“As the travel landscape has dramatically changed, so must the hotel purchase strategy for corporate clients,” said Donna Brokowski, Executive Vice President, Global Supplier Management and Consulting, Direct Travel. “Direct Travel’s new approach ensures our customers’ success along the hotel sourcing journey by providing the right mix of technologies and sourcing applications for each client’s individual goals.”
To support this suite of offerings, Direct Travel has launched DT Rate Assurance powered by TRIPBAM. “Available data has shown significant volatility in hotel pricing over the last year. Hotels are trying desperately to keep Revenue Available Per Room (RevPAR) through Average Daily Rate (ADR); however, they continue to price with demand,” said Brokowski. “The launch of Direct Travel’s new service enhancement brings a core offering to our customers that allows for quick entry to the technology, with flexible automated billing options and reporting on savings successes.”
Long-time industry hotel sourcing practitioner Susan Barnes leads the hotel division and her team has built an enhanced suite of offerings to cover multiple approaches. “In today’s environment, hotel programs have become very fluid due to lack of travel and rate volatility. Gone are the days of benchmarking from previous years’ rates,” said Susan Barnes, Managing Director, Hotel Consulting. “With this in mind, we have developed options tailored to each client’s travel in the foreseeable future. Adding to a client’s hotel program throughout the year as travel resumes will make this sourcing season more of a year-round event than ever before. The broader, generic solutions of years past are just not feasible in this climate and customized client-specific solutions are the way to go.”
An additional enhanced offering of DirectView Consulting, Direct Travel’s hotel consulting division, includes Smart Sourcing by TRIPBAM. Smart Sourcing encompasses a sustained monthly approach supporting rollover rates and full sourcing for corporate accounts.
“Direct Travel has consistently offered new and innovative solutions to better serve client programs, and we are thrilled to be part of this legacy by bringing Smart Sourcing to its customers,” said Steve Reynolds, CEO of TRIPBAM. “In today’s volatile hotel environment, it’s critical that travel buyers have access to solutions like TRIPBAM’s Smart Sourcing and proprietary analytics suite to help them respond and adapt to rapidly changing market dynamics.”
For more information on Direct Travel, visit www.dt.com.