Regional Retail Group Strengthening its Hotel Program Across the GCC

Background

A large retail group operating in more than 300 stores across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Bahrain regularly mobilized visual merchandising teams, retail auditors, procurement staff, and store-opening crews.

Travel volume was predictable but spread across multiple teams, with the company relying heavily on hotel stays – around 250 to 300 room nights per month.  These were often booked at short notice as store openings or regional visits were finalized.

While serviceable, their previous hotel booking process lacked consistency. Rates fluctuated significantly between bookings, and the finance team struggled to reconcile varying hotel confirmations, tax breakdowns, and cancellation rules.

Cost savings were a consideration – but what the client valued most was rate stability, predictable availability near store locations, and cleaner financial documentation.

The Requirement

The company needed a reliable, consistent hotel program with:

• Stable rates across their most frequently visited cities
• Flexible cancellation terms for operational unpredictability
• Accurate invoicing aligned with cost centers
• Better visibility over monthly hotel spend and usage patterns

The goal was operational discipline, not aggressive cost-cutting.

What Utravel Delivered

Utravel began by analyzing the client’s past 12 months of hotel data. The patterns were clear: most trips clustered around Riyadh, Jeddah, Doha, and Dubai. By identifying these markets, they became the focus of a structured hotel program.

Corporate rates were negotiated with 14 hotels across the four cities, ensuring consistent pricing and including breakfast and flexible cancellation terms. Utravel also leveraged wholesale inventory from bedbanks to supplement availability during busy retail periods.

A tailored “city reference guide” was created for the client, listing recommended hotels by distance to store clusters, typical nightly rates, and peak-season considerations.

On the financial side, Utravel introduced consolidated invoicing and monthly summaries broken down by city, department, and average nightly rate. This significantly improved the finance team’s ability to track and forecast accommodation costs.

During the rollout, Fadi Abu Rashed, Head of the Hotels Desk, noted, “Retail teams don’t have time to compare hotels every week. By structuring their preferred properties and negotiating predictable rates, we removed a lot of the friction.”

Results

Over the next six months, approximately 82 percent of all bookings shifted to the negotiated or wholesale rates. Rate volatility decreased noticeably, especially in Jeddah and Riyadh, where last-minute travel had previously resulted in large price swings.

The group also saw between 8–10 percent improvement in overall hotel expenditure. This wasn’t the result of major discounts but of stabilizing rates, using wholesale inventory effectively, and reducing cancellations and re-bookings.

Finance also benefited. Monthly reconciliation time dropped by an estimated 35 percent, thanks to consistent invoice formats and clearer rate structures.

Commenting on the improvement, Nabil Abu Alrub, Director General, said: “Once the hotel program stabilized, the client could plan regional visits with far fewer surprises. Predictability is the biggest service we can offer in a retail environment.”

Client Impact

Travel became easier for operational teams who no longer needed to search for hotels or compare fluctuating prices, and the finance department gained a clear, predictable monthly overview. Importantly, regional managers appreciated the consistency of having familiar, reliable hotel options close to their store networks.

The retail group now benefits from a streamlined accommodation program that supports their fast-moving operational schedule while keeping spending stable and controlled.