taxation practices. A number of States or Commonwealths have already agreed to extend a tax exemption to Federal travelers. A complete listing of State taxation policies can be found at https://smartpay.gsa.gov and click on to the SmartTax link at the bottom of the webpage under About GSA Smart Pay .

(f) In the event where taxes are assessed, the Contractor shall separately report room charges from taxes in reports required by GSA.

(g) Bill for services performed or charges, as negotiated (e.g., room night, cancellation fees).

(h) Accept payment from multiple sources. The most frequent form of payment is anticipated to be the Government’s charge cards (e.g., a standard commercial MasterCard or Visa).

Payment is normally made directly to the property by the individual traveler or through the agency. Charge card issuers under contract currently are: Citibank, and US Bank, but are subject to change. Additional information about the Government’s charge card can be found at the GSA SmartPay website (https://smartpay.gsa.gov) . In addition, an agency may present a purchase order for payment. Presentment of the charge card constitutes an order.

(i) Provide net billing which shall ensure that merchant discounts or rebates offered are deducted at the point of sale and guaranteeing such discount arrangements. The Contractor shall honor the negotiated rate when presented/provided with the Government charge card number or the charge card account number. In order to affect the recognition of negotiated rates at the point-of-sale, the current Government charge cards use the following 4-digit prefixes:

Travel

Prefix (1st four digits)

4614 - Visa 4615 - Visa 4486 - Visa

5565 - Mastercard 5568 - Mastercard

6th digit

0 GSA SmartPay Tax Advantage CBA by MCC

1 IBA

2 – 4 IBA

5 Reserved

6 – 9 CBA

x https://smartpay.gsa.gov/ https://smartpay.gsa.gov/

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(J) Provide direct billing to an ordering agency as requested. The use of purchase orders also constitutes an order.

(k) The Government assumes no liability for payment of rooms booked by or on behalf of individual employees unless otherwise specified for direct billings between the Contractor and the ordering agency.

(l) Provide Government agencies with standard commercial and custom reports as requested. Contractors shall be able to submit reports on a monthly, quarterly and yearly basis, and have the ability to roll up data at an aggregate level. Ensure that all Personal Identifiable Information is deleted from all GSA reports.

(m) Provide the ability to book and reserve rooms and space for Government meetings and conferences.

B.5.3.8 GSA REPORT REQUIREMENTS

The Contractor shall provide GSA with data and reports detailing the information noted below. Please note, the Government operates on a fiscal year basis of October 1 through September 30 of each year.

The information shall be provided in an electronic commercial format readable in Microsoft Excel and emailed to 1) onthego@gsa.gov and 2) travel.programs@gsa.gov or at GSA’s option, through an automated reporting tool provided by the GSA to a third-party provider as designated by GSA. All GSA reporting is at no additional cost to the Government. The contractor shall ensure that all Personal Identifiable Information is deleted from all GSA reports.

Agency reports: The Contractor shall provide monthly data and reports that detail each agency’s lodging expenditures for the given report period. Data and reports are due to the GSA Contracting Officer within 15 calendar days of the report period end (e.g., for October report end, delivery of report shall be not later than November 15, or the next business day if the due date is on a weekend or Federal holiday). Domestic and international lodging shall be reported separately. For domestic and international lodging, reported data elements shall include, but not be limited to, contract number, SIN, report period, property name, property address, city, state, zip code, totals by hotel rate code for: total number of transactions, total transaction amount (inclusive of taxes), total amount of taxes, total number of room nights, average length of stay.

Government wide reports: The Contractor shall provide monthly data and reports that consolidate and aggregate Federal Government lodging expenditures for a given report period.

Data and reports are due to the GSA Contracting Officer within 15 calendar days of the report period end (e.g., for October report end, delivery of report shall be not later than November 15, or the next business day if the due date is on a weekend or Federal holiday). Domestic and international travel shall be reported separately. For domestic and international lodging, reported data elements shall include, but not be limited to, contract number, SIN, report period, property name, property address, city, state, zip code, totals by hotel rate code for:

total number of transactions, total transaction amount (inclusive of taxes), total amount of taxes, total number of room nights, average length of stay.

mailto:_onthego@gsa.gov mailto:travel.programs@gsa.gov

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B.5.3.9 TECHNICAL PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS

The technical proposal section is comprised of four factors relating to the offeror’s ability to perform and must be completed in accordance with SCP-FSS-002 SPECIFIC PROPOSAL SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS. Please refer to this clause SCP-FSS-002 contained in Solicitation Document for instructions.