CAN A TRAVEL MANAGEMENT COMPANY REALLY FIND YOU CHEAPER ACCOMODATION?

Recently, the purchasing department of one our clients threw a challenge our way to tangibly demonstrate our value in the booking of their business hotels, after claims from a traveller that they could find cheaper hotel rates by securing reservations directly with the hotel or via third-party consumer websites.

There’s nothing we love better at Gray Dawes than a challenge, so we began undertaking a thorough benchmarking exercise during the month of May, to review multiple room rate options. We compared our negotiated rates, our aggregator rates, property direct rates, and well-known consumer hotel aggregator rates to see which offered the very best rates.

Throughout the month of May 2018 the client in questions spent £279,606 on mid-week UK and European hotel stays – amounting to a total of 1237 room nights. These encompassed a range of different hotel properties, from 3-5*.

One of the main reasons why business travel is important is the personal interaction that builds good foundations for a future or existing relationship. This can also reduce miscommunication, and encourage almost a sense of unity. Written communication on tricky subjects can often be read differently to the way the it was intended. Having a physical meeting around the same subject is so much more beneficial in understanding each other’s communication skills.