Inflation Prompts Corporate Travel Buyers to Hold Off Negotiating Hotel Rates for 2023
Photo Credit: Hotel rates are increasing at an average of 8 percent every month, according to Tripbam. Marriott
Skift Take
Companies are holding their nerve, because hotels have the upper hand right now when it comes to dictating rates. It’s a gamble leaving negotiations until so late, but you have to question how long prices can keep climbing.
Hotels are set to clash with travel buyers as they try to lock in rates for next year — rates that have been edging north since the second quarter of this year.
Most corporate travel buyers will have enjoyed relative discounts compared to the higher inflation-linked rates tourists will have been paying, thanks in part to hotel chains rolling over their corporate discounts from 2021 as the Omicron variant disrupted travel.
“Covid certainly showed the true value of our relationships with suppliers and partners," Nikki Rogan, global travel director at Fujitsu, told Supply Management. "Some of the hotels rolled over our rates and some airlines kept deals in place. Covid really did bring the value of those partnership to the fore.”
Those partnerships will now be tested.
Travel buyers typically issue request for proposal
