NATIONAL Treasury has
published its longawaited
tender for the
appointment of TMCs to
provide travel management
services to government.
In the tender document,
Treasury stipulates that
it expects to appoint an
undisclosed number of TMCs
from October 1 for a period of
three years.
A management fee –
determined by the TMC during
the bidding process – will be
paid for services rendered.
However, the TMCs will need
to adhere to the negotiated
non-commissionable fares
and rates and will not be
allowed to earn override
commissions. They will be
required to maintain an openbook
policy whereby any
commissions earned through
the government’s volumes
will need to be reimbursed to
government.
“Government has been
receiving poor value for
money with departments
overspending on their budgets
as well as high incidences
of unauthorised, irregular
and fruitless and wasteful
expenditure,” Treasury said in
the tender document.
In a first phase, the Treasury
will select and appoint TMCs
to panels on National and
Provincial Levels. TMCs will
be evaluated and scored
on criteria including TMC
experience and structure;
quality management systems;
HR management; account
management; service delivery;
risk management; cost
management; technology;
management information;
financial management and
customer satisfaction.
Only TMCs that reach a total
score of 70% or above will be
considered.
In a second phase, the
individual government
organisations may issue
their own tenders inviting
the qualified TMCs on the
respective panels to bid
once their existing contracts
with their current TMCs have
expired.
Other requirements for
TMCs applying for the tender
include a commitment to
paying suppliers on time; an
Iata licence; and, if ticketing
through a third party, agents
would need to provide proof
that the third party was Iata
accredited. TMCs could
be asked to change GDS
providers and would be
expected to work overtime and
during weekends and public
holidays.
“By and large it is a very wellthought-out
document,” says
Otto de Vries, ceo of Asata,
adding that the government
has asked Asata to distribute
the tender, which is open to
all travel agents, through the
Asata channels.
However, Otto, who could not
go into specifics at the time
of going to print, adds that
there are a few items that are
of some concern to Asata as
the representative forum for
the industry. “We are working
through those currently and
will be addressing those
with Treasury and other
stakeholders very urgently,”
said Otto.
Travel agents worry that the
two-phased approach could
take a considerable amount
of time.
One travel agent, who spoke
on condition of anonymity,
explained that it could take
several months before the
provincial departments
appointed TMCs under the
new tender.
In the meantime, noncommissionable
rates are
being applied by government
departments while TMCs
have not been able to adjust
their service fees, leading to
unsustainable practices.
However, the travel
agent mentioned that
government had now started
communicating with the trade
after months of silence. “I’m
cautiously optimistic, as
it seems that government
has opened the lines of
communication.
“However, I will only believe
it when I see that actual steps
are being taken.
exposed to the
consumer through Let’s
Go. Consumers will be
directed to a travel agent
to make bookings. Travel
agents will be able to see
details of the special the
client is interested in by
entering the number they
quote in the Powersearch
bar on Travelinfo.
The first phase of the
project is live and can
be found on smartphones
or desktop at
www.letsgo.co.za.
Said Now Media md,
Anton Marsh: “With
the launch of $4
smartphones in Dubai
last month, we have
great faith that the way
to reach consumers will
increasingly be through
these devices. Having the
best content will be key
to attracting audiences.
In addition to having
some 20 journalists and
researchers updating
content, the Now Media
group is also investing
heavily in the development
of new media applications
such as Let’s Go.”
