a

GAO

United States Government Accountability Office

Report to Congressional Committees

September 2006 E-GOVERNMENT 

TRAVEL

Participation by Small 

Businesses and 

Estimated Program 

Savings

GAO-06-911
What GAO Found

United States Government Accountability Office

Why GAO Did This Study

Highlights

Accountability Integrity Reliability

September 2006

E-GOVERNMENT TRAVEL 

Participation by Small Businesses and 

Highlights of GAO-06-911, a report to Estimated Program Savings 

congressional committees 

In November 2003, GSA awarded

three 10-year e-Government Travel

Service (eTS) master contracts as

part of the e-Gov Travel initiative,

managed by the General Services

Administration (GSA), which aims

to save costs and improve service 

by providing a common, integrated

approach to managing government

travel functions. GSA has projected

that e-Gov Travel will realize about 

$473 million in savings across the 

government between fiscal years 

2002 and 2013. 

As directed by Senate Report 109-

109, GAO is reporting on its study

of (1) whether GSA has appropriate 

mechanisms in place to help ensure

the use of small business travel 

agencies in the e-Gov Travel 

program and (2) the soundness of

GSA’s estimate of potential savings. 

GAO evaluated GSA’s small 

business goals and results and

assessed GSA’s cost-benefit

analysis based on criteria

developed by the Office of

Management and Budget (OMB).

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that GSA 

(1) ensure that its administrative

processes do not impede small 

business travel agencies from 

having reasonable opportunities to 

do business with the federal 

government and (2) collect data

and periodically report to OMB on 

savings realized from implementing

e-Gov Travel. GSA generally agreed

with the content and

recommendations in this report. 

GSA has appropriate mechanisms in place to ensure that small travel 

agencies have opportunities to obtain federal travel business (1) by 

participating in the eTS contracts, under which three vendors agreed to offer 

a full array of travel management services to federal agencies, and 

(2) through the Travel Services Solutions (TSS) schedule, which serves as a 

comprehensive contracting vehicle for federal agencies wishing to acquire 

related services such as professional travel agents. Specifically, GSA 

included provisions within the eTS contracts to promote the use of small 

business subcontractors, which include travel agencies as well as other 

small businesses. These provisions include goals for the amount of business 

to go to small business subcontractors and financial incentive awards for 

meeting or exceeding those goals, as well as monetary penalties for not 

meeting the goals. GSA also engaged in outreach to explain these contract 

provisions to agencies and the business community. In addition, it 

established the TSS schedule to supplement the eTS contracts and permit 

small businesses and others to participate. Small businesses have 

participated in both, and the three eTS vendors have reported meeting the 

contracts’ goals for small business subcontracting in fiscal year 2005.

However, the e-Gov Travel program office has not tracked how much 

business the travel agencies on the schedule have received; thus, the office 

has not yet gauged the overall effectiveness of the schedule for facilitating

the participation of small businesses. Further, it is uncertain whether GSA 

intends to waive or modify its requirement that travel agencies conduct 

$25,000 in business each year to maintain their schedule contracts. Such a 

requirement could be an impediment to the participation of small travel 

agencies. 

GSA’s estimate of e-Gov Travel savings across the federal government is not 

well supported. A large proportion (74 percent) of the projected benefits is 

based on GSA’s calculations of expected productivity savings to be gained 

from streamlined processing of travel orders and vouchers. However, GSA 

did not determine whether individual agencies planned to take action to 

realize productivity savings (for example, by reallocating personnel to other 

tasks). It is thus unclear whether these savings will be borne out. Further, 

the estimate does not reflect other savings that could be gained by 

consolidation and the elimination of duplicative systems; GSA has stated 

that calculating such savings would be prohibitively expensive. As a result, it 

is unclear what savings can be expected from implementing e-Gov Travel. At 

this point, a new estimate of anticipated savings would be of limited value, 

but tracking actual savings would provide a useful measure of program 

success. Currently, however, GSA does not plan to collect data from 

individual agencies on actual savings. 

www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-06-911.

To view the full product, including the scope 

and methodology, click on the link above. 

