Global Travel, Accommodation and Venue Management Services
Summary
Gives central government and wider public sector organisations access to global travel and venue management services. This includes air, rail and accommodation booking, crisis response and civilian support programmes.
Description
Provides a single solution for public sector travel needs. It will replace the existing RM6342 agreement. There will be a short overlap period, as the current agreement will expire after this new agreement launches.
RM6408 will run for an initial term of 3 years with an option to extend for 1 year.
The agreement covers 2 main areas:
- business travel: travel and venue services for public sector employees
- civilian programmes: support for citizens, refugees, or vulnerable groups under the care of a public sector organisation, such as asylum seekers or rough sleepers
Services are split into specialist lots. This allows expert suppliers, such as regional operators and specialist accommodation providers, to bid directly.
This enables small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to participate in this agreement and gives customers more choice.
The agreement includes:
- booking of air, rail, ferry and coach travel (UK and overseas)
- accommodation and venue find services
- transportation including but not limited to vehicle hire (without a driver), the booking of both pre-booked and ad-hoc taxis, chauffeured cars, mini-buses, coaches, including for usage as non- emergency patient transport services (NEPTS) with driver
- virtual, digital meeting and hybrid, conference and events solutions including group accommodation and equipment
- crisis response services, including emergency evacuation and repatriation
- civilian programme support services including security and welfare
- business travel ancillary services such as passport, visa and currency services
- travel safety and risk management solutions such as 24-hour medical assistance and tracking
- UK or overseas points of sale choices (point of sale refers to the country where you book and pay for travel)
Benefits
- more opportunities for SME suppliers through a simplified lot structure
- flexible booking options, allowing customers to choose between an online booking tool or a fully managed service
- specialist lots for ground transportation and crisis response, allowing faster access to expert providers
- access to all types of ground transportation including:
- vehicle hire (without a driver)
- taxi services (ad-hoc or pre-book)
- chauffeured cars
- mini-buses and coaches
- non- emergency patient transport services (NEPTS) with driver
- face to face virtual, digital and hybrid venue/ meeting options
- chartering or wet leasing of aircraft, helicopters, vessels, rail and ferry services
- UK and overseas points of sale options, allowing travel to be booked and paid for wherever travellers are located
- tiered volume discounts that reduce fees for all customers as total spend on the agreement increases
- award without competition or award with competition options
- a price match guarantee to ensure customers obtain the best available market rate
- our negotiated programmes for air, accommodation and rail to offer best market pricing
- access to 24/7 traveller and programme support
- “our preferred venue standard terms and conditions” providing better cancellation terms and other discounts or value-added services
- CO2 emissions reports through online booking tools
- support for carbon net zero goals through mandatory carbon reduction plans and CO2 reporting at the point of booking
Product types
Lot 1: UK and overseas point of sale business travel and accommodation
- includes global travel management services for bookings made within the UK and overseas (UK and Overseas point of sale)
Lot 2: UK-booked business travel and accommodation
- includes booking services for customers whose travel and accommodation requirements are booked from within the UK (UK point of sale)
Lot 3: venue find and supporting services for meetings, conferences and events
- includes services to find and book venues for meetings, conferences and events plus ancillary support services
Lot 4: accommodation and venues for civilian programmes
- includes specialist accommodation and wraparound services (such as security and welfare) for vulnerable groups like asylum seekers and rough sleepers
Lot 5: charter flights for business travel and crisis response
- includes chartering of aircraft for business travel needs or emergency response situations
Lot 6: coach and taxi booking solutions
- includes ground transportation services such as ad-hoc taxis, coaches and rail replacement services
Lot 7: online travel agent services (OTAs) for self-serve travel
- includes a digital-first “spot market” route for simple, self-serve travel requirements
Lot 8: defence and other specialist travel services
- includes global travel management services for bookings for defence and other specialist travel services
Customer engagement
We have successfully hosted a series of webinars, round table discussions and forums to help shape the agreement. These sessions focused on how the new lot structure will work and how it will support the needs of different sectors.
Since February 2026, we have presented to customer forums to help organisations prepare for the transition from the current RM6342 agreement. We also concluded detailed sessions with key sectors to ensure our specifications meet operational needs.
We will be capturing framework-level feedback only as individual customer-level requirements are not applicable to all customers. Additional requirements can be included, if in scope at award with competition stage.
Supplier engagement
We have engaged closely with the market to refine the agreement structure and ensure it supports a wide range of suppliers.
Through targeted surveys and consultation sessions, we gathered valuable feedback to identify and address barriers for SMEs. Our focus has been on ensuring the new specialist lots are both commercially viable and fully accessible.
Updates
16 July 2026: Between 4 and 28 August 2026 we will be sharing the draft specifications with customers and suppliers for your feedback. This is your opportunity to input directly into the final requirements before ITT publication. If you have questions about the upcoming specification share or want to ensure you are on the distribution list, please contact travel@gca.gov.uk.
Important links
| Pipeline notice | Read pipeline notice |
| Preliminary market engagement notice | Read preliminary market engagement notice |
| Planned procurement notice | Not available yet |
| Contract notice in Find a Tender (FTS) | Not available yet |
| Tender documents | Not available yet |
Timeline
| Activity | Estimated dates |
| Pre-market engagement | January 2026 to June 2026 |
| Drafting of procurement documentation | June 2026 to October 2026 |
| Publication of find a tender (FTS) notice | October 2026 |
| Framework award | April 2027 |