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.
[CLARIFICATIONS, May 18: Adding details for this article, a spokesperson indicated that Coupa already “prescribes” travel sourcing opportunities. What’s yet to come is the automatic creation of sourcing events: “Today, our Travel Insights will recommend sourcing opportunities with a supplier. What the team is envisioning for the future is where silos are removed between the…
The decision by the Orlando World Center Marriott to host a White Nationalist conference offers a “moment of reflection,” according to Grant Caplan, the Global Business Travel Association’s Diversity Committee chair. Reports by the Orlando Sentinel and HuffPost of the Feb. 25 America First Political Action Conference dominated some social media feeds following the event….
Hertz emerged last year from bankruptcy as a leaner company with a new outlook on corporate sales. It used reorganization to get out of what it deemed unfavorable corporate deals and now, according to interim CEO Mark Fields, “We do not chase unprofitable business.” That’s easier to justify when there is tight supply relative to…
Demand for corporate travel lodging is accelerating but it’s not just volume that’s closing in on familiar territory. Average rates and the brands getting bookings also look more like they did in 2019, according to Tripbam data presented this month. “We are seeing a rapid increase in rate,” said Tripbam CEO Steve Reynolds during his…
No one should be surprised that it’s coming, and consultant Mark O’Brien expects it in the second half of this year: higher pricing for transportation and lodging. What does it mean for corporate travel buyers? According to O’Brien, a BCD Travel exec until 2021 who now runs Avenue5 Consulting, hotel prices will be up by…
After hitting a 14-year high in 2019, passenger commissions paid by U.S. airlines to travel agencies bottomed out in 2020 along with passenger volumes, and stayed low through the first nine months of last year. The pandemic also changed the passenger mix, as mainly domestic leisure passengers made for a lower-value booking environment. Lower-value bookings…
“Buyers want it; sellers need it,” according to Harvard Business School professor Doug Chung, McKinsey & Company partners Isabel Huber and Jean-Charles Devignes, and McKinsey associate partner Tom Clauwaert. “It’s not trivial, but it’s not rocket science either.” During the early stages of the pandemic, many B2B companies considered remote interactions as a temporary patch,…
End of content
End of content
