Hotel rate shopping and analytics provider Tripbam has launched a benchmarking tool that, among other capabilities, allows travel managers to evaluate how accurately hotels, brands and chains apply rate discounts and last room availability. Tripbam founder and CEO Steve Reynolds said the aim is to help travel managers be more receptive to long-term dynamic discounts and "avoid the annual RFP dance."
In recent years, both corporates and hoteliers have discussed shifting from an annual RFP season with static rates at some or all preferred properties to a dynamic rate program with a set discount off the best available rate at a property at the time of booking. A major sticking point, though, has been the lack of transparency around dynamic rates. Reynolds said giving corporates confidence that they're actually getting the correct discount off the correct rate could "go a long way" in making the dynamic shift happen.
Tripbam Benchmarking also enables a travel manager to measure the value of a managed hotel program against companies of similar size, to evaluate chainwide dynamic rate discount performance, to identify hotels where a greater share of room nights is needed to meet contractual obligations, to source hotels to supplement a program or replace underperforming properties and to identify, by property, savings lost due to LRA issues.
The tool is available to all Tripbam clients for free in 2018 and at an upgraded subscription cost beginning in 2019.