SOURCES SOUGHT
76 -- Subscription of Annual Data on Travel to and From Canada and the U.S.
- Notice Date
- 5/4/2017
- Notice Type
- Sources Sought
- NAICS
- 511210
— Software Publishers
- Contracting Office
- Department of Commerce, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Acquisition Management Division, 100 Bureau Drive, Building 301, Room B130, Gaithersburg, Maryland, 20899-1410, United States
- ZIP Code
- 20899-1410
- Solicitation Number
- SB1350-17-Q-02510
- Archive Date
- 5/26/2017
- Point of Contact
- Monica Brown, Phone: 2024820932
- E-Mail Address
-
monica.brown@trade.gov
(monica.brown@trade.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- DESCRIPTION 1.1 This requirement allows the National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) to obtain an annual subscription for annual Canada visitor volume and profile data by various travel attributes for each U.S. state providing statistics on travelers to and from Canada and the United States 1.2 THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY. This RFI is issued solely for information and planning purposes - it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP in the future. This request for information does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service whatsoever. Further, the Government is not at this time seeking proposals and will not accept unsolicited proposals. Respondees are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay for any information or administrative costs incurred in response to this RFI; all costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested party's expense. BACKGROUND 2.1 Mission and Vision.NTTO, housed in the U.S. Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration (ITA), Industry and Analysis, provides travel data to public and private industry users. To fulfill this commitment, NTTO produces the Summary of International Travelers to the United States. This report is the official federal government source for international tourist arrivals to the United States. For all overseas countries, NTTO obtains visitor counts based on the Department of Homeland Security's I-94 arrival/departure records. However, Canadian visitors to the United States are exempt from completing the I-94 record, and thus NTTO must obtain visitor volume and profile data from another source. OBJECTIVES 3.1 It is the goal of ITA to promote exporting and assist exporters by obtaining an annual subscription to a comprehensive online tariff resource and providing access, at no charge, to U.S. Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). By providing the online tariff resource, ITA is assisting U.S. exporters in identifying the applicable tariff, duties and taxes for their products and services based on the destination country. Access will be provided through the public facing Web site, export.gov. In addition, ITA worldwide staff can assist exporters by searching and locating the applicable tariff, duties and taxes for their products and services based on the destination country around the world. 3.2 The objective is to obtain a subscription for 2015 Canada data which is an input into NTTO's Canada Travel Program, the purpose of which is to provide 1) visitor counts / estimates for Canadians visiting the United States, 2) visitor count /estimates for Americans visiting Canada, and 3) detailed visitor characteristics of Canadians visiting the U.S. The Canada Travel Program is an important part of NTTO's integrated statistical system, which provides visitor counts /estimates, visitor spending, and trip characteristics for U.S. top visitor origin countries. For all overseas markets, NTTO itself produces these types of data based on official Department of Homeland Security Customs and Border Protection travel counts, and NTTO's ongoing Survey of International Air Travelers program. Similar data for Canada is not possible because of the unique situation of visitor volume counts not recorded by Customs and Border Protection, and the large proportion of travel by land across the border. The 2015 data acquired are used in presentations, publications, country profiles, and to respond to ITA senior staff and other U.S. Government requests. NTTO staff also use this 2015 data for policy issues related to this market as needed. The Canada Travel Program fulfills each of the following ITA goals and objectives: Goal: Increase trade opportunities for U.S. firms Objective: Conduct (provide) needs-focused market research Objective: Improve level of counseling expertise to provide deepened and specialized information Goal: Broaden and deepen participation in U.S. exporter base Objective: Provide targeted export education to under-served businesses (SME) Objective: Expand established exporters into additional markets Goal: Advance U.S. international commercial and strategic interest Objective: Increase information flow to U.S. exporters about strategic countries Objective: Provide additional technical assistance Goal: Improve customer satisfaction Objective: Deliver services on the web, based on exporter needs. Specifically, the purchased 2015 data will enable NTTO to produce an annual report and multiple summary data tables made available to the industry and to answer numerous public requests on this important market. This purchase will enable NTTO and the travel industry to answer the following examples of specific