For more information, contact Linda Koontz at

(202) 512-6240 or koontzl@gao.gov. 
Page i GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

Contents

Letter 1

Results in Brief 3

Appendixes

Appendix I: E-Government Travel: Participation by Small Businesses and 

Estimated Program Savings 6

Appendix II: Comments from the General Services Administration 45

Abbreviations

eTS e-Government Travel Service

GSA General Services Administration

OMB Office of Management and Budget

TSS Travel Services Solution

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Page 1 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

United States Government Accountability Office

Washington, D.C. 20548

A

September 15, 2006 Letr

The Honorable Christopher Bond

Chairman

The Honorable Patty Murray

Ranking Minority Member

Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury, the Judiciary, Housing and 

Urban Development, and Related Agencies

Committee on Appropriations

United States Senate

The Honorable Joe Knollenberg

Chairman 

The Honorable John W. Olver

Ranking Minority Member

Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury, the Judiciary, Housing and 

Urban Development, and Related Agencies

Committee on Appropriations

House of Representatives

The President has identified the expansion of electronic government (egovernment)1 as one of the five priorities of his management agenda. To 

support this priority, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) 

developed an implementation strategy that identified 25 e-government 

initiatives. One of these initiatives, e-Gov Travel, managed by the General 

Services Administration (GSA), is intended to provide a common, 

automated, and integrated approach to managing government travel 

functions that will both realize cost savings and improve service. In 

November 2003, GSA awarded three 10-year e-Government Travel Service 

(eTS) master contracts, under which three vendors agreed to offer a full 

array of travel management services to federal agencies. Small travel 

agencies can also offer services, as subcontractors to eTS vendors or 

directly to federal agencies. GSA has projected that e-Gov Travel will 

realize about $473 million in savings across the federal government 

between fiscal years 2002 and 2013.

1

E-government refers to the use of technology, particularly Web-based Internet applications, 

to enhance the access to and delivery of government information and services to citizens, 

business partners, employees, other agencies, and other entities.
Page 2 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

Senate Report 109-109 directed us to study the use of small businesses in 

the e-Gov Travel program, with a focus on travel agencies offering services 

to federal agencies through GSA’s Travel Services Solutions (TSS) 

schedule. The report also directed us to assess the program’s anticipated 

savings. Our specific objectives were to determine (1) if GSA had 

appropriate mechanisms in place to help ensure the use of small business 

travel agencies, including travel agencies on the TSS schedule, and (2) the 

soundness of GSA’s estimate of potential savings expected to accrue to the 

federal government from moving to eTS. 

To determine whether GSA had appropriate mechanisms in place to help 

ensure the use of small business travel agencies, we

• analyzed GSA’s small business goals and compared them with eTS 

vendors’ small business plans and their reported subcontracting with 

small businesses for the second half of fiscal year 2005;

• analyzed documentation of the e-Gov Travel program and interviewed 

officials at GSA regarding efforts to ensure that small business travel 

agencies have the opportunity to participate;

• interviewed officials at agencies that had begun implementing eTS 

systems (the National Science Foundation and the Departments of 

Agriculture, Transportation, and the Treasury) to assess how their 

planned use of small business travel agencies made use of GSA’s 

mechanisms; and

• interviewed 11 representatives of small business travel agencies to 

obtain their views regarding GSA’s efforts and the eTS program. To 

select these travel agencies, we consulted with GSA and the Society of 

Government Travel Professionals2

 to identify travel agencies in a variety 

of contracting relationships with the federal government, including 

those that are currently subcontracting under the eTS program (3 

agencies), those currently listed on the TSS schedule (10 agencies, 

including 3 that also have eTS subcontracts), and 1 travel agency that is 

not currently involved in either eTS or TSS but is interested in doing 

business with the government. The TSS schedule travel agencies 

2

The Society of Government Travel Professionals is a national trade association 

representing companies providing government travel services.
Page 3 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

included those holding active task orders with federal agencies (4 

agencies) as well as those without task orders (6 agencies).

To assess the reliability of vendors’ reported subcontracting with small 

businesses, we interviewed officials from each of the vendors and assessed 

documentation regarding independent reviews and other quality control 

processes they had in place. 

To determine the soundness of GSA’s estimate of the potential savings from 

the eTS program, we evaluated GSA’s cost-benefit analysis against selected 

criteria in OMB Circular A-94 pertaining to savings estimation and 

discussed the rationale for the estimate with program officials. Our work 

was conducted from January 2006 through May 2006, in accordance with 

generally accepted government auditing standards. 

On June 12, 2006, we provided a briefing to staff from your offices on the 

results of our work. The briefing slides are included in appendix I. The 

purpose of this report is to publish the briefing slides and transmit the 

recommendations to GSA.

Results in Brief GSA has appropriate mechanisms in place to ensure that small travel 

agencies have opportunities to obtain federal travel business through 

participation in the eTS contracts and the TSS schedule. Specifically, GSA 

included provisions within the eTS contracts to (1) promote small business 

use and engaged in outreach to explain them and (2) established the TSS 

schedule to supplement eTS and permit small businesses and others to 

participate. Small businesses have participated in both eTS and TSS, and 

vendors have reported meeting eTS subcontracting goals for small business 

in fiscal year 2005. However, the e-Gov Travel program office has not 

tracked the amount of business TSS schedule travel agencies have received 

and thus has not yet gauged the overall effectiveness of the schedule as a 

means of facilitating small business participation. Further, it is uncertain 

whether GSA intends to waive or modify its requirement that travel 

agencies conduct $25,000 in business each year to maintain their TSS 

schedule contracts. In light of the limited implementation status of the eGov Travel program, such a requirement could be an impediment to small 

travel agency participation.

