Hotel rate assurance specialist Tripbam has
launched a feature that automatically requests travelers to switch their hotel
reservation to a nearby property where their company has a preferred rate. Managing
director of Europe Peter Grover said Tripbam created Strategic Share Shift after
“one of our clients needed to move more business to a particular chain or risk
losing its discount. We looked at all their travelers who had booked a room
near one of six hotels belonging to the chain and sent them an e-mail to say
the preferred property was better and cheaper, and would they like to move?”
According to Grover, 25 percent of the travelers
contacted agreed to switch, resulting in a $600,000 savings over a 90-day
period, gained from lower rates and higher discount triggers, and a $2.2
million increase in business for the chain. Strategic Share Shift has now been
made a standard part of the Tripbam offering to all clients.
This new feature redirecting business to one
specific property from others nearby is almost the reverse of the tactical way
Tripbam normally operates, which is offering the opportunity to re-book any
hotel in the vicinity that markets a better rate. “I think hotels are going to
pay a lot of attention to this,” said Tripbam CEO Steve Reynolds. “They could
say to their corporate clients, ‘We’ll give you a 30 percent discount, but you
will have to turn on the reverse clustering in Tripbam to drive the business to
us.’”