Per diem drop could cost SF millions in lost revenue

Source: Albuquerque Journal, N.迷你倉最平M.Oct. 28--SANTA FE -- A recent drop in the per diem rate federal government workers get when they travel to Santa Fe could cost the city millions of dollars in revenue, local officials say.The city wants the U.S. General Services Administration to increase Santa Fe's per diem, recently set at $88, to last year's peak season rate of $105."If the hotels in Santa Fe have to absorb such a substantial loss of revenue, it will result in loss of jobs, and increased demand for social services in a city and state that are already struggling," says a city letter sent this month to Daniel Tangherlini, administrator for the federal General Services Administration.The GSA sets the per diem rates for federal government employees' domestic travel.Tourism officials say local hotel revenue could be reduced by more than $2.8 million this year if the new rate remains in effect.The city letter was jointly signed by Mayor David Coss, Santa Fe Convention and Visitors Bureau chief Jim Luttjohann, New Mexico Lodgers Association President Charlie Grey and Santa Fe Lodgers Association President Ben Tutt, who manages La Posada de Santa Fe Resort and Spa.On Oct. 1, the GSA's per diem for trips to Santa Fe dropped to the flat rate of $88 for the entire 2013-14 federal fiscal year -- a 16 percent decline from the "peak season" Santa Fe per diem of $105 from the previous year. Last year's off-season per diem was $83.The city letter said that information on the GSA website and from communications with industry group US Travel indicate that fe迷你倉eral per diem rates were to be rolled back to 2010 levels and that seasonality was removed from the equation, with no bumps upward for peak season travel.Data from Smith Travel Star, a private research group, were also used to set the rates, according to Santa Fe officials.The change has left some in the local tourism community wondering if the new per diem rates for Santa Fe were incorrectly calculated.The city's letter questions how the Smith Travel Star reports and 2010 rates "were factored and whether Santa Fe had inadvertently been lowered in rate by too great an amount," the letter to the General Services Administration said.Santa Fe's rates in 2010 were $109 for peak times and $88 for off-peak, the latter being the rate now set for the current year.The letter said it's puzzling comparing Santa Fe's per diem to other New Mexico cities.Las Cruces, for instance, has a current rate of $88 for this fiscal year compared to an off-peak rate of $70 in 2010. Taos was $77 in 2010 and is $90 now. Carlsbad's current per diem rate is $105.Luttjohann told the Journal he doesn't have precise numbers on how much of the city's tourism business is due to federal government business travel. But he's calculated that around 34 percent of convention center bookings over the past two years included blocks of hotel rooms that were used for state or federal government purposes.Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, N.M.) Visit the Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, N.M.) at .abqjournal.com Distributed by MCT Information Services儲存