GSA’s estimate of e-Gov Travel savings across the federal government is not 

well supported. Much (74 percent) of the benefits projected for fiscal years 

2002 through 2013 is based on GSA’s calculations of expected productivity 
Page 4 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

savings associated with streamlined processing of travel orders and 

vouchers. GSA did not determine whether individual agencies planned to 

take action to implement these savings (such as by reallocating affected 

personnel resources to other tasks), and thus it is unclear whether these 

savings are likely to be realized. Further, the estimate does not reflect 

additional savings potentially gained by consolidating the government’s 

acquisition of travel services and eliminating duplicative systems, which 

GSA states would be prohibitively expensive to calculate. As a result, the 

extent of savings to be expected from implementing the e-Gov Travel 

program is unclear. While a new estimate of anticipated savings would be 

of limited value, tracking actual savings realized would provide a useful 

measure of program success. However, GSA does not plan to collect data 

from individual agencies on the extent of actual savings resulting from the 

program.

We are recommending that GSA take the following two actions: (1) ensure 

that its administrative processes do not impede small business travel 

agencies from having reasonable opportunities to obtain and maintain 

business with the federal government and (2) collect data from individual 

agencies on savings realized as they implement e-Gov Travel and report 

periodically to OMB.

We received written comments on a draft of this report from the 

Administrator of GSA. This letter is reprinted in appendix II. GSA generally 

agreed with the content of our report and our recommendations.

We are sending copies of this report to the Administrator of GSA and other 

interested congressional parties. We also will make copies available to 

others upon request. In addition, the report will be available at no charge 

on the GAO Web site at http://www.gao.gov.
Page 5 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

If you have questions concerning this report, please call me at (202) 512-

6240 or send e-mail to koontzl@gao.gov. Contact points for our Offices of 

Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last page 

of this report. Major contributors to this report are Barbara Collier, John de 

Ferrari, Neil Doherty, Vernetta Marquis, and Elizabeth Zhao.

Linda D. Koontz

Director, Information Management Issues
Page 6 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small Apendxies

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings ApendxiI

E-Government Travel: 

Participation by Small Businesses and Estimated 

Program Savings

Briefing for congressional staff of the

Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury, the Judiciary, Housing and

Urban Development and Related Agencies, Senate Committee on 

Appropriations; and

Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban 

Development, The Judiciary, and the District of Columbia, House 

Committee on Appropriations

May 30, 2006
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 7 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

2

Contents

Introduction

Objectives

Scope and Methodology

Results in Brief

Background

GSA Has Established Mechanisms to Allow Participation by Small 

Business Travel Agencies

Anticipated Savings are Unclear

Conclusions

Recommendations

Agency Comments 
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 8 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

3

Introduction

E-Gov Travel is a program to establish automated e-Government Travel 

Service (eTS) systems for managing travel functions at civilian agencies 

across the federal government. Managed by the General Services 

Administration (GSA), the e-Gov Travel program is one of 25 egovernment initiatives sponsored by the Office of Management and

Budget (OMB) in response to the President’s Management Agenda. The 

Agenda gives priority to expanding electronic government and improving 

the internal efficiency of the federal government.

The purpose of the e-Gov Travel initiative is to provide a common, 

automated, and integrated approach to managing government travel

functions that will both realize cost savings and improve service. GSA has 

projected that e-Gov Travel will realize about $473 million in savings 

across the federal government between fiscal years 2002 and 2013.
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 9 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

4

Introduction

In November 2003, GSA awarded three 10-year eTS master contracts to

• Carlson Wagonlit Government Travel,

• Electronic Data Systems (EDS), and 

• Northrop Grumman Mission Systems.

Under these contracts, the eTS vendors agree to offer a full array of travel 

management services to government agencies. Executive branch 

agencies other than the Department of Defense (which is implementing a 

separate system) are required to use eTS vendors to support most of their 

travel management functions—such as travel authorization and voucher 

processing—but are not required to obtain travel agency services—

assistance in booking or making changes in travel—from eTS vendors. 

Travel agency services are part of the eTS vendor offerings, but federal

agencies may obtain them separately.
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 10 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

5

Introduction

Small business travel agencies1 have two main avenues for obtaining 

business with federal agencies, using GSA contract vehicles:

• They can form partnerships with one or more of the eTS vendors and 

provide travel agency services as eTS subcontractors. Public Law 109-

115 stipulates that at least 23 percent of all subcontracted dollars for 

eTS are to be allocated to small businesses (which encompasses all

small businesses, not just travel agencies).

