Politicians out stumping for votes have increasingly referred to their efforts as “listening” tours, a strategy to take the pulse of existing and potential constituents to determine if, indeed, the candidate will be the people’s choice.
Also angling to be “the people’s choice,” or at least the choice of business travelers, are TMCs and hotels partnered in corporate programs. While they may not be crisscrossing the country or holding state fair rallies, these partners are embracing similar “listening” tactics on a daily basis aimed at securing the best experience for their business traveler guests.
“Traveler expectations vary significantly across multiple dimensions: Region, generation, travel frequency and trip purpose,” says Ambra Christie, vice president, Hotel Solutions at BCD Travel. The company relies on a blend of sources to assess traveler satisfaction, including proprietary survey data, broader industry traveler sentiment insights and customer‑specific studies. “These inputs shape our ongoing supplier conversations and influence rate negotiations,” she notes.
As might be expected, the overriding executive sentiment is in favor of a variety of so-called scoring trackers, including some “old-school” methods. According to Marwan Batrouni, senior vice president, supplier relations at Corporate Travel Management, “We’re constantly listening through multiple touchpoints: Post-stay reviews, surveys, NPS (Net Promotor Scores), client meetings, customer advisory boards, even direct e-mails and phone calls. Customers will tell you what’s working and what’s not, if you make it easy for them.”
Batrouni notes, however, that it’s the overall pattern delivered by the mix of data that yields the most useful information about the guest experience. “A rating is helpful, but recurring themes are what drive action. If we consistently see feedback around WiFi reliability or check-in delays, that’s when we lean in with the hotel partner. The story behind the data is what actually improves the program.”
Ongoing, multi-layered feedback also is part of the assessment process at BWH Hotels, according to Chad Fletcher, senior vice president, worldwide sales. As a “high-value segment,” corporate travelers’ experiences are monitored both in real time and over the long term. “We evaluate satisfaction on the individual stay level via post-visit feedback, on the account level by reviewing corporate program performance for each of our accounts and at the portfolio level to inform future business travelers’ needs. Our goal isn’t just to collect feedback, but to use these valuable insights to create operational improvements that directly support retention and program performance,” he says.
Fundamentals & Faux Pas
With the wealth of data being garnered by hotel program partners, several executives note there’s an interesting mix of business traveler positives and/or wants and pain points that are shaping how they are scoring their guest experiences, with long-standing fundamentals still creating a strong baseline.
Indeed, recent Global Business Travel Association research into lodging priorities put safety, productivity and balancing cost with comfort among the leading concerns for business travelers.
“Corporate travelers still prioritize the fundamentals like seamless arrival, strong WiFi, consistency and value. But what the data increasingly shows is that loyalty is a key decision driver,” says Brian Krail, group VP commercial operations and sales strategy at Wyndham Hotels and Resorts. “Rates booked through our direct channels, including GDS, are points eligible, which is a meaningful differentiator. Some OTA-sourced rates are not, and we’re hearing from both travelers and travel managers that this matters. When points aren’t available, booking behavior shifts. Year to date, we’re seeing growth in direct, points-eligible bookings through our TMC partners, reinforcing that loyalty supports both traveler satisfaction and channel compliance.”
Donna Brokowski, EVP global supplier management, consulting and ESG lead at Direct Travel, shares what her company’s data, including traveler feedback and booking behavior, revealed about the priorities business travelers consistently have on their laundry lists. In descending order, these are: location (proximity to offices/client sites and convenient, safe commutes), rate availability (reliable access to negotiated rates on the dates travelers need), recognition (visible acknowledgment of corporate and elite status with on‑property benefits), loyalty (the ability to earn/use points in preferred programs) and online check‑in/-out (seamless digital convenience and time savings).
The total cost of stay – particularly when breakfast is included – also is a top consideration, Brokowski notes. “Predictable, inclusive pricing helps control spend and improves traveler satisfaction. This hierarchy guides our hotel selection, rate/amenity negotiations and content presentation to ensure properties match what travelers value most,” says Brokowski.
Fox World Travel’s director of global client solutions Jeff Saydah suggests hotel proximity, quality and safety are the “non-negotiables” in considering any hotel as part of a travel program, with price and amenities next.
Additionally, using the NPS surveying tool, Mia Beltran, vice president of marketing and customer success, says Fox World Travel goes deeper to understand the wants and needs of business travelers during their hotel stays. Leveraging feedback from nearly 4,000 travelers, she notes business travelers who provide a high NPS (9 or 10 on a 10-point scale) most commonly mention basic service factors. “For example, one of our travelers cited, ‘Friendly service from the front desk. They were willing to assist to the best of their capabilities.’ The next most-talked-about attribute is the condition and cleanliness of the traveler’s room,” says Beltran.
Brokowski says Direct Travel’s findings are similar. “The most frequent complaint is room cleanliness and reduced/no housekeeping service during stays,” which, she says, was a surprise coming out of proprietary data. Other “persistent frustrations” centered on WiFi performance and properties charging for Internet access, rate integrity and availability, booking tool confusion, unavailable negotiated rates and rate structures that don’t align with day‑of‑week stay patterns or budget expectations, and cancellation flexibility.
“Increased cancellation penalties create friction, especially for travelers with changing schedules,” contends Brokowski. To ameliorate this, she says, “In markets with volatile schedules, we renegotiated from 48‑hour penalties to same‑day cutoff for preferred properties, reducing traveler friction and off‑program bookings.”
While the fundamentals that business travelers use to judge a hotel have become intrinsically wrapped into the guest experience, other criteria – largely driven by technology – are becoming new benchmarks for an end-to-end satisfying stay.
