Room for Savings: Optimizing Hotel Spend - Carlson

Companies can consolidate volumes in two
main ways: by aggregating business from
different countries or regions, and by
rationalizing the number of preferred
properties used by travelers at each destination.
As shown in previous CWT research 2 , local to
regional consolidation can lead to a 60 percent
increase in the room nights allocated to preferred
hotels in the program, while regional to global
consolidation can add a further 30 percent.
can add up to 33 percent to the total cost of
stay, according to a CWT analysis of
corporate credit card data (Figure 91). It is
clearly worthwhile for companies to
negotiate free amenities within their room
rate wherever possible. Case studies show
that companies obtain free breakfast and
Internet access at up to 50 percent of their
preferred properties, saving 2.6 percent of
total hotel spend.
Include amenities in negotiations. Services
such as meals, parking and Internet access
Figure 91: Amenity charges can add up to 33 percent to the total cost of stay
%
140
120
100
80
60
40
Extra charges as a percentage of the average room rate when incurred
15
8
Potential cost of all extra
charges as a percentage of
the room rate
100 100
4
6
33
20
0
Room
Restaurant/
Room service
Parking Internet Other Total
Source: CWT Travel Management Institute
Based on credit card spend data for one company in the U.S. in April 2008
2
Global Horizons: Consolidating a Travel Program, CWT Travel Management Institute (2007)