Buyers are experiencing unprecedented challenges this year in terms of negotiating corporate hotel rates and for some, this has led to a rate uplift of between 30% and 40%, according to global, EMEA and UK travel managers attending ITM’s latest Buyer Knowledge Exchange on May 9, 2023.

Reports of hotels not engaging in RFPs and forcing buyers to use flexible rates have led to some buyers setting expectations via targets within their tender process. Historic relationships between hotels and buyers are also being tested. As a result, buyers are facing pushback from stakeholders around in-policy hotel availability and location.

NDC also continued to be a hot topic at the most recent Buyer Knowledge Exchange, with concerns that other carriers will follow American Airlines’ lead in adopting a leisure- focussed pricing strategy. However, the scale of the impact of fares being removed from the GDS remains unclear.

Buyer Knowledge Exchange sessions are hosted regularly by ITM to assist buyer members problem to solve common issues, asking questions of their peers and benchmarking their approach. Travel managers taking part represent diverse industry sectors such as financial services, energy, food, technology, telecoms, consulting, media and entertainment.

For a full download of buyer sentiment on hotel and NDC pricing topics at the latest Buyer Knowledge Exchange, visit ITM Resource to access the notes from the session. The next Buyer Knowledge Exchange takes place on June 13, 2023.

Buyers can click here to register and join the discussion.