DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--TRIPBAM™, the new hotel shopping service, will deploy an enhancement targeted at corporate hotel programs that helps ensure travelers are booked at the rate that is contracted for their company. By facilitating real-time rate enforcement via its proprietary shopping processes and negotiated rate database, TRIPBAM’s new service addresses a longstanding, vexing issue for travel managers at programs big and small. TRIPBAM will implement the new solution with select corporate and travel management company (TMC) clients in September, gradually expanding the rollout to its customer base through the balance of 2015.
TRIPBAM uses a two-step process to enable real-time negotiated rate enforcement, which is available to corporations that work with TMCs that are TRIPBAM distributors:
- First, negotiated hotel rate information is uploaded to TRIPBAM using standard industry formats (i.e. the Global Business Travel Association’s hotel rate format).
- Then, while reviewing bookings daily, TRIPBAM includes the negotiated rate data (down to the specifics of room type, amenities, LRA, etc.) as it shops existing public rates for savings via its proprietary technology.
If the booked rate is higher than a company’s contracted rate and the required room type is available, TRIPBAM notifies the company’s TMC so an agent can contact the hotel and ensure the correct negotiated rate is reserved.
“With hotel RFP season underway, and hoteliers increasingly seeking rate increases in virtually every key U.S. city, it is critical for corporate programs to be able maximize the agreements they work so hard to negotiate,” said Steve Reynolds, founder and CEO of TRIPBAM. “Recent industry stories and numerous ad hoc examples reveal that rate compliance today is a fuzzy proposition, with local hotel owners and group managers unknowingly not honoring corporate negotiated rates. We’re merely trying to ensure all parties meet their contractual agreements.”
TRIPBAM uses patent-pending “cluster” shopping processes to find savings on more than 60 percent of hotel groups searched, with average savings of more than $100 per stay. Half of America’s top TMCs, as well as a growing number of the country’s 100 highest-travel-spending firms, are engaged with TRIPBAM today.
Hoteliers are enjoying an impressive turn on the business cycle, as highlighted by PKF Hospitality Research earlier this summer. Revenue per available room (RevPAR), a key profitability metric, is forecast to increase 7.2 percent in the U.S. this year, and another 6.8 percent in 2016. Correspondingly, rates are also going up, with hoteliers in some city centers asking for double-digit rate increases as they open the 2016 RFP season.
About TRIPBAM™
Dallas-based TRIPBAM is a new hotel shopping service used by corporations, hotels, travel agencies and travelers. TRIPBAM uses patent-pending “cluster” shopping processes to find savings on more than 60 percent of hotel groups searched, with average savings of more than $100 per trip. Launched in April 2013, TRIPBAM won the Business Travel Supplier Innovation Award at Business Travel News’ Innovate Conference in 2014 and recognition from leading corporate travel publications in the United Kingdom and the United States. For more information about the service, go to www.tripbam.com.