• They can apply for and be listed on GSA’s Travel Services Solutions 

(TSS) schedule. Federal agencies have the option of establishing

contract task orders for travel agency services from TSS-listed 

businesses apart from their main eTS contract task orders. 

1Small business travel agencies are defined by the Small Business Administration as earning no more than $3.5 million 

annually. They also must meet certain other criteria, such as being organized for profit, having a place of business in the

United States, and making a significant contribution to the U.S. economy by paying taxes or using American products, 

materials, or labor.
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 11 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

6

Introduction

Federal agencies are also free to independently negotiate contracts with 

travel agencies, including small travel agencies. However, according to 

GSA, they are likely to do so only rarely because the administrative 

burden of negotiating independent contracts is much greater than when

using one of GSA’s established contracting vehicles.
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 12 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

7

Objectives

Senate Report 109-109 directs us to study the use of small businesses in 

the e-Gov Travel program, with a focus on travel agencies on the TSS 

schedule. The report also directs us to assess expected savings of the 

program.

Our specific objectives were to

• determine if GSA has appropriate mechanisms in place to help ensure 

the use of small business travel agencies, including travel agencies on 

GSA’s TSS schedule, and 

• determine the soundness of GSA’s estimate of potential savings 

expected to accrue to the federal government from moving to eTS.
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 13 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

8

Scope and Methodology

To determine whether GSA has appropriate mechanisms in place to help 

ensure the use of small business travel agencies, we

• analyzed GSA’s small business goals and compared them with eTS 

vendors’ small business plans and their reported subcontracting with 

small businesses for the second half of fiscal year 2005; 

• analyzed documentation of the e-Gov Travel program and interviewed 

officials at GSA regarding efforts to ensure that small business travel

agencies have the opportunity to participate;

• interviewed officials at agencies that have begun implementing eTS 

systems (the National Science Foundation and the Departments of 

Agriculture, Transportation, and the Treasury) to assess how their 

planned use of small business travel agencies made use of GSA’s 

mechanisms; and
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 14 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

9

Scope and Methodology

• interviewed 11 representatives of small business travel agencies to

obtain their views regarding GSA’s efforts and the eTS program. To 

select these travel agencies, we consulted with GSA and the Society 

of Government Travel Professionals2 to identify travel agencies in a

variety of contracting relationships with the federal government, 

including those that are currently subcontracting under the eTS 

program (3), those currently listed on the TSS schedule (10, including 

the 3 that also have eTS subcontracts), and one travel agency that is 

not currently involved in either eTS or TSS but is interested in doing

business with the government. The TSS schedule travel agencies 

included those holding active task orders with federal agencies (4) as 

well as those without task orders (6).

2The Society of Government Travel Professionals is a national trade association representing companies providing

government travel services.
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 15 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

10

Scope and Methodology

To assess the reliability of vendors’ reported subcontracting with small 

businesses for the second half of fiscal year 2005, we interviewed officials 

from each of the vendors and obtained documentation on independent 

reviews and other quality control processes they had in place.

To determine the soundness of GSA’s estimate of the potential savings 

from the eTS program, we evaluated GSA’s cost-benefit analysis against 

selected criteria in OMB Circular A-94 pertaining to savings estimation and 

discussed the rationale for the estimate with program officials.

We performed our work from January 2006 to May 2006, in accordance 

with generally accepted government auditing standards.
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 16 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

11

Results in Brief

GSA has appropriate mechanisms in place to ensure that small travel 

agencies have opportunities to obtain federal travel business through 

participation in the eTS contracts and the TSS schedule. Specifically, GSA

• included provisions within the eTS contracts to promote small 

business use and engaged in outreach to explain them, and

• established the TSS schedule to supplement eTS and permit small 

businesses and others to participate.
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 17 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

12

Results in Brief

Small businesses have participated in both eTS and TSS, and vendors 

reported meeting eTS subcontracting goals for small business in fiscal year 

2005. However, the e-Gov travel program office has not tracked the 

amount of business TSS schedule travel agencies are receiving and thus 

has not yet gauged the overall effectiveness of the schedule as a means of 

facilitating small business participation. Further, it is uncertain whether 

GSA intends to waive or modify its requirement that travel agencies 

conduct $25,000 in business each year to maintain their TSS schedule 

contract. In light of the limited implementation status of the e-Gov Travel 

program, such a requirement could be an impediment to small travel 

agency participation.
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 18 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

13

Results in Brief

GSA’s estimate of e-Gov Travel savings across the federal government is 

not well supported. Much (74 percent) of the benefits projected for fiscal 

years 2002 through 2013 is based on GSA’s calculations of expected 

productivity savings associated with streamlined processing of travel 

orders and vouchers. GSA did not determine whether individual agencies 

planned to take action to implement these savings (such as by reallocating 

affected personnel resources to other tasks), and thus it is unclear 

whether these savings are likely to be realized. Further, the estimate does 

not reflect additional savings potentially gained by consolidating the 

government’s acquisition of travel services and eliminating duplicative 

systems, which GSA states would be prohibitively expensive to calculate. 

