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.
To engender loyalty, improve client performance and ensure that deals with corporate accounts generate incremental value, airlines need better data and new thinking on tailored discounts and service add-ons, according to McKinsey. As it is, some airlines “struggle to quantify” the impact of individual client relationships on route profitability, a McKinsey spokesperson wrote by email…
Clients told Cvent its transient sourcing products were “adequate,” but the company is shooting higher. As business travel pros begin thinking about 2023 rate negotiations, the company on Tuesday told buyers and suppliers it would update components of its request for proposals technology for this summer. Reducing custom questions and back-and-forth on standard ones are…
The hospitality industry’s labor issues make it hard to provide the services many corporate travelers expect. According to hotel company execs, service levels are recovering but at different paces depending on location. Travel buyers understand the staffing dilemmas facing many properties and try to ensure travelers know what they’ll encounter. Beyond the immediate term, some…
[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…
End of content
End of content
