Room for Savings: Optimizing Hotel Spend - Carlson

Explain the stakes. Price-conscious travelers
are often unaware of the full impact of
booking outside the program and do so
because they believe they can save their
companies money. For example, when
comparing room rates, they may not take
into account the cost of amenities, which
may be included in a negotiated rate. In
addition, they typically do not realize that
booking non-preferred hotels can reduce the
discounts negotiated by their company and
dilute savings in the longer term.
Communicating the strategy behind the
hotel program and sharing information on
savings can be an effective way to increase
compliance. Travelers tend to be particularly
receptive to such information when they are
under pressure to cut costs.
Ensure that the hotel program and policy
are communicated to a wide audience. As
a large proportion of hotel bookings are
made by travel arrangers on behalf of
travelers (41 percent according to the CWT
research), it is important to communicate to
a wide audience within the company. This
includes specific communications for
employees who may make local bookings
for visiting colleagues. CWT research shows
that the use of preferred booking channels is
significantly lower in such cases: 64 percent
of bookings made on behalf of visitors,
compared to 82 percent of other bookings
(Figure 110).
Figure 110: Booking channel compliance is lower when employees book local hotels on
behalf of visitors
Non-preferred
booking channels
Preferred booking
channels (online
booking tool or
TMC counselor)
Source: CWT Travel Management Institute
Based on a survey of travelers and travel arrangers (303 responses)