As a result, the extent of savings to be expected from implementing the eGov Travel program is unclear. While a new estimate of anticipated 

savings would be of limited value, tracking actual savings realized would 

provide a useful measure of program success. However, GSA does not 

plan to collect data from individual agencies on the extent of actual 

savings resulting from the program.
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 19 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

14

Results in Brief

We are recommending that GSA take steps to ensure that its 

administrative processes do not impede small business travel agencies 

from having reasonable opportunities to obtain and maintain business with 

the federal government. We are also recommending that GSA collect data 

from individual agencies on savings realized as they implement e-Gov 

Travel and report periodically to the Office of Management and Budget.

In providing oral comments on a draft of this briefing, the e-Gov Travel 

program manager and other officials from GSA generally agreed with the 

content and recommendations. The GSA officials also made a number of 

technical comments, which we incorporated as appropriate.
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 20 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

15

Background

In the past, federal travel operations were largely decentralized. In many 

cases, travel agencies, including small businesses, were able to contract

directly with agency subcomponents, such as field offices, to provide travel 

services in diverse geographic locations. According to GSA, the decentralized 

nature of travel operations created a labor-intensive administrative structure,

and it was not possible to effectively monitor travel operations

governmentwide. E-Gov Travel was launched to address administrative 

inefficiencies, realize cost savings, and enhance service by consolidating the 

travel functions of federal civilian agencies.3

Under e-Gov Travel, executive branch agencies other than Defense are 

required to choose among the three vendors who were awarded the master 

eTS contracts. These vendors all offer travel agency services. However, as 

already discussed, federal agencies have the alternative of obtaining travel 

agency services through the TSS schedule or by contracting independently 

with travel agencies.

3Federal government travel consolidation has been a goal for many years, See, for example, GAO, Governmentwide Travel

Management: Federal Agencies Have Opportunities for Streamlining and Improving Their Travel Practices, GAO/T-AIMD96-60 (Washington, D.C.: Mar. 8, 1996).
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 21 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

16

Background

Federal agencies were required to choose eTS vendors by December

2004; however, most agencies have not yet implemented eTS. Of 24

major departments and agencies, two (the National Science Foundation 

and the National Archives and Records Administration) had fully 

implemented eTS as of April 2006. Another 8 agencies were in the

process of implementing the system.
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 22 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

17

Background:

eTS Components

The systems that the eTS vendors provide to federal agencies consist of 

three major components:

• The Travel Authorization and Voucher System is an automated tool

used to ensure that planned travel adheres to regulations and is

properly authorized. It also allows employees to submit vouchers and

be reimbursed for travel expenses.

• The Online Booking Engine is the interface used by agencies to make 

travel reservations. It allows federal travelers 24-hour access to 

reservations, itineraries, and pre-selected traveling preferences.

• A Travel Management Center (travel agency) provides traditional 

human-assisted travel services, including assistance in booking 

reservations, making changes, or coping with unforeseen problems as

travel is under way. Agencies may use more than one travel agency.
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 23 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

18

Background

eTS Components

Each of these three components interacts with the others. These 

interactions may differ depending on the implementation of each agency’s 

system. For example, a government employee may use the online booking 

engine to book travel directly or may consult with a travel agent (Travel 

Management Center) to do so. Authorization may be obtained through the 

Travel Authorization and Voucher System. 

To authorize travel, the Travel Authorization and Voucher System must

have access to the reservation information collected by the online booking 

engine or the travel agency. Usually this exchange is handled electronically 

through a Global Distribution System (GDS)—a large electronic travel 

reservation system that facilitates sharing of travel and transportation 

information among multiple subscribing organizations. GDSs provide 

subscribers with schedules, availability, and pricing information, as well as 

reservation and ticketing capabilities. There are four major GDSs: 

Amadeus, Worldspan, Sabre, and Galileo.

The following diagram illustrates how the eTS components interact.
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 24 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

19

Background:

eTS Components
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 25 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

20

Background

Travel agencies affiliated with the main eTS contracts are referred to as 

embedded. As such, the travel agencies are subcontractors to the main 

eTS vendors, and they have procedures for sharing information with the 

Travel Authorization and Voucher System and online booking engine, 

generally via a GDS, as established in their contracts with the eTS 

vendors. Embedded travel agencies include large as well as small

businesses.

