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Agenda: Battle lines drawn as budgets begin to bite

By Roger Blitz

Published: November 7 2008 17:58 | Last updated: November 7 2008 17:58

Business travellers and the hotel industry have embarked on a battle royal over prices as hoteliers fight tooth and nail to stop the economic downturn from eating into their profits and corporations drive a hard bargain over room rates.

According to some of the bigger hotel groups, business travellers hoping to see bargains being thrown their way from hard-pressed hoteliers during these lean times may be getting a bit ahead of themselves. But the mood among corporate travel buyers is uncompromising and hotel groups are reluctantly admitting that they are in the early stages of a prolonged buyers’ market.

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