Travelers these days have more ways than ever to book hotel
rooms. A growing number of online travel agencies, content aggregators and
mobile technologies provide the means to search for and book low rates at
desirable properties, exacerbating the long-standing problem travel management
pros face in persuading travelers to reserve lodging through sanctioned
channels at preferred hotels. But some new tools can help mitigate the
challenge by identifying rate discrepancies.
CheckpointBTS, for example, has developed software that
consolidates booking data from global distribution systems, corporate card
feeds and expense reporting data to provide a "complete view of the hotel
program," said director of business development Joan Kaplan. With that
data, buyers and their agencies can check those rates against negotiated rates.
"We've found on average that about 25 percent of bookings made at
preferred properties are above the negotiated rate," she said.
When travel buyers know about such occurrences, they or
their agency can ask the hotel to instead use the proper rate. Should the hotel
reject that request, travel buyers can keep track of that noncompliance.
The software assigns a value to such negotiated amenities as
Internet access and breakfast, so rates that include them can be compared
properly with rates that do not, Kaplan said.
It's not just about uncovering lost savings from travelers
booking the wrong rates at the right properties. It's also for determining when
travelers book at unapproved properties, or through means other than designated
booking channels (typically the agency or an approved self-booking tool).
CheckpointBTS can handle such other sources as electronic feeds from hotels
with direct bill agreements or even spreadsheets from hotels in developing
areas with less sophisticated reporting means.
"I've had clients try to do this, and they spent two
weeks and couldn't get a month's worth of data," said Kaplan, speaking of
her days with Garber Travel Service. "When we do this, we might be missing
one or two hotels out of 2,000, in which case we can manually check what the
situation is."
ERevMax's RateTiger Suite includes several tools to help
hotels manage channel pricing, but also offers a system for purchasers to
monitor and compare rates from both preferred hotels and competitors across
different travel consumer sites. International sales manager Mark Neter said
the company recently tweaked the RTCorp tool to compare similar room types and
account for amenities.
For travel buyers, data derived from the tool allows for
comparisons between negotiated and publicly available rates, possibly prompting
targeted renegotiations when the latter are better.
"Travelers are booking preferred hotels outside of the
[designated channel] because they are finding better rates," Neter said. "Once
you've renegotiated, you'll have the opportunity to encourage more travelers to
book within that structure, and they won't be looking elsewhere."
Relatively new entries eRevMax and CheckpointBTS join such
established suppliers as Lanyon, which offers a rate parity tool that checks
negotiated rates against other rates available online.
CheckPointsBTS during the past several years has worked
directly with a handful of corporations to beta-test its software. Moving
forward, it will focus on partnering with travel management companies and
consultants, Kaplan said. The company recently announced multi-year agreements
to provide software to FCm Travel Solutions and travel management consulting
firm Financial & Operational Consulting.
TMCs and consultants using the web-enabled software either
can manage the system themselves or have their travel buyer clients use it,
Kaplan said.
"We'll continue to support [the companies we've been
working with], but we'll support them under the direction of their travel
agencies," Kaplan said. "The agencies have a lot of the information
that we need, and there's no sense for them to burn the bridge with their
travel agency."
Neter sees an opportunity to work directly with a company's
travel department and agencies.
"We look at 80 to 100 hotels as the minimum, but we're
unlimited and can do 2,000 upward," he said. "Everyone does business
differently, and we can work with anyone to use the tool within their
parameters."
This report
originally appeared in the February 2012 issue of Travel Procurement.