GBT & Cvent rFP initiative

AmeriCAn Express Global Business Travel (GBT) has partnered with travel and technology provider Cvent to create a series of standardised “sourcing questions” for hotel Requests for Proposal (RFPs), with the aim of driving corporate responsibility in the business travel and meetings sector.

The initiative has been jointly developed to make the process of collecting and exchanging key information more efficient, particularly as corporate travel managers and suppliers enter the 2022 contracting season.

“Hotels will benefit from a reduction in the hours needed to respond to custom requests for related information,” the companies said, while the questions standardise and increase the availability of sustainability and diversity, equality & inclusion data shared by hospitality providers.

Other information sought includes details about carbon emissions and hotel/venue leadership demographics, giving the industry the opportunity to “support broader corporate strategies around environmental sustainability and diversity along the entire supply chain”.

The list of 47 questions was developed in consultation with corporations, global hotel brands, TMCs and consultancies, with more than three months of discussions to discover what information stakeholders would find most helpful in addressing their goals.

The questions supplement the Corporate Social Responsibility module in the Global Business Travel Association 2013 RFP format, and are also supported in the Cvent Transient platform for use by corporate buyers.

Hotel suppliers answer the supplemental questions in a special section in their property profile within Cvent Transient, while hotel chains can also work with properties to collect information and import it into their respective profiles.

The updated questions were released to hoteliers in Jul, and will be available within Cvent from this month.