Corporate travel buyers want smarter hotel booking experiences, but distribution gaps remain

New GBTA research suggests that AI, retail-style booking and pricing transparency are becoming strategic priorities for hotel distribution and managed travel

New research from the Global Business Travel Association highlights how corporate travel buyers are increasingly looking for more transparent, personalized and technology-driven hotel booking experiences. While AI adoption in managed travel remains limited today, buyers expect it to play a much larger role in forecasting, traveler servicing and disruption management in the near future. At the same time, hotel pricing inconsistencies across channels, fragmented booking experiences and disconnected travel data continue to frustrate corporate travel programs. For hoteliers, the findings underline how hotel content presentation, pricing visibility and distribution strategy are becoming increasingly important in attracting managed corporate demand.

Key takeaways

• Corporate buyers want more transparent hotel pricing: Nearly three-quarters of travel buyers said travelers finding cheaper hotel rates outside approved booking channels remains a major challenge, reinforcing ongoing concerns around rate parity and channel consistency.
• Hotel booking is moving toward retail-style experiences: Buyers showed growing interest in attribute-based shopping, where travelers can select room characteristics such as floor level, views or specific amenities directly during booking rather than through post-booking requests.
• Ancillary hotel products are becoming part of the booking flow: Corporate travel programs increasingly want travelers to purchase services such as breakfast, parking, early check-in and late check-out directly within managed booking tools and TMC workflows.
• AI is expected to reshape managed travel operations: Although most buyers say AI has not yet significantly impacted their programs, there is strong demand for AI-driven forecasting, automated disruption management and conversational booking tools.
• Hotel content quality is becoming more strategic: The research suggests that how hotel inventory, pricing and room attributes are displayed may become just as important as inventory availability itself in influencing booking decisions.
• Travel buyers still value human servicing: Buyers continue to place strong importance on traveler support and service quality alongside technology capabilities, signaling that digital booking innovation alone is not enough.
• Fragmented travel ecosystems remain a problem: Many corporate buyers still struggle with disconnected reporting systems, inconsistent traveler support and managing multiple travel management company relationships across markets.
• Managed travel expectations are evolving quickly: The report points toward a future where travelers expect hotel booking experiences that feel more personalized, transparent and consumer-like, even within corporate travel environments.

Source: GBTA

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