white paper

The hotel program wake-up call

A research-driven look at why today’s hotel programs are falling behind—and how smarter data, automation, and expert support turn them into a strategic advantage.

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Corporate hotel spend is back—but program performance isn’t

Travel teams are juggling more volume, higher expectations, and greater complexity with systems that haven’t kept up. Our 2025 research exposes the gap between modern hotel spend and outdated program infrastructure and shows how leading organizations are moving from reactive hotel management to real-time optimization.

What you’ll learn inside

Here's a preview of the insights you'll find in our white paper:

The hidden cost of manual hotel processes

When we asked travel leaders to identify their top three pain points, reservation changes (67%) and accounting issues (65%) ranked as the top frustrations, with contract management (39%) following behind.
Top three pain points of hotel program management

The surprising lack of active contracts or reviews

More than 1 in 3 programs have no active hotel agreements, and 20% never review the ones they have, leading to unmanaged spend and lost leverage.
How many active hotel agreements does your organization have in place?
How often do you review your hotel agreements?

The uneven program satisfaction between service and savings

Our research found that 62% of respondents were satisfied with their program’s service and support, yet only 39% expressed satisfaction with their rate discounts.
Satisfaction levels by category

Real success stories from real companies

How Autoliv secured a chainwide Hilton deal

With centralized negotiation and audit support, Autoliv unified contracts across regions, cleaned up rate access, and captured $372K in annual savings.

How Nielsen transformed its global hotel program

A shift from lagging spreadsheets to real-time booking visibility enabled targeted negotiations, global rate-loading fixes, and stronger adoption of preferred content.

How Forefront achieved measurable savings

Standardized hotel sourcing and automated rate management drove one-third of bookings into negotiated rates—representing 58% of total savings.

Is this white paper for you?

Perfect for travel, finance, procurement, and operations leaders, this white paper provides a clear view of how hotel programs are functioning today—and what high-performing programs do differently.
You’ll gain:
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Evidence-backed insights to strengthen your next RFP cycle
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A deeper understanding of what’s driving leakage and inconsistent savings
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Proven tactics to modernize rate audits, payment workflows, 
and sourcing
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Case studies with measurable results from real Christopherson clients
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A roadmap for turning hotel spend into strategic advantage

Start building a smarter hotel program

Download our white paper to see how connected data, automation, and expert support reshape hotel performance.