Next year will be tough for businesses looking to get guaranteed low hotel rates, according to research by travel management company (TMC) Egencia.
The Expedia-owned TMC released its annual hotel negotiability index, which showed "weak to moderate negotiability" in most European business destinations.
Christophe Pingard, senior VP for Egencia in EMEA and APAC regions, said: "The hotel negotiating environment will be more challenging for travel and business decision makers in 2011."
As hotels start to become more confident in the market next year, they will push for higher rates.
However, hotels are likely to offer added extras in a bid to win corporates, such as free wifi, breakfast and parking.
Pingard said: "One best practice is to work closely with preferred supply partners and to negotiate inclusion of [these] valuable amenities."
Other areas where hotels may try to differentiate themselves from the competition, while still pushing up rates, could be in terms and conditions, such as minimum cancellation times.
www.egencia.co.uk