Who Should Manage the Corporate Hotel RFP Process - TMCs, Procurement,

Who Should Manage the Corporate Hotel RFP Process - TMCs, Procurement, or Travel Managers?

September 23, 2025 12:30pm Joseph Friedmann

The corporate hotel RFP process has always been a balancing act between efficiency, cost savings, and traveler satisfaction. But in 2025, it has become more complex than ever before. The question is no longer if you should run an RFP, but who should take ownership of the process: the Travel Management Company (TMC), the corporate procurement team, or the internal travel manager.

Ownership of the process directly impacts cost, compliance, speed, and overall traveler experience. Get it wrong, and you face inflated hotel rates, compliance leakage, and endless administrative headaches. Get it right, and you unlock savings, deliver transparency, and improve traveler satisfaction across the board.

That’s why many organizations are turning to Smart hotel sourcing tools with automated hotel RFP solutions for global travel procurement. By leveraging the right technology, companies can ensure whichever team takes ownership is supported by automation, compliance checks, and data-driven insights. At the same time, the use of a hotel rfp platform ensures collaboration across TMCs, procurement, and travel managers - so the right stakeholders stay aligned throughout.

Understanding the Key Stakeholders

Before we determine “who” should lead, let’s outline the three main stakeholders in the hotel RFP process.

Travel Management Companies (TMCs)

Experts in handling large-scale hotel sourcing across multiple clients.
Offer benchmarking data, negotiation experience, and industry relationships.
Provide reporting and file exports into online booking tools like Concur.
Ideal for companies lacking dedicated in-house travel teams.

Procurement Teams

Focused on cost reduction, compliance, and corporate governance.
Skilled in negotiation and contract review.
Ensure contracts align with company legal standards and supplier policies.
Sometimes lack travel-specific expertise, but excel in structured RFP processes.

Travel Managers

Deep understanding of traveler preferences, safety requirements, and operational needs.
Balance traveler experience with cost control.
Act as the bridge between finance, HR, and procurement.
Best placed to manage ongoing relationships with hotel partners.

The Pros and Cons of EachWhen the TMC Leads

Pros:

Scale and efficiency - they can run dozens of programs simultaneously.
Expertise in industry-specific benchmarks.
Can manage communications with chains and individual properties.

Cons:

Risk of limited customization.
TMC-driven programs may prioritize efficiency over company-specific nuances.
Added cost depending on management fees.

When Procurement Leads

Pros:

Rigorous focus on savings and compliance.
Strong contract review capabilities.
Alignment with broader corporate sourcing strategies.

Cons:

May not understand traveler needs or global hotel program intricacies.
Less connected to day-to-day travel patterns.
Programs risk being seen as cost-only, ignoring traveler experience.

When Travel Managers Lead

Pros:

Closest to the travelers - they know what works on the ground.
Best positioned to balance cost, compliance, and satisfaction.
Can work closely with both procurement and TMCs.

Cons:

Resource-intensive, especially without automation.
May lack procurement/legal expertise for complex contracts.
Difficult to scale without technology support.

The Case for Collaboration

In reality, the most successful RFPs in 2025 aren’t run by a single group. They are collaborative projects that combine procurement rigor, TMC scale, and travel manager insights.

The key is using a centralized hotel RFP management platform that ensures every stakeholder has visibility. ReadyBid, for example, allows:

Procurement teams to review compliance and contracts.
TMCs to leverage benchmarking and manage bid distribution.
Travel managers to monitor negotiations and ensure traveler needs are met.

By unifying all three, you avoid duplication, misalignment, and silos.

Technology as the Equalizer

Technology eliminates the weaknesses of each group by providing automation, transparency, and shared access. ReadyBid’s hotel RFP automation software ensures:

TMCs can scale without sacrificing customization.
Procurement can validate contracts through centralized auditing tools.
Travel managers can manage traveler satisfaction with dynamic hotel directories.

Agencies can leverage the corporate hotel RFP platform for TMCs to handle multiple client programs, while corporations use enterprise automation to manage global hotel RFPs internally.

Benchmarking and Compliance

One of the biggest challenges across all three stakeholder groups is ensuring compliance and tracking realized savings. Without automation, procurement might miss rate audits, TMCs might overlook non-compliance, and travel managers might struggle to monitor adoption.

That’s why modern platforms act as a hotel RFP negotiation system and hotel rfp contracting software, providing tools to:

Run unlimited negotiation rounds.
Audit rates across multiple GDS systems.
Benchmark negotiated rates against market data.
Generate real-time compliance dashboards.

Practical Scenarios

Small company: Travel manager leads with a sourcing tool for efficiency.
Mid-size enterprise: TMC runs the process, with procurement oversight for contracts.
Global corporation: Procurement sets strategy, TMC executes globally, travel manager ensures traveler satisfaction.

The “right” answer changes depending on company size, global footprint, and internal resources.

Who Should Manage the Corporate Hotel RFP Process - TMCs, Procurement, or Travel Managers?

ReadyBid - Hotel RFP Made Easy