Travel buyers are casting a wider net with their requests for proposals for hotel contracts as they face pressure to submit to dynamic pricing and a negotiating climate firmly in the hoteliers' favor, industry analysts report.
"The trend line this year is actually up," said Chris Wichers, COO of Arlington, Texas-based RFP provider Lanyon. "We're not quite midway through the period, so it's hard to know for sure, but there's been more activity and more bids to more hotels."
Corporate travel managers are facing a healthy hotel industry and an overall expected rise in corporate room rates of about 6 percent, although that increase could be much more in high-demand markets
(BTN, Sept. 11). Exploring as many options as possible through RFPs might be one way to minimize the impact of those increases on travel budgets, according to industry experts. On top of more RFPs, travel managers are focusing on more of the moderately priced options whenever possible, said Neysa Silver, commercial hotel manager for Carlson Wagonlit Travel's global hotel solutions.
The industry's strength, however, also means that there will be a larger rejection rate of RFPs by hoteliers, a trend travel management companies already have begun to notice.
"Demand has continued to rise," said Maria Chevalier, BCD Travel's vice president of hotel relations and travel procurement services. "The number of hotels declining should be similar to last year's trend."
It's difficult to cite a single reason for the projected increase in RFPs this year, Lanyon's Wichers said. Some buyers, for example, might be looking at options outside of such saturated markets as Manhattan. It does show, however, that the rising tide of dynamic pricing has not compelled travel managers to back away from the process, he said.
Anticipating a rise in the dynamic-pricing model, Lanyon altered its tool to allow buyers to respond to it. Lanyon was a little surprised by the corporate community's acquiescence to including dynamic pricing in many RFPs, Wichers said. Even so, those buyers who are approaching it are doing so gingerly.
"There's still a ways to go before dynamic pricing becomes the coin of the realm or the typical corporate agreement structure," according to Sean Hennessey, president of the New York-based Lodging Investment Advisors. "For one thing, the travel buyers do not believe the system is so effectively in place that it will be operating flawlessly and ensuring that there's always the appropriate compliance in their favor."
Carlson Wagonlit's Silver said dynamic pricing certainly has been a more apparent issue during the RFP process this year, particularly in high-demand markets like New York, from which nearly all hotels are coming back with some sort of best-available-rate model. Many travel managers should have the volume to mitigate such arrangements, however.
"About 90 percent of rates will be client-contracted," Silver said. "There are very few buyers that are seeking dynamic pricing. They're really more opposing it."
Bob Peper, CEO of Colville, Wash.-based RFP provider Lodging Logistics, said that while he's seen more questions this year related to dynamic pricing, they tend to be user-defined questions. Largely, travel managers still are trying to understand the situation.
"There's a little bit more interest, but I think that interest is predominantly on the chain side," Peper said. "I don't see too many clients motivated purely by savings going toward it."
Lodging Logistics' Peper said the major trend he's seeing this year is that travel management is going back to basics: Buyers are doing everything possible to prevent rates from creeping up too quickly. Despite the strong position hotels are in, travel managers could find success on that level.
Hoteliers are aware their business is cyclical, and as more rooms become available in 2008 or 2009, travel managers might gain a little negotiating leverage, Lodging Investment Advisors' Hennessey said. Knowing this, some hoteliers might use this year as a way to solidify relationships with corporations that they hope will continue when their power begins to wane, he said.
"With corporate travel, this is not just a one-year relationship," he said. "The hotels are not yet in any position of weakness, but I think you will see them perhaps be a little more accommodating than all the superficial statistics would lead you to believe."
Carlson Wagonlit's Silver said she's seen a few more travel managers try to get creative as far as agreement duration this RFP season as well. Some buyers want to discuss two-year contracts—not because they think they'll be able to get flat rates, but because the process is so laborious—and others are trying to shift away from the January-to-December terms to match their fiscal year. BCD's Chevalier said she's seen similar moves as well as other lengths, such as 15-month or 18-month contracts, but not in an overwhelming manner.
"We've seen some of that occurring and some successes with that," Chevalier said, "but it's not a huge trend."
Some analysts said travel managers might be able to negotiate savings this season by using market discrepancies. A company that frequently travels to New York, for example, might gain negotiating power by offering to toss more business to the same chain in another location.
Although Peper said there could be limited success in that strategy, the ownership structure of hotels is usually a stumbling block.
"That strategy is hard to pull off," Lodging Investment Advisors' Hennessey agreed. "Generally speaking, hotels are owned individually and not under the corporate marker of a Marriott or a Hyatt. They have to be conscientious and not unduly unfair to a subset of their base."
With rates more difficult to budge, it's a good time for travel managers to step back from their rate-centered perspective, BCD's Chevalier said. While it's good to be aggressive on rates, the outside costs are rising as well, and they add up, she said.
Seeking an amenity not included last year to compensate for a rate hike could be an effective strategy, Carlson Wagonlit's Silver said. The three major amenities to consider are breakfast, high-speed Internet access and parking, which Chevalier said in some cases can cost more than the daily rate of renting a car.
Lodging Investment Advisors' Hennessey seconded that strategy. "The best way for travel buyers to achieve benefits for their constituents is not so much focusing on rates, but perhaps the quality of the rooms, the inclusion of additional amenities, airport drop-offs and other sweeteners that create value for their own clientele," he said.