Price “stays king” when travel buyers are putting together their programmes of preferred hotels, in response to recent research from the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA).
A GBTA survey of European and US buyers found that 83 per cent were prioritising company-negotiated rates, discounts and glued pricing structures when putting together their preferred accommodation programmes.
Although the placement of hotels got here in a really close second with 82 per cent of respondents on the lookout for properties near their very own offices and 44 per cent wanting to remain in hotels near client locations.
The GBTA said the survey results showed that travel managers were “working to balance flexibility with financial control”. Dynamic pricing was the fastest growing element of their hotel programmes and was now getting used by 77 per cent of respondents followed by chain-wide discounts (74 per cent).
Most buyers (60 per cent) stated that the best structure for his or her hotel programmes could be a “hybrid” model mixing fixed and dynamic rates at each property to permit one of the best savings and adaptableness.
The poll revealed that non-GDS channels have gotten more widely used, with 62 per cent of buyers saying they offered lower prices and more options.
There are also signs that travellers are choosing more preferred hotels, with 57 per cent of bookings occurring at properties with company-negotiated rates.
Buyers would love to see an overhaul in hotel RFP (request for proposal) processes – particularly the power to have multi-year fixed rates agreements, which 64 per cent were either focused on or have already got this sort of arrangement in place.
Other innovations they would love to see inside hotel RFPs include spend-based targets (60 per cent) and share-based targets (50 per cent).
Some travel buyers highlighted “gaps” inside their preferred hotel programmes in major cities, equivalent to London, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam and Dubai, with availability and coverage gaps being essentially the most frequent issues.
The survey found that 77 per cent of corporate travel managers expected their spending on business travel in 2025 to be higher or at the identical level because it was last yr. Most respondents (67 per cent) said this rise was right down to higher prices, followed by company expansion (55 per cent) and increased worker travel (54 per cent).
GBTA received responses from 234 travel managers from the US and 18 European countries. The survey forms a part of The Evolution of Managed Hotel Programmes report, which has been put together in partnership with the Radisson Hotel Group.
“Travel managers must proceed to adapt their strategies in response to shifting business needs, rising costs and changing traveller expectations to give you the chance to construct more resilient and responsive programmes for the long run,” said GBTA’s CEO Suzanne Neufang.
Johanna Wessman Fresnel, senior director and head of world accounts at Radisson Hotel Group, added: “As personalisation, dynamic pricing and tech-driven expectations reshape the company travel experience, we’re here to assist businesses navigate the complexity and switch it into opportunity.”
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