Project Travel Sourcing Solutions

Project Travel Today

In a new survey of more than 1,000 business travelers by the American Hotel & Lodging Association, nearly 70% said their employers have either returned to the pre-pandemic normal or increased business travel, and 20% said they expect to take more business trips in 2023 than they did before the pandemic.

The welcome news for hotels is likely to result in higher occupancies. And, for one segment of business travel—project travel—this may mean more advance planning and booking will be needed in coming months. Project travel isn’t what most people think of when they hear the term “business travel.” But project travel is business travel. And while many traditional business travelers were grounded in recent years, increasing numbers of project, crew and other workforce travelers have emerged driving lodging demand. This is a direct result of increased infrastructure, construction, utility and other projects requiring work crews to travel and stay in hotels for weeks or months at a time to keep their project on schedule.

Last-minute bookings are the norm for project-based travelers. Queue the frantic, last-minute calls and emails—often late on Friday to secure a hotel booking for Monday arrival. Planners are often without a simple technology-based solution to get their travelers booked quickly and easily near their job sites, and booking hotel rooms isn’t the only concern on project travel planners’ minds. They typically need a way to pay for rooms, tax and incidentals along with reconciliation and on-demand reporting to track their project-related spend.

The scramble is real - but it’s not all doom and gloom. There is good news too!

Fast-Growing Travel Markets Led by Small and Mid-Size Enterprises

It’s no surprise—one of the fastest growing markets in the travel industry is the SME market. Small and midsize enterprises led the business travel recovery in recent years. In its 2023 Travel Outlook: Business Travel Bounces Back, Morgan Stanley reports that “Smaller companies lead demand for corporate travel. More than two-thirds (68%) of companies with under $1 billion in annual revenue expect travel budgets to increase next year versus just 41% of companies with annual revenues over $16 billion.”  Despite inflation fears, and often without designated travel managers, the SME segment continued to lead business travel recovery in 2022.

Also noteworthy, in a new study of corporate travel managers about the trends and challenges of project and crew travel, GBTA in 2022 found that 42% of those surveyed said this type of travel was often booked outside the designated travel management company or by administrative staff through an online booking tool.

With SME travel volume up, hotel companies are looking at business travel differently. Suppliers have to consider the unique travel needs of a project crew, which can look really different from a more typical transient business traveler or leisure guest they are most often focused on serving. Amenities like complimentary breakfast go from being “nice to have” to a deal-breaker. Special rates are often available upon request for SME organizations, and this is how hotels are winning their business.
 

Solution Starters

It's clear that a combination of advance planning, preferred relationships, competitive rates and technology can help book budget-friendly, clean, and reliable rooms for their travelers at the end of their shifts. Companies should engage with hotel chains with nearby properties to establish negotiated rates and take advantage of solutions they offer to simplify hotel bookings.

Even for last minute bookings, a tool like Wyndham Direct®, available at nearly all 6,000+ Hotels by Wyndham in the United States and coming soon to Canada, can be useful for the travel planner as well as convenient for the traveler. The total booking, billing and business solution gives the planner 24/7 online access to all traveler folio data with custom reporting and allows the traveler to check-in with an ID number rather than a credit card.

Strong relationships with hotel suppliers can go a long way in helping all types of travel planners get the support they need to book rooms fast and within budget. Wyndham has special offers designed to help SME companies save time and money. When it comes to accommodating project crews, planners can earn 4X Wyndham Rewards® points for every dollar spent on project crew stays.1 And for business travelers who prefer to make reservations using a mobile app, the Wyndham Hotels & Resorts app can recognize frequent travelers, store important rate details and allow the traveler to book a negotiated rate on the go.

For more info on how Wyndham supports SME travelers, click here or email the team at WyndhamBusiness@wyndham.com.

1Terms and conditions apply. Click here for details.

Save up to 15%2 with Wyndham Business

2Terms & Conditions

Travel Arrangers (as defined below) of a small to mid-size businesses can submit an application through the corporate account inquiry form (an “Application”) of Wyndham Hotels & Updated March 2021 Restricted - External Resorts, Inc. (“WHR”) to determine if such business qualifies for a volume-based discount of up to fifteen percent (15%) off of our Standard Rate (the “Discount”). Discount ranges from 8% to 15%. New accounts only. A “Travel Arranger” means any individual who is a representative of the small to mid-size business for which he/she submits an Application. Once received by WHR, a member of the team will review the Application, contact the Travel Arranger by telephone or email with additional eligibility questions, as necessary, and, within fourteen (14) days, send the Travel Arranger an email (the “Determination Email”) indicating whether or not the Application is approved. If approved, the Determination Email will include (i) a corporate ID (the “Corporate ID”), and (ii) the percentage of the Discount offered by such Corporate ID.

The Discount applies only to bookings made by the Travel Arranger and/or travelers within the Travel Arranger’s organization for Qualified Stays at Participating Hotels by providing the Corporate ID (i) on www.wyndhamhotels.com, (ii) via telephone at 866-375-8080 or (iii) on the Wyndham Hotels & Resorts app.

The Discount is on a Participating Hotel’s Standard Rate excluding taxes, resorts/service fees, incidentals, gratuities, or additional per room, per night charges that may be imposed. Standard Rate means best, non-qualified, unrestricted, publicly available rate on the internet for the hotel with equivalent terms, date and accommodations requested.

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