How Corporate Travel Bookings Work
Livily helps professionally managed properties reach employees booking through their company's travel program. Your property connects through your existing property management system, while Livily handles distribution to participating corporate travel partners. Eligible travelers can book available properties instantly at the applicable corporate rate.
Who's involved in a corporate booking
Five participants work together to get a corporate traveler into your property:
Enterprise company
The employer sets its travel budget, booking policies, preferred suppliers, and negotiated rate arrangements.
TMC — Travel Management Company
The company helping the employer manage travel, including booking assistance, traveler support, and program administration.
TMS — Travel Management System
The software employees or travel arrangers use to search and book within their company's travel program. Also commonly described as a corporate booking platform or online booking tool.
Livily
Connects professional property inventory with participating travel partners and manages the applicable listing, rate, and reservation information.
Property manager and PMS
Supplies property details, availability, rates, and restrictions, then receives reservations through the supported connection.
The distribution ecosystem
Your inventory flows from your PMS through Livily to the corporate channels where employees book. The diagram below shows the groups involved and the two directions data travels.
- Guesty
- OwnerRez
- BookingPal
- VacayStay Connect
- Other approved supply connections
- Livily distribution hub
- Participating TMCs
- Corporate booking platforms
- Companies
- Travel arrangers
- Employees
How your property matches a corporate rate plan
Corporate travel programs can have different rate requirements. Livily checks whether your property's corporate-rate settings and booking conditions qualify for the applicable program. When they match, the eligible rate can be made available through the participating travel partner.
- The manager configures the property's corporate participation and rate settings.
- Livily identifies the applicable enterprise or partner rate plan.
- The property's pricing, dates, availability, and restrictions are checked against that plan.
- Qualifying inventory is offered at the applicable rate through the supported channel.
- Each company only receives the rate plan it negotiated with Livily — your other rate plans are not shown to them.
| Example | Value |
|---|---|
| Base nightly accommodation rate | $300 |
| Illustrative enterprise rate requirement | 20% discount |
| Property's approved participation | Supports that rate |
| Eligible nightly accommodation rate | $240 |
| Result | Rate requirement met; other eligibility checks still apply |
Illustrative example. Taxes, fees, cancellation terms, and other booking conditions are shown separately. If your approved rate settings do not meet a program's requirements, the property may remain unavailable to that program while qualifying for others.
More on this: Corporate Discounts →Corporate distribution uses instant booking
Properties distributed through Livily's instant-book corporate channels must be available for immediate confirmation. Once required company approvals are complete and the reservation succeeds, the property manager does not need to separately accept the booking.
A company's internal approval process can occur before booking — it is separate from property-manager acceptance. A booking is only shown as confirmed after the reservation system returns a successful confirmation. If availability changes or the reservation fails, an unavailable or failed result is shown instead.
The booking flow, step by step
- Employee or travel arranger searches
- Company travel platform or TMC
- Livily checks eligible property and rate
- Availability, rate and rules match?No — Offer other eligible optionsYes — Complete required company approvals
- Submit instant reservation
- Reservation confirmed?No — Show failure or updated availabilityYes — Confirmation returned to travel partner
- Reservation delivered to manager's PMS
Frequently asked questions
Do I need separate contracts with every enterprise company?▼
No. Livily manages the distribution relationships with participating travel partners. You work under your existing Livily agreement and your approved corporate participation settings.
Does connecting my PMS make me available on every corporate channel?▼
No. Connecting your PMS makes your inventory available to Livily. Distribution to a specific corporate channel depends on that channel's participation, your rate settings, and eligibility checks. Not every displayed channel is live for every property.
Why does my corporate rate affect eligibility?▼
Each travel program sets its own rate requirements. Livily checks your pricing, dates, availability, and restrictions against the applicable plan — if your approved settings don't meet a program's requirements, your property may stay unavailable to that program while qualifying for others.
Which rate plan on Livily maximizes availability?▼
The dynamic 30% rate plan reaches around 80% of all company-matched rate plans, and the dynamic 40% rate plan reaches 95%. If maximizing availability across company programs is your goal, the dynamic 40% plan reaches the widest set.
Do companies see all of my rate plans?▼
No. Each company only receives the rate plan it negotiated with Livily — your other rate plans are not shown to them. The Corporate Discounts article in this category explains how negotiated and dynamic discounts work.
Can I control availability and booking restrictions?▼
Yes. Availability, minimum stays, and restrictions come from your PMS and your Livily settings. Livily only offers inventory that satisfies both your restrictions and the program's requirements.
Do I need to accept each reservation?▼
No. Corporate distribution uses instant booking: once company approvals are complete and the reservation succeeds, no separate host acceptance is needed. Keep your calendar and rates current in your PMS so every bookable date is truly available.
Where will reservations appear?▼
Confirmed reservations are delivered to your property management system through the supported connection, and also appear in your Livily account.
How are changes, cancellations, and payments handled?▼
Supported reservation updates flow back through the same connection. Cancellations follow the property's cancellation policy, and payouts follow your configured payout method — see the Cancellation Policies and Setting up Payouts articles in this category for detailed terms.
Does corporate participation guarantee bookings?▼
No. Participation makes your property eligible to be shown to corporate demand; bookings depend on availability, rate competitiveness, program fit, and traveler choice.
Next steps
Ready to reach corporate travelers?
In short
The enterprise company brings the traveler, the TMC and TMS run the program, Livily distributes your inventory, and your PMS receives the reservation. Keep your rates and calendar accurate, make sure your corporate rate settings qualify, and instant booking takes care of the rest.
Welcome to business-class bookings.