Sonder Expands Sales Team to Tap Into Traditional Hotel Biz
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Editor’s Note: Every Wednesday, Executive Editor and online travel rockstar Dennis Schaal will bring readers exclusive reporting and insight into the business of online travel and digital booking, and how this sector has an impact across the travel industry.Sonder hopes to disrupt the hospitality industry by greatly reducing the costs of operating a hotel, but it is expanding its sales team to do things the brands do — offer corporations negotiated rates and attract groups.
"This is a major area of opportunity for additional demand generation, as most hotels depend on business and group travel generated through a sales team," Sonder stated last week in its annual financial filing, which summarized its 2021 performance. "Our sales team will focus on driving additional group and business travel demand to complement the organic group and business travel that we already convert."
A typical hotel generates 10-15 percent of its demand from contracted rates, the company said. Sonder has almost none of this business now, and plans on attracting business travelers for short-terms stays through deals with travel management companies like TripActions and Egencia. Sonder added that it intends to "target all business travel, including group transient and corporate extended stay."
Sonder's guests are mostly leisure travelers today.
"Groups are a substantial revenue source for most hotels, representing another largely untapped growth opportunity for Sonder," the company said.
Sonders' two co-founders started their careers as outsiders to the hospitality industry with business and finance backgrounds. The company, which runs a hybrid business offering short-term rentals through online travel agenc
