Op-Ed: The Importance Of Accurate Rate Loading

Timely and accurate rate loading remains one of the biggest challenges and top priorities for corporate travel buyers and hotel companies. Improvements have been made on both sides, and there is certainly more work to be done. Corporate travel buyerscontinue to focus on their timeline to get final agreementscompleted well before the end of the calendar year. This is critical and must remaina top concern. Hotel companies have developednew and better technology to improve and refine the process.

Hotel companies that are successful withrate loading demonstrate the following characteristics:

• Automate the process

• Have the right people, resources and talent in place

• Take ownership

• Realize a sense of urgency and the importance of getting this process right (from top management down)

• Load rates in real time for companies that operate in more than one time zone so travel agents worldwide can find the rates, confirm the space, and track the customer's business

• Centralize rate loading (very important formulti-nationalcompanies with global hotel programs)

Of course, good communication between buyers and sellers is also critical to the success of this process. Buyer expectations must be clearly understood in advance with nothing left to chance.Accurate rates are the key to driving corporate business.

Mike Fegley is InterContinental Hotels Group vice president of global sales, the Americas.