GSA unveils 2001 per diem rates

The General Services Administration announced per diems rates for the year 2001 Friday in the Federal Register.

The rates are available in GovExec.com's Travel section at: www.govexec.com/travel

The announcement came earlier than usual this year, because GSA has changed its per diem calendar to coincide with the fiscal year. In previous years, per diem rates were announced in December and took effect in January, at the start of the new calendar year. The new 2001 rates take effect Oct. 1, 2000 for federal employees' business trips.

Conference planners will now have a better idea of how to budget for travel as soon as their budgets are approved, said Bill Rivers, acting director of the travel management policy division at GSA. The date switch also benefits hotels as it coincides with their rate development process. GSA collaborated with the American Hotel and Motel Association, the Interagency Travel Management Committee and the Society of Government Meeting Professionals to develop the new calendar.

Rates remained stable in 43 percent of locations for 2001, GSA said. Rates increased in 30 percent of locations and decreased in 27 percent.

Travelers to New Orleans will be allowed to spend more money there next year- the rate increased to $139, up from $88 last year. San Francisco was another hot market-the rate there went up $20, from $139 to $159.

In other metropolitan areas, however, rates changed only slightly. The Washington D.C. area per diem increased by only $1, from $118 to $119. The rate for Chicago also remained essentially flat. Per diem rates closely reflect local market conditions. In areas with lots of new hotel construction, for example, rates tend to decrease.

But overall, "we've seen a softening of the market," Rivers said. "It used to be more of a seller's market, but there's more construction now and more availability of rooms, which is part of why only 30 percent of the rates are going up."

GSA did not make any other structural changes to the per diem program this year, but work is underway to phase in its premier lodging program in the top 75 federal markets by 2001. Under the program, GSA will work to guarantee that a certain number of rooms will be available within the per diem in specific geographical areas. Traditionally, there's no guarantee that rooms will be available at the federal rate. A pilot version of the program has been in place in Boston since January and has proven successful, Rivers said.

GSA hopes to expand the program to 14 more sites this fall and cover the rest of the 75 major areas by 2001.