A hotel RFP (request for proposal) is the document an agency sends to a shortlist of hotels setting out a group's dates, room needs and terms, so each hotel can reply with a priced proposal.
How does a hotel RFP work in practice?
For a TMC or DMC, the RFP is the first document in a group booking. It sets out the dates, rooms per night, room types, meeting space, budget and any terms the client insists on. The agency sends it to a shortlist of hotels, and each hotel replies with a proposal covering a rate, a room block and its own terms. Sourcing marketplaces such as the Cvent Supplier Network let planners "search thousands of matched venues, send RFPs, and track every response". Cvent says its network covers "nearly 340K hotels and venues" worldwide.
Sending the RFP is the easy part. Comparing the replies is harder, because each hotel answers in its own format, with its own cutoff date, deposit schedule and attrition terms. We think agencies lose margin when they compare rates without lining those terms up, since the cheapest proposal can carry the harshest attrition clause.
What should an agency put in a hotel RFP?
Put the terms that cause trouble later into the RFP from the start: the attrition allowance you need, the date the rooming list is due, and whether you want net rates or commissionable ones. Leave them out and each hotel fills the gaps with its standard contract. You then negotiate them one by one, after you have already picked a favourite. Ask each hotel whether the rate includes any commission, too. That question keeps ghost commissions out of the quote.
For a comparison of RFP marketplaces and sourcing desks, see Cvent, HotelPlanner or dedicated group booking software for agencies. Hotel RFP software vs spreadsheets covers the point where a spreadsheet stops keeping up with RFP replies.