Room for Savings: Optimizing Hotel Spend - Carlson

Seven steps to optimize hotel spend > Track performance
7. Track performance
Generally speaking, performance tracking is
underdeveloped in the business travel
industry, which partly explains why hotelier
performance and traveler compliance often
fall below expectations. Best practices include
GDS rate audits, LRA audits, compliance
monitoring, and the use of key performance
indicators.
Tracking hotelier performance
A well-negotiated program loses its value if
hoteliers do not deliver what they promise,
particularly in terms of room rates. Surveyed
traveler managers are only too aware of this fact.
While they rank “ability to meet commitments”
as the most important feature of their
relationship with hoteliers, they also say it is the
feature with which they are least satisfied
(Figure 117).
Figure 117: Hoteliers’ effectiveness in meeting commitments ranks low in terms of travel
manager satisfaction
Hotelier performance rated by travel managers
2.5
Satisfaction
2.0
Closeness of working
relationship
Expertise/
knowledge
Effectiveness of negotiations
Quality of reporting
Effectiveness at delivering
the agreed level of service
Responsiveness
and flexibility
Ability to meet commitments
Importance
Unimportant:
Nice to have:
Important:
Essential :
Satisfaction
Very dissatisfied:
Dissatisfied:
Satisfied:
Very satisfied:
0
1
2
3
0
1
2
3
1.5
2.0 2.5
3.0
Importance
Lowest satisfaction scores
Source: CWT Travel Management Institute
Based on a survey of travel managers (99 responses)
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