If travel agencies are not embedded—such as when federal agencies 

have separate task orders with travel agencies on the TSS schedule—the 

eTS vendors are required to accommodate the chosen travel agency: that 

is, establish procedures for efficiently sharing information with them. For 

an eTS vendor to properly complete a travel order and authorization, it 

must obtain travel reservation information created by the travel agency,

which is generally done via a GDS. The GSA contract requires eTS

vendors to subscribe to all four GDSs; this is intended to ensure that most 

travel agencies, which may subscribe to different GDSs, can be 

accommodated.
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 26 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

21

Background:

Travel Services Solutions Schedule

The TSS schedule, which is managed by GSA’s Federal Supply Service, 

allows federal agencies to supplement their eTS contracts. Agencies may 

use the TSS schedule to acquire travel services such as professional 

travel agents and related services to assist federal employees in meeting 

their travel needs. According to GSA, the TSS schedule is a 

comprehensive contracting vehicle that provides a listing of approved 

contractors offering these services; it is intended to provide agencies with 

one-stop shopping for travel management needs and ensure integration

with eTS.

The TSS schedule is designed to provide opportunities for all businesses 

to compete for federal travel business, with an emphasis on promoting 

opportunities for small businesses. GSA provides information to agencies 

about whether TSS vendors are small businesses, and agencies can use

these vendors to address their small business utilization goals.
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 27 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

22

Objective 1: GSA Has Established Mechanisms 

to Allow Participation by Small Business 

Travel Agencies

GSA has appropriate measures in place to ensure that small business 

travel agencies have opportunities to obtain federal travel business 

through participation in (1) the eTS contracts and (2) the TSS schedule. 

Through both of these vehicles, small business travel agencies have 

received federal business.

In addition, more small businesses are now eligible for federal business 

through GSA than before eTS and TSS. Under GSA’s previous master

contract for travel agencies, in effect from 1998 through 2004, 13 small 

travel agencies participated. In contrast, 34 are currently participating 

through eTS, TSS, or both.
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 28 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

23

Use of Small Business Travel Agencies

eTS contracts: In developing the eTS program, GSA established 

provisions in the master contracts to promote the use of small businesses. 

For example, eTS vendors are required to develop and submit plans 

outlining their strategies for reaching small business participation goals. 

GSA set a goal for each eTS vendor to allocate 40 percent of 

subcontracting dollars to small businesses. In addition, legislation 

requiring eTS vendors to allocate at least 23 percent of subcontracting 

dollars to small businesses is in effect. The contracts provide incentive 

awards for meeting or exceeding GSA’s small business goals and also 

stipulate that vendors face monetary penalties if they do not meet their 

small business goals. In addition, the contracts require vendors to report 

semi-annually on their small business usage. 
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 29 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

24

Use of Small Business Travel Agencies

In addition, to broaden awareness about eTS, GSA has engaged in 

outreach about the program by various means, including forums and 

workshops. For example, GSA has made presentations to workshops and 

conferences sponsored by the Society of Government Travel 

Professionals and the National Travel Forum, among others. Topics 

discussed in these forums included how the system works as a whole, 

migration plans, procurement, pricing, and ways in which GSA is 

supporting the transition to the eTS system. GSA officials have also 

provided customer representatives to work with agency officials on 

selecting eTS vendors and travel agencies. These activities included 

providing information about opportunities for federal agency utilization of 

small travel agencies.
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 30 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

25

Use of Small Business Travel Agencies

The eTS program has succeeded in achieving small business 

participation: in their October 2005 semi-annual reports to GSA, the eTS 

vendors provided figures on subcontracted dollars to small businesses 

that met GSA’s goal of 40 percent (and thus also the statutory goal of at 

least 23 percent).4 GSA officials reported that the eTS master contracts 

currently include 11 small business travel agencies as subcontractors. 

Small business subcontracting goals are not targeted specifically to travel 

agencies. According to their July 2005 reports, one vendor directed 13 

percent of small business subcontracting dollars to small travel agencies,

while another devoted 9 percent to small travel agencies.5

4GSA officials stated that the figures reported by the eTS vendors were sensitive information that could not be publicly 

released.

5The third vendor did not provide a breakdown by type of small business because it was not contractually required to do so. 

GSA officials said they are in the process of making such reporting a mandatory requirement.
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 31 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

26

Use of Small Business Travel Agencies

TSS schedule: In 2003, GSA established the TSS schedule to provide 

opportunities for businesses (including small businesses) that are not eTS 

subcontractors to provide travel services to federal agencies. According to 

e-Gov Travel officials, GSA’s Federal Supply Service has conducted

outreach efforts regarding opportunities under the TSS schedule similar to 

those conducted for eTS.

