Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Colorado Regional Office, 400 Railroad Ave, Boulder City, NV 89005-2422

R -- TOURIST SERVICES OPERATION AND MANAGEMENT SOL 1425-98-SP-30-12250 DUE 041598 POC Mr. Randy Belew, Contract Specialist, at (702) 293-8570 WEB: Bureau of Reclamation Lower Colorado Region Contracts Team Home Page, http://www.lc.usbr.gov/~g3100/index.html. E-MAIL: E-mail Mr. Randy Belew, Contract Specialist, for additional information, rbelew@lc.usbr.gov. The Bureau of Reclamation is interested in locating sources capable of managing and operating various tourist facilities and services at Hoover Dam, which is located approximately seven miles northeast of Boulder City, Nevada. There is no solicitation available at this time. If issued, it is anticipated that the solicitation would be a Request for Proposals for a Firm-fixed Price Service contract. The solicitation will include four schedules of work on which contractors could submit proposals on all or any combination of the schedules. The four schedules will be: (1) Parking Garage Management and Operation, (2) Advanced Tour Ticket Sales and Reservations, (3) On-Site Tour Ticket Sales, and (4) Paddle Craft Site Management and Operations. (1) Parking Garage Management and Operation: This schedule would be for the management and operation of the Hoover Dam Parking Garage seven days a week, for 10 hours a day, from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., excluding Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. The Contractor's responsibilities for managing and operating the Parking Garage would include the following principal items: a. Fee collection operations (parking prices will be established by the Government). b. Financial management and operational reporting. c. Employee and visitor safety. d. Communications with the Government and general public. Data regarding historical parking patterns at the Hoover Dam Parking Garage will be furnished with the solicitation. (2) Advanced Tour Ticket Sales and Reservations: Under this schedule, the Contractor would be responsible for designing, implementing, managing, and operating an integrated advanced tour ticket sales and reservation system for Hoover Dam tours. Currently, the Hoover Dam Visitors Center is open for guided tours between 8:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., seven days per week, excluding Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Approximately four "hard hat" tours are given each hour. Each "hard hat" tour has space for up to 16 people. Approximately six regular tours aregiven each hour. Each regular tour has space for up to 80 people. The Visitors Center may be scheduled for tours and special events outside of normal operating hours. Currently, approximately 12 percent of the 1 million tour tickets issued annually are purchased in advance of arrival. The goal is to increase the percentage of tickets sold in advance to 80 percent of tickets issued and to offer reservations for the Visitors Center for special and evening events. The Contractor's responsibilities for managing and operating Advanced Ticket Sales would include the following principal items: a. Making advanced tour ticket sales and special event reservations available to commercial carriers, organizations and members of the general public, seven days a week. b. Collecting fees for all tickets sold in advance and remitting these fees to the Government in accordance with sound business and accounting practices. c. Integrating the number of tickets sold in advance for each tour with the tickets sold on-site in order to sell the maximum number of tour tickets without exceeding the tour capacity. The advanced ticket sales and reservation system must be able to share data electronically with the on-site ticket sales and reservation system. d. Furnishing designated Government personnel with on-line, real time access to ticket sales and reservation information for tour scheduling and operations e. Furnishing commercial carrier drivers with pre-purchased tickets in advance of their arrival, or no later than upon their arrival, at the Bus Level of the Hoover Dam Parking Garage. The goal is to have all passengers arriving via commercial carrier ticketed before arrival at the Parking Garage. (3) On-Site Tour Ticket Sales: This schedule of the solicitation will be subject to the Office of Management and Budget Circular No. A-76 process. This process will be used for deciding whether to continue to use Government employees to perform the work contemplated under this schedule, or to award a contract to one of the private sector sources submitting a proposal. Under this schedule the Contractor would be responsible for designing, implementing, managing, and operating an integrated tour ticket sales and reservation system at the Hoover Dam Visitors Center. (See the paragraph under (2) above for information pertaining to the number of tours given hourly.) The goal is to have multiple, distributed ticketing stations located in the Visitors Center, Parking Garage, and at various locations on the top of the dam. Currently, approximately 88 percent of the 1 million tour tickets issued annually are issued to visitors upon arrival at Hoover Dam. The goal, however, is to decrease this to 20 percent of the tour tickets issued. The Contractor's responsibilities for managing and operating the On-Site Ticket Sales service would include the following principal items: a. On-site ticket sales and reservations available seven days a week, for 10 hours per day, from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., excluding Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. b. Collecting fees for all tickets sold on-site and remitting these fees to the Government in accordance with sound business and accounting practices. c. Integrating the number of tickets sold on-site for each tour with the tickets sold in advance in order to sell the maximum number of tour tickets without exceeding the tour capacity. Data will be shared electronically from the advanced ticket sales and reservation system (see Section 6). d. Furnishing Government personnel with on-line, real time access to ticket sales and reservation information for tour scheduling and operations. e. Furnishing information about Hoover Dam, available facilities, and current tour options and prices to the general public. (4) Paddle Craft Launch Site Management and Operations: Under this schedule, the Contractor would be responsible for managing and operating the Hoover Dam Paddle Craft Launch Site seven days a week. Paddle craft include canoes, kayaks, and inflatable rafts. Currently, a maximum of 30 paddle craft launch permits are available per day. Approximately 7500 people were served in fiscal year 1997. During the busy season from Spring Break in March through Labor Day, there are days when demand for permits currently exceeds the number of available permits. The Contractor's responsibilities for managing and operating the Paddle Craft Launch Site would include the following principal items: a. Scheduling advance reservations for paddle craft launch permits. b. Collecting paddle craft permit fees and remitting these fees to the Government in accordance with sound business and accounting practices. c. Providing for the safe and orderly movement of vehicles to the launch site via the Hoover Dam Lower Portal Road. d. Providing a safety orientation and other information about the Lower Colorado River to paddle craft users. Responses, submission of information, or requests for additional information are due by April 15, 1998 and should be directed to the Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Colorado Region, Attention: LC-3117, P.O. Box 61470, Boulder City, Nevada 89006-1470 or fax No. (702) 293-8499. (0071)

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