A declining demand is resulting in outsourcing business center services, resulting in a hike in service charges such as received faxes – in some instances as high $5 or more for the first page.

Speaking at the Business Travel News/National Business Travel Association Strategic Travel Symposium in New York,  Bjorn Hanson, an associate professor at New York University Tisch Center, said problems are compounded because the fees have no uniformity, "These are hotel by hotel, and they also come and go.

"You could stay at a Marriott, Starwood or Hilton hotel one night, and stay at a different Marriott, Starwood or Hilton hotel the next night, and the fees and surcharges will be different," he said.

But, he predicted,  “Despite a forecast for a continued decline in hotel rates in 2010, hoteliers will become more aggressive in collecting fees and surcharges this year,“

While buyers are aggressive and often successful in negotiating services for business travellers  - internet access, parking and breakfast - technology limitations make it difficult for  hotels to bundle certain services in corporate rates because their property management systems don't allow them to do accounting that way said Hanson.