HOTEL DISTRIBUTION


Swimming the channels


Fragmented distribution makes hotel booking compliance a challenge, but there are ways to get your ducks in a row…


By CATHERINE CHETWYND


online travel agencies (OTAs), independent properties not on the GDSs, hotel booking agencies, disruptors, corporate and TMCs’ negotiated rates are all in the mix. In addition, tools such as Concur’s Triplink supposedly catch all purchases, compliant or otherwise, while travel management company platforms, such as CWT’s new Roomit, also embrace pretty much everything. Then there is the need for buyers to audit negotiated rates. How on earth can travel buyers possibly implement policy and monitor their programme in such a disparate – not to say desperate – environment? But is it all it appears? Jef Robinson is a


T


senior travel buyer for a major US software firm. He says: “This is a general trend within business travel, and disruptors are given significant media coverage. However,


118 BBT January/February 2018


RADITIONALLY, THE WAY to book hotel accommodation was through the global distribution systems (GDSs), but now fragmentation rules:


data suggests that GDS bookings are on the increase with a growth of 2 million bookings forecast over volume for 2016.” Hotel product manager for FCM, Rachel


Newns, agrees. She also thinks GDS covers many of the available options. “We still find that GDS reservations fulfil most require- ments for travellers and tend to be the pre- ferred options for travel managers, because they give access to a company’s negotiated rates, best available rate, FCM/Flight Centre negotiated rates, and we can give loyalty programme rates to those – all in GDS,” she says. “It is all available through one platform with multiple payment options; it is trackable, traceable, so it helps with compliance, traveller safety and security; and it has all the benefits of policy in the tool as well.”


NAVIGATING CHOPPY SEAS The key to successfully navigating these choppy seas is a well-defined, well-com- municated travel policy. Some companies incorporate the travel policy with their expense policy and make it part of credit


card induction, but the vast majority have a booking tool that’s configured with the organisation’s travel policy. There is, however, a more pragmatic


view. “Fragmentation and travellers going out of channel are the reality of the time we live in,” says Roberto Scolaris at Concur. “Buyers can fight it or they can leverage it. They can ask, why is this traveller going rogue? Will this benefit other travellers, will it lead them to perform better? Should I replicate this – or police it?” This is where Concur Triplink comes


in: “We did not want Triplink to be seen as allowing employees to do what they want. We wanted to use it as a compliance tool,” he says. “It integrates directly with suppliers or when the user receives an itinerary, they can forward that to Concur and that way all data is incorporated into corporate systems.” CWT’s Roomit lists CWT’s and corpo-


rates’ negotiated rates, those of the two biggest OTAs, retail rates and more. The TMC takes the view that whether or not the travel manager wants travellers seeing


BUYINGBUSINESSTRAVEL.COM


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148