questions: How do business travelers differ from leisure travelers? What is each state's share of total visitors? Of visitor-nights? Of visitor spending? What activities do Canadians engage in while visiting the U.S., and how does activity participation differ across state destinations? How has activity participation changed over the years? What proportion of a state's visitors fly to the state versus drive? How does Canadian visitor spending differ from overseas visitor spending? How does state visitation differ by time of year, by travel mode, by trip purpose, by lodging type, and many more variables? And two new developments in travel trends between Canada and the USA can be investigated: How many Canadians drive across the border and then fly out of U.S. airports? How has Canadian travel to the U.S. changed since the major increase in the duty-free exemption limit? REQUIREMENTS 4.1 This requirement will provide NTTO with all the visitor volumes and traveler characteristics data on an annual basis as required to fulfill the stated objective of NTTO's Canada Travel Program in an Excel database format that facilitates further data handling and analysis. 4.2 The contractor shall provide NTTO with access to calendar (travel) year 2015 data. 4.3 For the travel trips initiated in a specific calendar year, an Excel® file(s) containing visitor volume estimates (visiting the U.S. for one or more nights) with estimates provided for each U.S. geographic region and for each U.S. state; and a file containing visitor volume estimates visiting any other country (as a group-for one or more nights) for each of the following trip characteristics and cross-tabulated by the banner points of all Canada visitors and main trip purpose categories. a) Accommodations b) Activities c) Mode of transportation d) Gender by age groups e) Visitors, visitor-nights, visitor spending f) Primary purpose of trip g) Nights spent in state h) Province of residence i) Seasonality j) Incidence of driving across the border and flying out of U.S. airports h) Raw unweighted record count (not cross-tabulated) In summary, these tasks provide a national profile to the USA for each of several main trip purpose types (and similar for all other overseas travelers) and to provide visitor volume by each of several trip characteristic types for each U.S. state and country region, thus enabling NTTO to create Canada visitor profiles for each U.S. state. 4.4 References. To the extent possible, traveler volumes should be based on UNWTO's formal definition of an international traveler, to include 1) based on country of residence; 2) include only travelers visiting the USA for one or more nights; and 3) based on specific trip purpose reasons for traveling. RESPONSES 5.1 Interested parties are requested to respond to this RFI with a white paper. 5.2 White papers are due no later than 11 May 2017, 12:00 PM EST. Responses shall be limited to 50 pages and submitted via e-mail only to Monica.Brown@trade.gov. Proprietary information, if any, should be minimized and MUST BE CLEARLY MARKED. To aid the Government, please segregate proprietary information. Please be advised that all submissions become Government property and will not be returned. 5.3. The white paper shall provide administrative information, and shall include the following as a minimum: A. Name, mailing address, phone number, fax number, and e-mail of designated point of contact. B. Identify the capability as it relates to requirements described above in the Requirements section. C. Cost information as available based on the information available. D. Geographic coverage. E. Business type (large business, small business, small disadvantaged business, 8(a)-certified small disadvantaged business, HUBZone small business, woman-owned small business, very small business, veteran-owned small business, service-disabled veteran-owned small business) based upon North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 511210, Periodical Publishers. "Small business concern" means a concern, including its affiliates, that is independently owned and operated, not dominant in the field of operation in which it is bidding on Government contracts, and qualified as a small business under the criteria and size standards in 13 CFR part 121. A small business concern for the purposes of this procurement is generally defined as a business, including its affiliates, averaging no more than $38.5 million dollars in annual receipts. Respondees are cautioned, however, that this is a general description only. Additional standards and conditions may apply. Please refer to Federal Acquisition Regulation FAR 19 for additional detailed information on Small Business Size Standards. The FAR is available at http://www.arnet.gov. SUMMARY THIS IS A REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY to identify sources that can provide technology based assessment screening tools for the purpose of selection. The information provided in the RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government. The Department of Commerce has not made a commitment to procure any of the items discussed, and release of this RFI should not be construed as such a commitment or as authorization to incur cost for which reimbursement would be required or sought. All submissions become Government property and will not be returned.
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