Provision of travel management services

Description

The ESM intends to establish an agreement for the provision of travel management services with a single travel service provider to support the travel service needs of the ESM. The ESM has a staff of approximately 175 including a core group of frequent ESM travellers (25–30 persons) who travel to various destinations throughout the world on a planned and unplanned basis. Business travel is an essential component of the ESM's ability to execute its operational mandate and accordingly, the travel management services required to facilitate it, are a critical service demanding efficient, effective and professional execution. The agreement to be established will be for an initial 3-year term with a possibility for extension for up to 3 additional years at the ESM's sole discretion. The travel services (the ‘travel services’) to be supplied by the selected travel service provider (the ‘TSP’) will be on an ‘as and when’ required basis in accordance with industry best practices in support of the business travel needs of the ESM staff and, as required, other personnel (together ‘Travellers’). These include: 1. provision of one experienced on-site travel agent to work on-site at the ESM offices in Luxembourg with access to a backup travel agent at no additional cost to the ESM (in the case of absence of the prime travel agent) in accordance with the ESM's usual working hours i.e. 8:30–17:30 (the ‘UWH’) and easy access by telephone and internet to a 24/7 travel service centre on a 24 hour/365 days basis for provision of travel services outside of the UWH; 2. the on-site travel agent is to be fully enabled/equipped with all necessary tools to provide the travel services, including access to a global distribution system (GDS) allowing transactions between the TSP and any airlines, rail companies, hotels, car rental companies, etc.; 3. provide an online booking tool to be used by travellers for booking simple point-to-point trips; 4. promptly and professionally respond to travellers' queries/requests (either via e-mail, telephone, in person, or via the online booking tool) and interact with the travellers to seek clarity and discuss travel options as may be appropriate; 5. arrange and book/change/cancel travel, accommodation and other related arrangements (i.e. booking of meeting rooms in hotels, airport transfers, etc.) for travellers (both individuals and groups of people); 6. provide assistance with booking for group of people through meetings and events service; 7. leverage industry knowledge, expertise, purchasing power, networks, systems and tools, to address travellers' queries/requests with timely, relevant, accurate and cost-effective and cost-competitive travel solutions and information; 8. provide all tickets and/or other required industry typical documentation pertaining to the booked travel to ensure safe, smooth and unproblematic travel; 9. provide information on the documents required for travel, including but not limited to visa and on security requirements; 10. manage the normal life-cycle and evolution of all travel arrangements including any ‘pre-travel’ or ‘in-travel’ troubleshooting, changes, modifications and other matters related to the travel services; 11. provide the ESM with various written management reports which give insights as to travellers' travel activities and participate in various management meetings; 12. supply the ESM with timely and relevant information about travel market issues, trends and other matters that the ESM should be aware of and that may affect travellers' travel activities, with a view to ensuring the travel services and/or the traveller's experience remain efficient and effective; 13. if available, provide a travellers' tracking notification system to report at any moment of time as to the ESM travellers' safety and location. See the procurement documents for further details.