Off-channel booking capture technology Traxo has partnered with Plano, a Texas-based business travel performance automation company, to create a platform for hotel program automation and performance that provides visibility into total hotel spend inside and outside of the company’s preferred channels offers. The result, say the partners, is a platform that not only checks and measures program performance for in-channel hotel bookings, but also analyzes off-channel bookings to optimize program savings in real time and ultimately automate hotel inquiries for offers Process based on the total hotel volume.
BTP founder and platform architect Fernando Avila has focused on travel program data since the 1980s, but has focused on optimizing hotel programs for nearly two decades. “Every element of data brings value,” he told BTN, ticking off several elements of the current BTP platform such as rate code, room type, pre and post travel dates, market conditions and included amenities. But without understanding the full extent of their volume, companies can’t really optimize their programs, and they haven’t been able to optimize in real time.
Bringing Traxo into play changes the hotel program critically. The off-channel data collection tool brings outlier bookings to the BTP platform in real time, whereupon BTP compares each passenger name entry with more than 1,000 algorithms to determine whether the company tariff is being used and how the company tariff compares to the daily tariff. Market prices, room type, amenities, and dozens of other factors to determine program compliance prior to travel. The tool then provides the travel manager with a recommendation for corrective action via a self-service dashboard with detailed reports for each non-compliant transaction as well as recommendations at the program level – e. B. whether a tender to a new hotel partner should be extended or renegotiated an existing partner – since booking patterns and market prices change over time.
The diagnostic function generates a score from 0 to 100 percent to communicate how much of the total savings the program is using. The improvement process is then automated.
In some cases, said Bruce Yoxsimer, CEO of BTP, a co-founder of GetThere who joined BTP in November, corrective action can be so simple that a single hotel booking gets back on the preferred channel before the trip takes place. “We can see if a booking on an undesignated channel is $ 154 and a contracted in-channel booking is $ 147. That’s a simple fix: if you multiply more than 4,000 bookings, you get instant savings, ”he said. But the real transformative properties of BTP, he pointed out, lie in the RFP automation capabilities.
Since the platform creates an ongoing bid list, the next logical step for BTP was to facilitate these bids based on market conditions, customer volume, convenience requirements, and other factors. After implementation, Yoxsimer says, customers can receive a bid or new bid list for 100 or more hotels. Based on the parameters set by each client, the platform can automatically send these RFPs to verified real estate contacts, along with limited client data confirming the property’s value in doing business with that corporate client.
On the hotel side, BTP provides a response form for the accommodation in order to adapt the included services and either accept or reject the price.
The hotels “are sent a number of references – a simple list of negotiations,” said Yoxsimer. “You don’t have to be a seasoned revenue manager to view an advertisement here [the corporate’s] Travel dates so they tell the revenue manager who the company is, their historical hotel volume, the requested price versus the current public price. [The property] can step in and customize the four most requested amenities [breakfast, transfers, Wi-Fi and gym]. … Anyone can do it if they understand the trigger points and the parameters are all adjustable: fixed or dynamic rate, last room availability, etc. [The hotels] send that back to BTP and once it’s submitted we analyze it to see if we have a handshake. “Avila pointed out that the company provides all of the instructions on how to load courses and then any transaction against the course checks.
The partners stated that they are bringing the tool to market at a time when the demand for work efficiency and savings requirements for suppliers and buyers is at a critical point. “The next step is to automate the hotel page for hotels that know their trigger points so they can set their parameters in the tool and may need a click for approval – or finally just want the machines to talk to everyone else,” said Yoxsimer .
Andres Fabris, CEO of Traxo, said of the buyer: “The return on investment of travel and travel management activities is very much in focus. Companies are looking for security and savings. This is loud and clear from practice.”
Avila emphasized the added value that full volume and real-time visibility bring to the table. “Without that, you can only target half of the program,” he said, referring to the channel’s average hotel booking compliance, which is around 50 percent for most businesses.
“There are so many other things that corporate travel managers need to do other than spend four months building a hotel listing and filling out RFPs,” said Yoxsimer. “This tool will enable travel managers to address critical issues like due diligence that are so important right now.”
BTP has signed its first contract for a travel management company and has six pilot companies in the pipeline.
