Request for Exemption

An exemption was requested of a GAO regulation which restricts the use of travel agents to procure official Government travel. A proposal was submitted to allow the General Services Administration (GSA) to establish, within a 2-year period, one or more commercial travel agent contractual operations in each of the 11 GSA regions. Where feasible, GSA plans to operate regional travel centers designed to serve a group of Federal agencies. GAO believes that the proposal complied with the established requirements. GAO has supported and recommended the concept of regionally centralized travel services for Federal agencies in the past. Therefore, the exemption was authorized for 2 years so that the use of travel agents could be tested. GAO requested advice as to the establishment of other tests and provisions of the basic test plan, so that it could avoid duplication in considering exemptions to agencies in regions in which GSA is testing the use of travel agents.