“The one element that cuts across all traveler-related feedback is the quest for removal of friction in the travel process,” says Will Pinnell, senior vice president, HRS Americas. “In the age of automation, traveler expectations are shifting. They expect to see their preferred options served up seamlessly, either on their desktop or mobile booking platform. Centralized payment that precludes use of their own card and an expense reimbursement process is a big win when it comes to satisfaction.”
Additionally, awareness of unique advantages that are “served up right on time” also score well, he says, citing such items as free breakfast at a hotel or access to an exclusive executive lounge. “Buyers are wise to negotiate these items and find ways to make travelers aware of these company-provided amenities during their trips,” says Pinnell.
Easing Pain Points
Interestingly, the very things that make business travelers effusive about their hotel stays are very often the same things that create pain points when these features have gone awry. A survey last year by BCD Travel found business travelers had a roster of complaints. These included: Slow WiFi, breakfast not included in a hotel rate, dated rooms, uncomfortable beds, high prices, bad food, a long check-in/check-out process, inconvenient check-in/check-out times, safety issues, additional fees/taxes, absence of a front desk, lack of attention to sustainability and accessibility restrictions.
HRS also cites availability, especially at preferred properties where travelers stay on a recurring basis. “Lack of availability, both at time of booking and – Heaven forbid – at check-in, is always high on the list of traveler frustrations,” says Pinnell.
BWH Hotels’ Fletcher cites another pain point proprietary data revealed. “What has surprised us is how strongly travelers react to lack of recognition. A traveler who stays 40-plus nights a year expects acknowledgment. When that doesn’t happen, satisfaction drops disproportionately,” he says.
However, not everyone will value the same things when it comes to hotel stays, according BCD’s Ajay Singh, vice president of digital payment and expense, which is why it becomes crucial to understand the traveler. “Traveler engagement is key. Pre- and post-trip surveys, revisiting hotel policies and updating traveler profiles are all ways to ensure personalization in business travel,” says Singh.
Luckily, hoteliers have been pacifying the diatribes of the foot-tapping business traveler at the front desk for decades, developing a variety of solutions that can be applied on-premises for almost immediate action to rectify a situation, as well as to reclaim the relationship in the post-stay follow-up.
“When a corporate traveler raises a concern at the front desk, our teams follow a structured escalation process to ensure prompt resolution and visibility,” says Krail. “The issue is logged in our centralized guest-experience system and flagged to property leadership. This process is monitored by both property management and corporate operations to ensure consistency, accountability and follow-through. Our priority is to resolve the issue on property while maintaining transparent communication with our travel partners.”
In Hilton’s case, such efforts are further supported by the chain’s sales professionals, “who manage dedicated corporate account portfolios and work directly with travel managers to resolve any concerns that cannot be addressed during the stay itself,” says Christiane Cabot Bini, vice president of global business travel sales.
Cabot Bini points to functions that the chain has put in place to help ward off friction in the first place. For example, the “Connected Room Experience” helps with the familiar too-hot/too-cold room complaint by empowering guests to control room settings directly via the Hilton Honors app. Also, via the convenient app, guests can bypass the check-in counter and head straight to their room by using Digital Check-In and Digital Key.
Additionally, Cabot Bini says Hilton’s integration with Conferma “has removed a major point of friction for both hotels and corporate travelers by making virtual credit card payments faster, more secure and more efficient.”
Fletcher says BWH Hotels uses data-driven insights to enhance its corporate travelers’ experiences and remedy pain points, working closely with its member hoteliers to provide training and resources “to empower the hotel team to resolve issues quickly and confidently.”
It also recently launched AutoClerk Atlas, a next-generation property management system powered by HotelKey, “which provides our hoteliers with automated payments and reconciliation processes, guest insights and AI-driven profiles that empower associates to deliver tailored, welcoming experiences and more,” says Fletcher.
“We capture guest satisfaction as soon as check-out occurs, enabling hotels to identify and address customer-care issues as soon as possible,” says Wyndham’s Krail. “We also reinforce this commitment by responding to any negative review within 24 hours, ensuring every traveler feels heard and supported throughout their stay.”
Delving into business traveler concerns/complaints also is a priority at the travel management level, sometimes resulting in significant change. For example, Saydah points out that on a quarterly basis, Fox World Travel’s client solutions managers provide clients with traveler feedback about the entire traveler experience, including positive and negative comments about the hotel experience. “We have had situations where the travel manager reached out to the hotel to address the feedback directly, especially if it’s in an important location for their travel program. If issues aren’t resolved, there have been instances where we jointly decide to block that hotel from being booked in the future,” Saydah says.
Direct Travel also is no-nonsense, particularly vis-a-vis housekeeping and cleanliness. “Scorecards flagged repeat cleanliness complaints at a core property. We escalated with the brand, agreed on service standards and set a 90‑day remediation window. When improvement lagged, we reallocated business to nearby alternatives,” says Brokowski.
To gauge the hotel-stay experience of travelers, CTM’s Batrouni suggests time is of the essence. “From a TMC perspective, we believe the experience should be captured as close to the stay as possible. We’ve built hotel review functionality directly into our online booking tool, giving travelers a simple way to share what the stay was really like, not months later, but right after they’ve experienced it.
“When feedback highlights an issue, we don’t treat it as a fault-finding exercise; we bring the data to the table and work through it together [with our hotel partners],” Batrouni adds. ”At the end of the day, everyone wants the same outcome. Our clients want reliable, seamless stays for their travelers. Hotels want repeat corporate business. We sit in the middle helping align expectations and making performance transparent so there are no surprises on either side.”
