Data Sets for Travel & Tourism Satellite Accounts

Combined Synopsis/Solicitation for Data for Estimating the Travel and Tourism Satellite Accounts Industry Economics Accounts June 2009 This is a combined synopsis/solicitation for commercial items prepared in accordance with the format in FAR Subpart 12.6, as supplemented with additional information included in this notice. This announcement constitutes the only solicitation; quotations are being requested and a written solicitation will not be issued. The Government contemplates an award of a Firm Fixed Priced contract resulting from this solicitation. On behalf of the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the US Census Bureau anticipates awarding a Sole Source contract to D.K. Shifflet & Associates, Ltd that incorporates one (1) basic year, and four (4) options for increased quantities, the total of which will not exceed the requirement for five (5) years {FAR Parts 17.204(e) & 17.204(f)(3)}. Solicitation No. BEA-RFQ-09-0000-IEA-FR-005 is being issued as a Request for Quotation (RFQ). This notice and the incorporated provisions and clauses are those in effect through the Federal Acquisition Circular The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 541990 - All Other Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services. DESCRIPTION OF NEED The Government is contemplating awarding a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) contract for the purchase of data required to update the Travel and Tourism Satellite Accounts. 1.0 Background BEA has developed several satellite accounts designed to expand the analytical capabilities of the system of national accounts. Included among these is the Travel and Tourism Satellite Accounts (TTSA's), which are used to determine the economic size of the U.S. travel and tourism industry. BEA is updating the TTSA's for calendar year 2008. In order to create the 1997-2008 TTSA's, BEA is seeking the same set of data (updated for 2008) that was supplied by D.K. Shifflet & Associates, Ltd. (DKSA) to create the 1997-2006 TTSA's during calendar year 2007. Since continuity of data is crucial to accurately estimating the TTSA's, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) anticipates the award of a Sole Source contract to D.K. Shifflet & Associates, Ltd. If this contractor is not used as the supplier for this data purchase, BEA will be required to procure the data for the preceding nine-year period (1997-2008 inclusive). This would be necessary in order to provide a consistent time series over the entire life of the TTSA's. The TTSA's are funded by the International Trade Administration (ITA), which requires that the TTSA estimates be a consistent, comparable time series from 1997-2008. 2.0 Scope The primary goal of this contract action is to obtain the most comprehensive data as appropriate inputs consistent with the data provided to BEA for the past seven years for the TTSA's. 3.0 Applicable Documents Documents and reference material provided to the contractor are: IEA Best Data Handling Standards (Attachment 1) 4.0 Required Data In order to update and improve the estimates of the TTSA's for 2008, BEA needs: - Data that measures travel and tourism expenditures in total, and by type of traveler for both, domestic and overseas travel conducted in calendar year 2008. - Data on the amount of automobile usage in calendar year 2008 to be included within the TTSA's. This includes data concerning gasoline and related - out-of-pocket expenditures centered on the automobile. - Data collected directly from travelers on their expenditures for calendar year 2008. The collection of these data should be based on sound statistical sampling techniques and methodology. A table of the required estimates is included in Attachment 2. 5.0 Contract Deliverables The Contractor shall provide one electronic copy of all deliverables. The format will be a standard, commercially available product such as Microsoft Excel for spreadsheets, Microsoft Word for word processing documents and Microsoft Access for data products. No data generated by the contractor will be made available by BEA to any requesting Government or private entity without the prior written approval of the Contractor. The Contractor shall be responsible for providing BEA with deliverables that conform to the Acceptance Criteria in Section 5.2 herein. The Contractor shall provide the deliverables to the COTR on or before December 15, 2009. 5.1 Deliverable Due Date The Contractor will provide the deliverables to the COTR no later than December 15th of the current contract year for which data is being procured. 5.2 Acceptance / Quality Assurance The Contractor shall submit the deliverables in the required format, as outlined in Section 5.0. BEA reserves the right to review the deliverables and to reject any data file or report determined not to conform to contract requirements. BEA will provide D.K. Shifflet & Associates, Ltd with written comments relating to the data within 6 weeks of receipt of the deliverables. The Contractor shall then return the deliverables with the necessary corrections to the COTR within 7 days of receipt. These corrections shall be performed at no cost to the Government. Acceptance of the contractor's data will be determined by the Bureau of Economic Analysis examination of the deliverables. The Contractor is expected to improve the quality (as necessary) of subsequent deliverables based on input from the Bureau of Economic Analysis regarding the current deliverables. The deliverables shall reflect the characteristics on the ensuing list, such that BEA management and staff easily understand the deliverables. The data shall be: Submitted within the required timeframes; Consistent with previous data; The latest available, in the correct units and for the correct time period; Free of mathematical errors, and; Submitted in the format specified in Section 5. 5.4 Deliverable Due Date Deliverables are due no later than December 15th of the current contract year for which data is being procured. 5.5 Distribution of Deliverables The Contractor will transmit all deliverables detailed below so that the deliverables are received by the following parties on or before the indicated due dates: Recipient Required Quantity Patricia Wilkinson (COTR) 1 electronic copy to contact@example.gov 6.0 Enclosures to the Statement of Need - Attachment 1 - Industry Economics Accounts (IEA) Best Data Handling Standards - Attachment 2 - Travel & Tourism Purchases Categories - Attachment 3 - Invoicing Procedures 7.0 Technical Evaluation The Contractor's proposal shall be evaluated to determine the Contractor's ability to meet the Government's requirement as outlined in Section 4.0 of this solicitation. THE GOVERNMENT KNOWS OF ONLY ONE SOURCE: DK Shifflet & Associates, LTD The Government intends to award a noncompetitive contract under the provisions set forth in the Federal Acquisition Regulation Part 6.302-1, Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, as authorized by 41 U.S.C. 253(c)(1). The lack of competition for this procurement action is due to the Bureau of Economic Analysis updating the TTSA's for calendar year 2008. BEA is seeking the exact same set of data that were supplied by D.K. Shifflet & Associates, Ltd. (DKSA) to create the 1997-2006 TTSA's for calendar year 2007. The primary goal is to secure the best, most comprehensive data as appropriate inputs consistent with the data provided to BEA for the past seven years for the TTSA's. Continuity of data is crucial to accurately estimating the TTSA's. If D.K. Shifflet & Associates, Ltd is not used as the sole source for this data purchase and this contract must be competed, BEA will require the data to be provided for eight years (1997-2008 inclusive). This is necessary in order to provide a completely consistent time series over the entire life of the TTSA's. The TTSA's are funded by the International Trade Administration (ITA) and requires that the TTSA estimates be a consistent, comparable time series from 1997-2008. Furthermore, use of another vendor to recreate the 1997-2008 time series would result in a substantial duplication of costs to the Government that would not be recovered through competition, and would create an unacceptable delay in fulfilling the agency's requirements. For these reasons, the Government knows of only one source capable of providing the required supplies at the desired level of quality. Submit all questions concerning this procurement by e-mail to contact@example.gov.