Hyatt Hotels Corp. has launched Hyatt Leverage to provide discounted
rates to small and midsize enterprise travel programs globally. Discounts range
from 5 percent to 15 percent off of a standard hotel rate, and the threshold is
determined by the individual property. Additionally, program participants can
achieve a 5 percent discount off the standard nightly rate at participating
homes in Hyatt's Oasis home rental portfolio.
Hyatt VP of Sales Gus Vonderheide said that in researching
the market potential for Hyatt Leverage, he learned that more than half the
U.S. workforce is employed by SMEs. "We knew there was a demand here,"
he said. "We've got [big corporations] covered with our Hyatt salesforce
and with the preferred organizations, but there are thousands and thousands of
programs out there with small amounts of travelers who really don't have any
tool or technology to do this for them. We've created this product now that
drives the business to Hyatt.com."
In order to qualify, companies must be legal entities with valid
tax IDs, and they are expected to meet or exceed 50 stays annually at Hyatt
properties. Companies that already have corporate agreements in place with
Hyatt may not take advantage of the program.
Once a company registers, it will receive a unique program
number that is managed by a dedicated program administrator and used by
employees when they book directly on Hyatt's brand.com website or through Hyatt
Reservation Centers. Vonderheide said the program doesn’t feature integration
with other corporate tools. "We believe in the TMCs. We believe in the
GDS," Vonderheide said. "This is just simply another avenue for a
market that we don't think is tapped at that level. … They're not big enough to
have their own travel tool. They're making reservations over a front desk or
calling our reservation center in Omaha."
Program administrators have access to a Web-based dashboard
that allows them to view traveler information, reservations and room expenses
and to track total bookings and room spend. Vonderheide said that information
can be exported into a spreadsheet. Additionally, Hyatt has a number of email
templates it offers to administrators to communicate with travelers about
program benefits.
While the solution is best described as plug and play,
Vonderheide said Hyatt expects to grow the program through its network of
on-the-ground sales associates engaging with company administrators in their
local markets. "We're there if you need us to be, but it's certainly easy
enough to manage individually, too," he said.
Though travelers in the program don't need to be World of
Hyatt loyalty members to unlock company discounts, Vonderheide said Hyatt does
expect to engage with travelers, who can earn points on stays booked through
Hyatt Leverage. The program also allows company travelers to use the Hyatt
Leverage discount on leisure stays and to count leisure stays toward the
50-night annual threshold.