General Services Administration Announces New Per Diem Rates FY21 In a significant shift, the General Services Administration (GSA) released the FY21 per diem rates for government travel in the Continental United States (CONUS) which reflect pre-COVID-19 rates. The move to hold per diem rates is a big victory for the hospitality industry. The FY21 CONUS per diem rate is $151— $96 for lodging and $55 for meals. This is the same as FY20 and there are 319 Non-Standard Areas (NSAs) that have per diem rates higher than the standard CONUS rate as compared to 322 NSAs in FY20. The American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) actively engaged with the GSA, and sounded the alarm about the negative impacts the COVID-19 pandemic has had on hotel occupancy, rates and government travel and the further impact the pandemic would have on FY21 per diem rates. The SCRLA and AHLA worked with a bipartisan group of Congressional leaders to send multiple letters to the GSA and supported the introduction of legislation that would freeze FY21 and FY22 rates at FY20 levels. GSA has adjusted the FY21 data window for rate setting by one month (i.e. March 2019 through February 2020 in lieu of the standard April 2019 through March
2020) to not negatively depress FY21 rates due to COVID-19. Government travel is extremely important to the hotel industry, supporting tens of thousands of jobs, and billions in travel spending that benefits communities across the country. Government per diem rates are also often used as a guide by other businesses and organizations in setting their own travel standards. It is critical that GSA established reasonable rates for FY21 that adjust for the devastating impact of the pandemic, especially at a time when our industry is fighting for survival. Federal per diem rates, used by government travelers to obtain hotel rooms at a standard discount, are established each year based on actual market data compiled and provided by Smith Travel Research. South Carolina has four destinations that are classified as non-standard areas (NSAs). The designation means the regions—frequently traveled by government employees—will get unique per diem rates rather than being lumped together with the rest of the county. The reimbursement levels are determined by the average daily industry rate.