AI era pressures transform corporate hotel programs
Corporate hotel programs are being reworked as travel managers face higher costs, more complex markets and a fast-expanding role for artificial intelligence. New research from the Global Business Travel Association and Radisson Hotel Group, based on 258 travel managers across North America and EMEA, finds lodging remains the largest slice of corporate travel budgets, with an estimated $461 billion spent annually.
Cost control still leads decision-making, but traveler experience and duty-of-care requirements now weigh heavily on sourcing strategy. Many organizations outsource at least part of the hotel RFP process to travel management companies or consultants, a practice especially common among larger firms in Europe. Pricing models are also in flux, with more programs turning to dynamic discounts and using fixed rates mainly in high-volume locations.
AI adoption reshapes sourcing decisions
About one-third of programs used artificial intelligence in their latest RFP cycle, and most expect to do so next time, primarily for analysis and automation. Travel buyers, however, still emphasize human oversight to align selections with traveler preferences, safety goals and brand fit.
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Photos Source: AI
