Objective

The client is one of Australia’s largest rail freight operators, transporting coal, iron ore, agricultural freight and more across the country.

Due to the nature of their operations, the client required a complex accommodation program, with consistent access to remote and regional locations where hotel availability could be limited. This created a need for secured allotments to ensure rooms were available when and where needed.

CTM identified opportunities to improve visibility, automation, and cost control within the client’s existing hotel program, which had been managed manually and lacked central oversight. Their previous TMC did not provide the tools or processes to monitor unused room inventory or manage allotments efficiently, resulting in missed savings and administrative complexity.

Allotments were previously booked offline, directly with hotel suppliers, which meant internal travel bookers had limited visibility into available inventory or whether their bookings aligned with negotiated allotment rates or standard rates. Additionally, hotel sourcing was fragmented, with different departments contracting and negotiating rates independently, limiting the client’s ability to consolidate spend or leverage their full buying power.

By partnering with CTM, the client aimed to reduce unnecessary expenditure, improve transparency, and implement a streamlined, automated approach to managing their accommodation program and allotment requirements.

Solutions

CTM collaborated with the client to develop a consolidated hotel program that maximised both CTM’s global buying power and the client’s national purchasing leverage, shifting away from individually negotiated hotel contracts to a unified approach.

Negotiated allotments were seamlessly integrated into CTM’s proprietary online booking tool, Lightning, with clear tags identifying properties covered by allotment agreements. This provided the client with full transparency, live inventory access, and comprehensive reporting—all within a single, user-friendly platform.

Additionally, a new invoicing process was implemented, enabling the client’s finance team to easily separate incidental charges from chargebacks.

Regular, customised reporting through CTM Data Hub aligned with the client’s compliance requirements, delivering complete visibility over allotment usage and unused inventory to inform and strengthen future contract negotiations.

Outcome

As a result, unused inventory dropped significantly, delivering substantial cost savings by eliminating spend on non-allotment rates.

Enhanced visibility over incidentals and rate caps boosted traveller compliance, while right-sized allotment agreements enabled the negotiation of more competitive hotel rates.