By Melissa Doss, Director – Strategic Hotel Programs
One of the recommendations we’ve made to travel managers during the past two years is to reduce and diversify your hotel program.
It’s a key approach as business travel resumes, enabling you to create a leaner program that meets your goals, while also saving you time and money.
But one question a lot of travel managers ask is: how can I reduce and diversify successfully, but still have access to the properties I need in every market? The answer is simple: this is totally achievable, with the help of BCD Travel’s Global Hotel Program (GHP). By using the GHP to supplement your own negotiated rates, you can provide travelers with plenty of choices at the best rates, while keeping your own program’s costs under control. Here’s some insight into how this works.
What is the Global Hotel Program?
The Global Hotel Program is a globally negotiated hotel program that all clients can access, where BCD negotiates with preferred suppliers and independent properties to get the best deals. The GHP has more than 50,000 properties in more than 178 countries and six continents around the globe.
All the properties in the program offer at least Best Available Rate (BAR) pricing, and almost half offer further discounts off BAR. They also include amenities that business travelers care about, such as free breakfast, free Wi-Fi, free access to the fitness center, and free parking. And the GHP also includes business traveler-focused cancellation policies.
How Travel Managers Benefit From the GHP
As a travel manager, using the Global Hotel Program offers several benefits.
- Right size your program. You can focus only on key markets and the properties you really want in your program. This cuts down on negotiating time, as you don’t have to secure additional properties just to make sure you have global coverage in secondary and tertiary markets.
- Save time. The RFP is one of the most time-consuming tasks for a travel manager, and the more properties you have to negotiate, the more time and energy it takes. By letting the GHP do the heavy lifting outside your key markets, you reclaim that time and can reallocate it to other tasks.
- Get better deals. Smaller companies who don’t have the buying power to secure the best rates can benefit with the GHP. Since we have so many hotels in our program, we are able to get the best deals, which means you do too.
- Win back travelers. Travelers can often be won over by providers outside your travel program. But if they can get the rooms they want at the best rates, there’s no need to look elsewhere. Incorporate the GHP into your online booking tool and you provide the choice they are looking for, driving trust and confidence in the program.
If you want to benefit from the GHP, you can pull it into your online booking tool simply by adding the rate access code. You can also add hotels from the GHP to your preferred list and have peace of mind without having to do the negotiation yourself.
As you get back to business travel, taking advantage of the Global Hotel Program can help you implement the reduce and diversify strategy we recommend while providing maximum choice for travelers.