Room for Savings: Optimizing Hotel Spend - Carlson

GDS auditing
It is important to ensure that the rates negotiated
with preferred hotels are correctly loaded into
global distribution systems (GDSs) and that
other “squatter” rates do not take up space
allocated to the hotel program. Many companies
conduct audits on selected properties, but they
tend to do so rarely: once a year for 38 percent
of companies and even less often for a further 9
percent (Figure 23).
Many companies could introduce more regular
GDS audits (ideally several times a year,
especially in the initial three to four months of
program implementation) and follow up with
hoteliers, saving on average 1 percent of hotel
spend.
Figure 23: 47% of companies conduct a GDS audit only once a year or less often, leaving
room for improvement
Source: CWT Travel Management Institute
Based on a survey of travel managers (95 responses)