GSA to push travelers to stay in preferred hotels

The General Services Administration is working on a new regulation that would "strongly encourage" federal employees to choose hotels that participate in the Federal Premier Lodging Program when planning official travel, according to government officials.

The Federal Premier Lodging Program (FPLP) was folded into the per diem rate-setting process earlier this year. Under FPLP, hotels guarantee that a certain number of rooms will be available within the applicable per diem rates. There was no guarantee that such rates would be available prior to FPLP.

The government hopes to get better hotel rates through greater use of FPLP, similar to the deals on air travel it receives through its partnerships with airlines.

The program began two years ago, when GSA ran a successful pilot version of it in Boston. It has since expanded into other areas, including Washington; Seattle; Portland, Ore.; Chicago; Denver; Jefferson County, Colo.; and New York. Other contracts are pending in Baltimore; Memphis, Tenn.; Miami; Atlanta; Boston; Biloxi, Miss.; Huntsville, Ala.; Savannah, Ga.; Charleston, S.C.; and Jacksonville, Fla.

An Office of Management and Budget official confirmed that GSA was crafting a new regulation that the agency hopes will encourage agencies and departments that don't already have lodging programs to opt for FPLP properties first when their employees travel on government business.

A GSA spokeswoman declined to discuss the proposed regulation because officials at the agency had yet to sign off on it.