Egencia launches new AI-powered hotel rate cap tool
Egencia, business travel management firm backed by Expedia Group, announced the launch of a new hotel policy configuration feature.
It uses AI-powered algorithms to automatically and dynamically adjust hotel price caps according to the local market data.
It is also the first feature of its kind that is personalised to a company’s travel policy groups and its corporate booking behaviour.
Unveiled at the Business Travel Show, Egencia’s new tool uses machine learning to automate the aggregating of real-time hotel prices in a specific location to identify a market median.
It uses it to configure a price-per-night cap for any traveller booking a room in that town or city.
It results in freeing up valuable bandwidth for travel managers, and constantly adjusts for market fluctuations.
John Sturino, Vice President of Product, Egencia said: "The dynamic hotel rate cap feature leverages technologies to help companies and travellers manage uncertainty and respond to fluctuations in a volatile market."
Most companies set hotel rate caps manually by city or destination, a time-consuming process that involves analysing previous booking behaviour and investigating local market rates.
As a result, corporates typically prioritise setting price caps for the biggest or most frequently visited destinations but potentially lose out on savings in smaller towns or cities.
The new feature also enables travel managers to personalise hotel rate caps for the different travel policy groups that exist within an organisation.
The feature also integrates with Egencia Analytics Studio allowing travel managers to benefit from detailed reporting and visual dashboards that clearly demonstrate the median rate, booked rate and the savings.
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