Travel buyers should develop closer relationships with hotels to drive more value in their accommodation programme, the travel manager - hotels for retail giant Matalan has said.
Speaking at the Business Travel Show on Wednesday on a panel around accommodation strategy, Amanda Worthington said the traditional RFP process is changing and buyers will see better value in “getting out and talking” to accommodation providers.
“Don’t hide behind a wordy lengthy RFP document,” said Worthington. “Your extra value will come from the relationships you have with people at the hotels. “It’s those personal connections that will get you out of a cancellation policy or rooms in a city that is full.”
The Matalan travel manager also spoke about changing your policy to reflect what your travellers wants: “About 18 months ago we reviewed our policy and it’s now more traveller focused.
“Travellers are telling us they want more options. We are a large fashion retailer so some of them want to stay places that better reflect the sector they work in… this helps with compliance and a reason the mandated travel programme has fallen out of fashion.”
Worthington also spoke about the use of alternative accommodation providers in Airbnb but because of the risk involved for a large corporation like Matalan it’s an option she’s unable to explore.
“I don’t have any issues with Airbnb as a product but from a corporate perspective we are not confident the right risk controls are in place so as a business we don’t book them or similar products. From a liability perspective they pose too much of a risk,” she added.