More companies are paying attention to traveler satisfaction when conducting hotel RFPs: Customer reviews, amenities and hotel brand type are all factors that matter to the road warrior and can play a role in the RFP process.

“Cost will always be an important driver in any managed travel program, but we are seeing more and more that traveler well-being is now becoming a true priority,” said Scott Solombrino, GBTA executive director and COO. “Hotels can be a big piece of the traveler satisfaction puzzle.”

“In a highly dynamic market in which there are more options than ever, and information is more freely accessible than ever before, guest satisfaction becomes a powerful differentiator,” said Meenaz Diamond, Accor’s Senior Vice President, Global Sales, North & Central America.

“Hotels have a tremendous opportunity to look beyond financial incentives and special offers, to refocus on what is actually at the core of the hotelier’s business – the guest experience.”

Key Research Highlights:

Reviews

• When conducting RFPs, half (50 percent) of buyers “always” or “often” check reviews from any one of four sources: a consumer review website (e.g. TripAdvisor), their online booking tool (OBT), the hotel’s website, or an Intranet or internal traveler forum.
• However, only 29 percent of buyers survey their own travelers about satisfaction with preferred properties or chains.

Amenities

• Two in three buyers discuss amenities “a lot” (27 percent) or “a moderate amount” (39 percent) with their hotel sales or account manager.
• Buyers say specific amenities are important: high-speed internet (97 percent), cybersecurity policies or data breach prevention efforts (84 percent), on-property fitness center (80 percent) and loyalty programs (55 percent).

Brand Type

• A large majority (85 percent) of buyers are interested or very interested in contracting with traditional brands.
• This is higher than the share who are interested in lifestyle brands (65 percent) or small boutique brands (58 percent); however, at least half of buyers are interested in contracting with each type of brand.

Research is conducted by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), in partnership with Accor

More Information
To learn more, download an infographic here with key highlights from the research. The report, Are Corporate Hotel Programs Riding The Traveler Experience Wave?, is available exclusively to GBTA members on the GBTA Hub.

Methodology
An online survey was conducted of U.S. and Canada-based travel buyers who are GBTA members The survey fielded on February 20-28, 2019. Respondents qualified if they were a travel manager/buyer or procurement/sourcing profession and involved in the hotel RFP process at their organization.

About the Global Business Travel Association
The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) is the world’s premier business travel and meetings trade organization headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area with operations on six continents. GBTA’s 9,000-plus members manage more than $345 billion of global business travel and meetings expenditures annually. GBTA delivers world-class education, events, research, advocacy and media to a growing global network of more than 28,000 travel professionals and 125,000 active contacts. To learn how business travel drives lasting business growth, visit gbta.org.