Ambra Christie, Vice President, Hotel Spend Management and Customer Success
You have just spent a considerable amount of time, energy, and personnel/financial resources on curating a global hotel program that you are sure your travelers will appreciate, and your company will find value in. So, what’s next?
Having an industry-leading program isn’t just about what hotels are in your program or what rates you were able to achieve. What separates an industry-leading program from the rest is having a strategy in place to actively manage the program. This includes engaging with your travelers on what’s most important to them and their experience, while also maintaining value against the market. Using a “set it and forget it” approach is not going to keep your program competitive throughout the year. In this post, we will break down the five key areas to focus on as you manage your program throughout 2025.
1. Regularly monitor rates for competitiveness and availability to keep travelers in channel
Business travelers are often digitally savvy consumers, shopping multiple sources to find the best hotel rates. Even if you’ve negotiated a competitive rate, it is only good if it’s available and bookable to your travelers. Ensuring consistent availability of the negotiated rate helps to bring value to your program and creates a positive experience for your travelers. We recommend looking at your rates and availability every month and making program adjustments as needed. If your negotiated rate is not beating the market, don’t be afraid to reengage with the hotel and negotiate a deeper discount that reflects the current market conditions and the value of your business. If you find that the hotel is not making your negotiated rate available, renegotiate increased inventory or additional room types. If those tactics fail, be prepared to take action and remove properties from your program, shifting share to alternate hotels that are willing to offer a competitive deal.
2. Closely track booking trends
Keep a pulse on booking trends by monitoring which hotels your travelers are selecting. This will help you identify if there are properties that are just not working in your program or if there are new locations that travelers are frequenting where properties should be added. Regularly check in with internal stakeholders for feedback on how well the program meets their needs. If you are seeing volumes increase at competing hotels, reach out to travelers to understand why they are booking away from the properties you’ve negotiated with. It may mean renegotiating non-competitive deals, removing or adding properties mid-year, or creating a campaign to shift travelers to book your preferred properties. Understanding the changing needs of your traveler base will go a long way to tailoring a program that meets their needs and keeps them booking in channel.
3. Boost your traveler experience
When was the last time you looked at your online booking tool (OBT) to understand what your travelers see when they login to book their travel? Now is the perfect time to login and make necessary updates. Check your sort order, review any booking limitations, and ensure your negotiated rate is providing value against other rates your travelers see. Check that all custom messaging is up to date and providing travelers with the proper guidance. Also, verify that your program is preferenced appropriately. You want to flag only those properties that offer the best rates and fit within your company’s policy and culture. If everything is flagged as preferred, how are you guiding travelers to make the right booking decision? Keep in mind, if your OBT is not providing a good experience, your travelers will book elsewhere and all of the hard work you put into developing the program will go to waste. Consider scheduling a focus group with some of your travelers – their feedback is invaluable!
This is also the ideal time to revisit your travel policy. Does it clearly direct travelers to book within your approved corporate booking channels? Explain to your travelers why it’s critical they book through your TMC to ensure duty of care for traveler safety and well-being and visibility to all spend to leverage your negotiating power.
4. Influence buyer behavior
Once you’ve ensured the user experience is up to par, you can take things a step further by influencing your travelers to make decisions that align with your company goals. Think about your typical online shopping experience. You come across pop-up ads, recommendations tailored to your interests, and other messaging that impacts your purchasing decisions. In your OBT, you can use some of these same tactics to influence booking behavior.
Implementing and displaying market rate targets help guide your travelers toward choosing competitive rates, while empowering them to make smart buying decisions. Rather than using a rate cap which drives travelers to book up to a maximum value, market rate targets guide travelers to book close to a lower, more appropriate rate. Advito’s Engage practice can support you with custom OBT banners communicating market rate targets as well as other key messages that drive travelers to make choices which align with your priorities, whether that be booking in program, booking a more sustainable property or driving market share to a particular property or chain.
5. Focus on sustainability
As you continue to monitor your program, sustainability should also be top of mind. If you did prioritize sustainability during your negotiations, are your travelers booking those hotels within your program?
One of our key recommendations for clients looking to drive the adoption of sustainable choices is to develop a communications strategy focused around sustainability that educates travelers on how to select sustainable properties and the importance of making sustainable choices to align with the company’s larger goals. No matter what initiatives you choose to adopt, don’t forget to keep your travelers up to date on the changes you’re making. Building a sustainable program only works if your travelers use it!
Gone are the days when you only think about your hotel program once a year. Dynamically managing the hotel category requires continuous effort to ensure your program is delivering value to your company and your travelers. In general, employees want to make the right travel buying decisions on behalf of their employer. Taking these steps throughout the year to make sure your program is competitive, includes the right property mix and that the booking experience provides proper guidance, empowers travelers to make smart choices that drive savings and align with your company objectives.