GAO: Travel effort has generated small business opportunities
GSA promotes the use of small subcontractors by setting goals, report finds.
An ongoing effort by the General Services Administration to save money and improve government employee travel services has given small travel agencies ample opportunities to do business with the federal government, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office released Friday.
Small businesses can take part in GSA's e-government travel service -- under which three vendors agreed to offer an array of travel-management services to agencies -- and through a comprehensive contracting vehicle for offices to obtain related services like professional travel agents, GAO said.
GSA promotes the use of small subcontractors by setting goals and offering incentives for using small businesses, as well as monetary penalties for not meeting those goals, the report said.
GSA anticipates that the travel streamlining initiative will result in about $473 million in savings from fiscal 2002 to fiscal 2013.