The National Business Travel Association for the 2005 bid season significantly overhauled the extended stay pricing portion of its electronic request for proposals form. NBTA hotel committee members said there was a need for greater flexibility in the existing extended stay module, considering travel buyers during the past few years have added more extended stay properties to their hotel programs.
NBTA's changes in the extended stay module were part of the overhaul of the transient electronic hotel RFP tool
(BTN, Feb. 9). Extended stays typically are for a minimum of five to seven nights. Such bookings require an RFP module distinct from transient because most extended stay chains adhere to a particular pricing model—the nightly rate decreases the longer the length of stay, usually after five to seven nights, 14 nights and again at 30 nights.
"We simplified the property-basic module to eliminate repetitious questions for extended stay properties and concentrated all the rate and amenity questions in the extended stay pricing module, which also has been streamlined," said committee member Peggy Lee, who is global travel and meeting manager for Network Appliance in Sunnyvale, Calif.
"As a result, buyers are able to send an RFP using only these two modules," Lee said. "They're free to include other modules—ranging from safety and security to communications technology—but if time is an issue, they can get the job done with just those two."
Buyers with questions not addressed in any of the modules also are welcome to use the less-structured, user-defined module for this purpose.
Negotiating value-added amenities at extended stay properties usually is less of an issue than at other types of hotels, since complimentary breakfast and evening managers' receptions frequently are brand standards included at no extra charge. Similarly, use of the fitness facilities and business center usually is free to guests.
Along with the domestic lodging industry as a whole, the extended stay segment has rebounded this year in both demand and rate.
"Demand increased 6.4 percent in the first half, compared with the same period in 2003," according to consultant Mark Skinner, partner in the Atlanta-based Highland Group. By contrast, overall domestic hotel demand increased 5.5 percent over the same period.
Average daily rate levels for extended stay chains also grew in the first six months of 2004, increasing 2.1 percent over the same time period in 2003. This falls short, however, of the ADR half-year gains achieved by the overall United States lodging industry. According to Smith Travel Research, ADR for the industry jumped 3.7 percent.
Committee members said changes in the extended stay module for 2005 are consistent with adjustments the committee made in the transient RFP. "All areas that are negotiable and therefore can change client by client now have been consolidated in a single module," said Elizabeth Caligiuri, outgoing chairperson of the committee and travel sourcing specialist for Atlanta-based Coca-Cola Co. "The basic property information, which tends to change much less often, is in its own module."
At the NBTA annual convention last month in Orlando, the committee also announced it planned to introduce a meetings module in time for the 2006 bid season and a corporate housing module for 2007. As distinguished from an extended stay booking, the minimum length of stay for corporate housing is typically 30 days. The committee said any changes in the electronic transient RFP for 2006 will be relatively minor.
"As with the streamlining for 2005, the committee tries to build a consensus among the various stakeholders before formalizing any changes," Lee said. "Stakeholders include not only buyers and hotels, but third-party vendors who provide administrative support to either side."