Air fare and hotel price-tracking technology provider Yapta has released the latest version of its TravelAI Hotel solution.
TravelAI Hotel version 2.0 uses analytics and modelling to provide travel managers with a line of sight into savings achieved by implementing recommendation across sourcing, rate types and policy improvements. According to Yapta, suggestions are based on near real-time booking data, visibility into point-of-sale rate availability data and pricing data gathered from more than half a million bookings each day.
The company says the solution’s sourcing recommendations can determine the ideal mix of suppliers for corporate travel programmes, including which of those to add and which low-value suppliers to remove, potentially providing corporates with both cost and time savings.
TravelAI Hotel 2.0 also prescribes the best rate types to negotiate, assessing both static and dynamic rates based on availability data gathered at the time of booking. Rates are benchmarked against Yapta’s data of more than 8,500 customers, the Best Available Rate (BAR) and contracted rates. Yapta says this identifies areas to improve rate performance and when to utilise dynamic versus static rates.
The solution’s policy recommendations also outline the savings associated with implementing and enforcing policies. Yapta claims its access to all available rates at the time of booking brings visibility to travellers that book upgraded rooms when standard rooms are available. It also recognises when travellers may not be booking contracted rates when they are available.
According to Yapta, early usage by customers has shown that TravelAI Hotel 2.0 can deliver an additional three to five per cent in savings for travel programmes, combined with savings of up to four per cent from using its RoomIQ price tracking solution.
Chief product officer Valerie Layman said: “Customers using version 1.0 of TravelAI Hotel saw tremendous success, saving anywhere from US$300,000 to US$1 million by relying on Yapta’s proprietary algorithms and extensive network of data. TravelAI 2.0’s dashboard makes it easy for travel managers at any level to see the savings impacts of implementing the top recommendations, laying out precisely where and how to address sourcing, rate performance and policy issues without exhaustive effort.”
Jeff Daily, director of global travel for Sanmina, a Yapta client, commented: “Combining RoomIQ’s dynamic price tracking with the analytical capabilities of TravelAI Hotel has enhanced our ability to drive savings throughout the travel life cycle – from negotiations to booking and travel. Through the solution’s unbiased and actionable data and deep analytics, we’re able to capture accurate and compelling guidance on changes to our travel programme.”
yapta.com