GSA has obtained small business participation on the TSS schedule: 

Currently, the TSS schedule includes 53 travel agencies, of which 30 are 

small businesses.
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 32 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

27

Use of Small Business Travel Agencies

However, it is not clear how much business small travel agencies are

actually receiving through the TSS schedule and thus whether the TSS, as 

currently administered, is an effective mechanism for providing 

opportunities for small travel agencies. As of April 2006, GSA officials 

reported that 9 of the 30 small travel agencies had task orders with federal 

agencies. However, e-Gov Travel program officials do not maintain

information about agency usage of TSS schedule vendors and thus could 

not report how much business small travel agencies were receiving 

through TSS schedule task orders.

Without such information, GSA officials lack the ability to monitor over time 

whether small businesses are being afforded opportunities under the TSS 

schedule and whether administrative adjustments need to be made—such 

as changes in contract requirements or providing better explanations of 

small business opportunities to federal agencies. 
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 33 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

28

Use of Small Business Travel Agencies

In addition, small travel agency representatives were concerned that they 

could face an onerous administrative process with GSA if they wish to 

remain listed on the TSS schedule in the future. According to these 

representatives, to initially become listed on the TSS schedule required a 

substantial initial investment without any guarantee of federal business. 

Eight out of the 11 travel agencies we contacted indicated that the 

approval process was time-consuming and the requirements difficult to 

understand. Three small travel agencies stated that they needed to hire 

specialists or had to devote an extensive amount of time to develop draft 

TSS contracts. Four indicated that additional resources were required in an 

iterative process of negotiation to win approval from GSA. Six mentioned 

that considerable time was required to get answers to questions and 

feedback.
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 34 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

29

Use of Small Business Travel Agencies

Travel agency representatives stated they were concerned that they would 

be dropped from the TSS schedule if they did not conduct enough 

business and then would have to repeat the application process in order to 

regain the opportunity to obtain federal business. GSA requires vendors to 

conduct $25,000 worth of business each year to maintain their TSS 

schedule contract.

While GSA officials acknowledged this requirement, they said travel 

agencies not receiving task orders would not necessarily be dropped from 

the TSS schedule. According to GSA, the decision to cancel a contract is a 

business decision, and before making such a decision, GSA officials are to 

meet with the vendor to discuss why it is not doing business and make

recommendations. According to GSA, no TSS travel agency to date has 

been canceled due to lack of business.
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 35 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

30

Use of Small Business Travel Agencies 

Given that e-Gov Travel has been implemented at only a few agencies, the 

$25,000 minimum requirement for small travel agencies could create an 

impediment to small business participation. GSA has not indicated whether 

it intends to waive or modify this requirement in light of the limited 

implementation status of the e-Gov Travel program. 
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 36 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

31

Objective 2: Anticipated Savings are 

Unclear

According to GSA’s cost and benefit estimate, eTS is projected to result in 

about $473 million in overall savings across the federal government during 

fiscal years 2002 and 2013. 

GSA projected benefits of 

• $420 million in productivity gains from employees and supervisors 

spending less time on administrative paperwork as a result of 

integrating travel systems (the online booking engine and the travel 

authorization and voucher system) with agency finance and accounting 

systems and

• $148 million in savings from more efficient transactions and 

vouchering.

These benefits together total $568 million. GSA projected the total cost of

developing and implementing the system at $95 million. Subtracting this 

cost from the projected benefits results in $473 million in projected savings. 
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 37 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

32

Anticipated Savings are Unclear

GSA did not provide evidence that the bulk of the projected cost savings

($420 million)—which consist of anticipated productivity gains due to

employees and supervisors spending less time processing travel 

authorizations and vouchers—are likely to be realized. Unlike budgetary 

savings, which can be realized by not making otherwise planned 

expenditures, productivity gains are based on anticipated reductions in the 

need for personnel resources, which could allow individuals to be

reassigned or to perform other tasks.

In order for these savings to materialize, agencies must have plans in 

place to reallocate these personnel resources or otherwise take advantage 

of the anticipated gains. However, in the case of e-Gov Travel, GSA 

analysts calculated the productivity savings that they believed should be 

realized at each government agency—due to reduced manual effort in 

processing travel orders and vouchers—without determining whether the 

federal agencies would take action to achieve cost reductions, such as by 

reallocating or reducing personnel resources.
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 38 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

33

Anticipated Savings are Unclear

According to GSA, the projected savings represent an aggregation of the 

many relatively small amounts of time to be saved by individual travelers, 

their supervisors, and financial management personnel at each federal 

agency.

