You’ve spent months vetting lodging suppliers to align with your environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives, establishing service level agreements and negotiating inclusive rates to improve trip quality and travel experience…
But out-of-policy hotel bookings are still plaguing your travel programme.
As we head into 2022, travel managers have ranked sustainability, duty of care and traveller wellbeing as their top priorities, alongside managing the return to travel. Here’s why the technology your travel management company uses could make all the difference when it comes to meeting these objectives.
1. Prioritising sustainable properties
Rate volatility is making the traditional RFP increasingly redundant. However, from a sustainability perspective, RFPs offer travel managers an opportunity to identify suppliers that align with their corporate’s ESG objectives.
But that’s only part of the equation. You still need to be able to drive bookings to those properties effectively – that’s where your TMC’s choice of hotel booking technology becomes important.
Good tech should be able to preference certain suppliers meaning you can prioritise ESG-aligned properties. And, with travel managers increasingly looking at responsible sourcing, the pressure is on TMCs and their technology to be able to configure any direct suppliers, such as smaller, eco-conscious properties and social enterprises, into their booking platform.
2. Keeping track of travellers
Complete and centralised travel information is absolutely vital for traveller visibility and duty of care, but when business travellers book out-of-channel hotel stays, keeping tabs on their whereabouts can be difficult.
One of the main reasons business travellers stray from preferred channels is because they can find richer content and better rates online than through the designated travel management partner.
Using a hotel booking technology that consolidates multi-channel content and rates into a single integrated platform puts your TMC on a level playing field. Delivering this content consistently, both offline and online via API to your business’s preferred online booking tool, further reduces the likelihood of rogue bookings, meaning you have full oversight of where everyone is.
3. Putting traveller experience first
Technology that provides your TMC with richer content offers benefits for traveller wellbeing too.
Better content means TMC agents can quickly and easily recommend hotel options with amenities best suited to travellers’ wellness needs. And as post-pandemic travel increases, integrating information on enhanced hygiene protocols and health and safety certifications further boosts traveller reassurance and your business’s ability to deliver on its wellbeing objectives.
Additionally, growing demand for personalisation is being met by advanced AI and machine learning capabilities. Sophisticated booking technologies not only anticipate overnight opportunities but proactively serve TMC consultants relevant, in-policy hotel options based on your travellers’ booking preferences.
