Corporate hotel spend has returned to pre-pandemic levels, but visibility, automation and program infrastructure have not kept pace, according to a new white paper from Christopherson, a TMC. The paper is called “The Hotel Program Wake-Up Call: Confronting the Disconnect Between Data, Policy and Performance.”
The paper asserts that travel teams are increasingly overwhelmed by manual work, inconsistent rate loading, neglected contracts and limited data — issues that directly erode savings and traveler confidence.
The white paper presents findings from Christopherson’s 2025 hotel program survey, capturing insights from more than 100 US companies and uncovering widespread operational strain, missed savings and a growing demand for modernized hotel sourcing solutions.
Stacie Prusha, supplier relations director at Christopherson, said, “Travel teams are doing more with less, often without the technology or support required to keep up with rising hotel costs and traveler expectations.”
Survey results revealed a number of major areas of concern, including:
- Manual work is suffocating program capacity. Survey respondents said hotel reservation changes, accounting issues and contract management are their top three pain points.
- Rate integrity is a persistent weak spot. Almost half (45%) of respondents need support with rate auditing, and 41% say they struggle with rate re-shopping — core functions required to ensure negotiated value is realized.
- Contracts are frequently unmanaged or overlooked. More than 1 in 3 organizations have no active hotel agreements, and 20% never review the ones they do have.
- Negotiation confidence is low. Although 82% of respondents participate in hotel sourcing, only 25% feel “very confident” in contract negotiations, citing lack of benchmarking data and utilization visibility.
- Payment friction is widespread. More than half report traveler payment issues occurring “sometimes” or “frequently.”
“Hotel programs can no longer rely on annual negotiations and manual oversight,” said Mike Cameron, CEO of Christopherson. “They require continuous management, automation and strategic expertise.”
The white paper concludes with a clear directive: Organizations must shift from reactive hotel management to a proactive model supported by automation, ongoing rate audits, integrated data sources and expert supplier relations.
“Every partnership should be strategic, every contract should be something you actually use and every rate should be tailored to your program and your travelers,” Prusha said, adding, “Organizations ready to modernize will see a measurable boost in savings.”
