Putting the “C” in T&E Payments

A new report issued today by the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), the voice of the global business travel industry, evaluates corporate hotel policies and programs across the United States and explores how much control corporate travel managers have over their employees’ hotel spending.

The study found that more than half (58 percent) of travel managers feel they have more control over their company’s hotel policy than they did a few years ago. When it comes to hotel programs, corporate travel managers view their primary responsibilities as:

• Driving savings / controlling costs (70 percent)
• Ensuring travelers are using preferred suppliers (54 percent)
• Motivating travel behavior rather than mandating policy (41 percent)
• Driving compliance (39 percent)

A total of 236 travel managers in the United States completed the online survey from Oct. 16 to Oct. 28, 2013.

A vast majority of corporate travel managers surveyed (91 percent) indicated their company had a preferred hotel program in place. The average corporate preferred hotel program contains 280 hotel properties that employees can choose from, with individual properties representing 69 percent of hotel agreements and chain-wide agreements making up 31 percent.

When corporate travel managers are deciding which hotels to sign as preferred providers, location of hotel (85 percent) and negotiated discounts (82 percent) are taken into consideration most often. More than half (53 percent) of those surveyed also take the safety and security of a property into consideration.

Amenities that travel managers consider when choosing a mid-price hotel for their employees include:

• Free Wi-Fi (98 percent)
• Free breakfast (83 percent)
• On-site parking (76 percent)
• Airport shuttle (59 percent)
• Fitness facilities (56 percent)
• Business center (47 percent)