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Buyers Ready For Round 2: First Of A Two-Part Discussion Of Hotel Negotiations.

Article Excerpt
Business Travel News this month discussed hotel negotiating strategy with four travel buyers: Pfizer director of global travel Phil Dunphy; Cynthia Gillen, director of procurement and travel management for BDO Seidman; National Business Travel Association president Kevin Maguire; and Cynthia Shumate, director of travel services for Estee Lauder Cos. The following is the first half of that discussion, focusing on each participant's strategy for negotiations this year.

BTN: At what stage of the hotel negotiating process are you?

Phil Dunphy: We're waiting for our second round. The first one was interesting. When you look at inflationary rates, to be double or triple is just unacceptable. I look at some of the rates we had when I first started at Pfizer, and put that against a 3 to 4 percent increase a year. For the most part, we're in line. It's usually the next round where people get serious, because we've given some very strong feedback to all the chains.

Cynthia Shumate: I'm in the middle of it, and I haven't received all the total pricing yet....

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