INVITATION TO BID Long Term Agreement for Travel Management Services ITB-ARK-LTA-24-ARKAE1219

INVITATION TO BID 

Long Term Agreement for Travel Management Services  

ITB-ARK-LTA-24-ARKAE1219 

To: Bidder 

From: ARK Group 

ITB Reference: ITB-ARK-LTA-24-ARKAE1219 

ITB Issue date: 23 April 2024 

ITB Closing date: 20 May 2024 

ITB Closing time: 19:00 Gulf Standard Time (GST) 

Requirement 

ARK’s travel management service is provided by a travel agency based in Dubai with the current agreement ending in May 2024. The travel booking platform is powered by Neo, which is customised to ARK’s travel policy and procedures including internal approvals which enables transparency on travel cost and journey choice. Each trip booked on the online travel booking tool is recorded with an audit log showing the itinerary, budget code, trip objective, approvals, and total cost. The travel agency also provides dedicated support for offline bookings (specifically for ticket changes, cancellations, and complex itinerary bookings, Fly America Act flight bookings and group bookings), and a 24/7 out of office contact centre for emergency bookings.  

This ITB is for the re-tender of the above-mentioned travel management services. Travel Management Services shall include, but are not limited to: a custom-built online travel booking tool, airline ticketing, short-term accommodation in hotels and/or apartment hotels, hire of conference facilities, train ticketing, car and coach hire and advice on visa requirements and/or facilitation of visa applications. The ITB may result in one or more travel agents being awarded an LTA. 

Detailed requirements are provided in Annex 1 Terms of Reference. 

Description of ARK 

ARK is a stabilisation and development company committed to empowering local communities and beneficiaries in conflict, post-conflict, and fragile areas through the provision of evidence-based programmatic interventions, policy recommendations, research, and capacity-building. Working with local communities, it seeks to understand and then mitigate the negative effects of conflict and instability, enhancing social cohesion and resilience whist promoting human security, development, and economic opportunity.  

Instructions for Submitting Proposals  

The ITB consists of this letter of invitation with submission instructions and evaluation criteria, and the following annexes: 

Annex 1: Terms of Reference (TOR) for Travel Management Services 

Annex 2: Proposal Declaration Form 

Annex 3: Technical Proposal Form 

Annex 4: Price Proposal Form 

Your proposal should be submitted via email to [email protected] adhering to the following instructions: 

The technical and price proposals will be submitted in two separate documents.  

The first email shall be marked "[Your Company Name] - ITB-ARK-LTA-24-ARKAE1219 Technical Proposal" and contain: the (1) Proposal Declaration Form, (2) A copy of your company registration certificate and (3) the Technical Proposal Form. The technical proposal must not make reference to cost or pricing information at any point. 

The second email shall be marked "[Your Company Name] - ITB-ARK-LTA-24-ARKAE1219 Price Proposal" and include your Price Proposal only. 

Proposals must be received by ARK no later than 20 May 2024, 19:00 GST. Any proposal received after this date will be rejected. ARK may, at its discretion, extend the deadline for the submission of proposals, by notifying all prospective bidders in writing. The extension of the deadline may accompany a modification of the bid documents prepared by ARK at its own initiative or in response to a clarification requested by a bidder. 

Requests for clarification should be sent via email to [email protected]. Clarification questions may be sent until 10 May 2024 (inclusive). Any written reply to a particular question will be shared with all other bidders who have expressed an interest. If you wish to receive answers to clarification questions sent by other bidders, please send an expression of interest to [email protected] by 10 May 2024.  

An expression of interest is strongly encouraged as ARK will notify those potential suppliers of any changes to the ITB that take place. 

The cost of preparing a proposal and negotiating a contract is not reimbursable. 

ARK is not committed to selecting any of the companies submitting proposals and has the right to reject any/all proposals submitted. This ITB is not to be construed in any way as an offer of contract. 

Technical Proposal 

The technical component of your proposal should be completed following the format provided in Annex 3 - Technical Proposal Form. The technical proposal format may be modified or expanded provided the following information is covered: 

Section 1 – Bidder Information  

Section 2 – Company Profile and Expertise 

Section 3 – Approach and Methodology 

Section 4 – Personnel 

Section 5 – Travel Booking Platform  

Section 6 – Management Reporting 

Section 7 – Payment Terms  

Price Proposal 

The price component of your proposal should be completed on the template provided in Annex 4 - Price Proposal Form. The purpose of the price proposal is to evaluate: 

The availability of services provided 

The transaction / reservation costs charged 

Corporate discounts offered 

Menu pricing for the services listed. Please note this will only be requested from bidders who qualified through to the financial evaluation following completion of the technical evaluation. 

It should be noted that with the exception of transaction fees and corporate discounts, the bidders are not committed to the prices quoted in the proposal. The menu pricing will be used only as an indication of the competitiveness of prices offered for the purposes of this ITB. 

Please refer to the attached documents (Annexes) for the complete details.