In corporate travel, sourcing is all about negotiating deals with airlines, hotels, car rental companies and other suppliers. Of course, organizations want to get the best value, but travel procurement is about more than price. It’s also about using data to monitor performance on both sides, working with intermediaries, building deeper relationships and exploring new technologies that improve processes.
Cvent tried to make its transient hotel sourcing technology more than “adequate” as of this summer. At this point, though, “functional” would please clients. Sources said the new tools were falling down just when they’re most needed — deep in the negotiating season for 2023 rates. A Cvent media official did not respond to an…
Three former travel buyers in July swapped their corporate jobs for startup life to pursue a passion for fixing sustainable sourcing in hospitality. Female-founded Alō Index “eliminates the struggle with siloed, unverified and duplicative” environmental, social and governance information, according to the company. Alō “consolidates, verifies, enriches, analyzes and weights millions of ESG datapoints to…
Multinational travel programs typically use at least two of the three major airline partner groupings, and many use all three. U.K.-based financial software firm Finastra in 2019 committed to providing all its business on a lucrative international route to just one. After seeing savings by aggregating that spending, the company is hunting for similar opportunities…
CWT last week announced that its RoomIt division would provide Amazon with hotel category services including sourcing, booking and rate reshopping. Amazon previously used HRS for worldwide sourcing as part of a “multi-year” agreement due to commence in 2019, according to a late 2018 announcement. Business Travel News in September identified Amazon as the largest…
Travel management companies want to maximize revenues, corporate program managers want smooth servicing and no one wants debit memos. New integration between a pair of travel tech firms hopes to accomplish all of that and address some of the challenges of alternative airline distribution models. The key is using automation to overcome airline contract complexity….
The biggest knock on any discount program buyers secure with hotel properties and chains is that travelers can’t access preferred rates. That wastes the negotiating effort and eliminates some expected savings. According to Tripbam, for many enterprise clients, that’s been the case this year for chainwide deals. The reasons aren’t clear. Due to localized hotel…
There was a lot of discussion at the GBTA convention here last month about diversity, equity and inclusion. Buyers and suppliers described their organizations’ performances in this area and the new initiatives underway. Much of it is about hiring practices and providing equal pay and opportunities for advancement. For buyers, another significant element is supplier…
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