Because the projected savings are scattered among many agency 

personnel, it may be difficult for agencies to explicitly achieve cost 

reductions corresponding to the projected savings, such as by reallocating 

or reducing personnel resources. Thus it is unclear the extent to which 

these savings will be realized.
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 39 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

34

Anticipated Savings are Unclear

In addition, the GSA estimate may not take into account all possible 

sources of cost savings. OMB’s A-94 guidance requires a complete and 

reasonable accounting of expected benefits. Although one of the goals for 

eTS is consolidation of government travel management services and 

elimination of duplicative systems, GSA’s cost-benefit estimate focused on 

efficiency gains in travel execution (fees paid to service providers) and 

travel management (booking, reviewing, and approving travel and travel 

reimbursement), rather than savings resulting from consolidating the

acquisition of travel services or eliminating duplicative systems. 

Implementation of e-Gov Travel could result in additional savings in these 

areas.
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 40 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

35

Anticipated Savings are Unclear

GSA officials recognized that they had not quantified these potential 

savings. They stated that it would be prohibitively expensive to do so and 

was not necessary because the previously described savings had been 

identified.

Because the decision to implement e-Gov Travel has already been made, 

it may not be productive to reassess anticipated savings at this point in 

time. However, tracking actual savings could shed light on the success of 

the program and inform future initiatives of a similar nature. Further, GSA 

is required to conduct post-implementation reviews6 of information 

technology investments to verify, for example, estimated benefits and 

document effective management practices for broader use. Information on 

savings realized is necessary for these reviews. However, GSA program 

staff indicated that they have no plans to collect data from individual

agencies on savings realized.

6Post-implementation reviews are required under OMB Circular No. A-130: Management of Federal Information Resources.
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 41 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

36

Conclusions

GSA has established appropriate mechanisms to allow small business 

travel agencies to compete for business with federal customers, including 

setting goals for small business utilization in the eTS contracts and 

establishing the TSS schedule. Although these processes create a

structure for small travel agency business opportunities, and eTS small 

business goals are reportedly being met, the e-Gov Travel program is still 

in its early stages of implementation. Specifically, it remains unclear how 

much business small travel agencies are doing with the government via 

the TSS schedule. Without monitoring usage, e-Gov Travel program 

officials are unable to determine the extent to which the TSS schedule has 

provided business opportunities to small travel agencies. Further, in light 

of the limited implementation status of the e-Gov Travel program, it is 

uncertain whether GSA intends to enforce the requirement that travel 

agencies conduct $25,000 in business each year to maintain their TSS

schedule contract. Such a requirement could be an impediment to small 

travel agency participation.
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 42 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

37

Conclusions

The eTS savings estimate prepared by GSA is based largely on 

productivity gains that may not be realized at individual agencies, and the 

estimate does not address potential gains due to consolidation and 

elimination of duplication. As a result, it is difficult to know what cost 

savings are expected from implementation of eTS. While a new estimate 

of anticipated savings would be of limited value at this point in time, 

identification of actual savings realized would provide a useful measure of 

the success of the program. However, GSA does not currently have plans

to collect these data from individual agencies.
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 43 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

38

Recommendations

We recommend that the Administrator of General Services ensure that, as 

the e-Gov Travel Program progresses, GSA’s administrative processes do

not impede small business travel agencies from having reasonable

opportunities to obtain and maintain business with the federal government. 

Specifically, GSA should

• monitor the amount of business small travel agencies are receiving 

under the TSS schedule and, depending on the results, identify and 

implement adjustments as warranted, and

• consider waiving or modifying the requirement that vendors conduct 

$25,000 worth of business each year to maintain their TSS schedule 

contracts until the e-Gov Travel program is more broadly implemented 

across the federal government.

We also recommend that the Administrator of General Services collect 

data from individual agencies on savings realized as they implement eGov Travel and report to the Office of Management and Budget 

periodically on the extent of actual savings resulting from the program.
Appendix I

E-Government Travel: Participation by Small 

Businesses and Estimated Program Savings

Page 44 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

39

Agency Comments

On May 23, 2006, the e-Gov Travel program manager and other GSA staff, 

including the Acting Assistant Commissioner for Transportation and 

Property Management, provided oral comments on a draft of this briefing. 

The GSA officials generally agreed with the content and recommendations, 

noting that they are in the process of a reorganization that will consolidate 

travel management within one office to facilitate monitoring and tracking of 

small business travel agencies. The GSA officials also made a number of 

technical comments, which we incorporated as appropriate.
Page 45 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel

Appendix II

Comments from the General Services 

Administration ApendxiI
Appendix II

Comments from the General Services 

Administration

Page 46 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel
Appendix II

Comments from the General Services 

Administration

(310773) Page 47 GAO-06-911 E-Government Travel
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