Once you enter the landscape of the online hospitality industry, the first block of challenges stems from sourcing hotel rooms, advertising them, and then distributing them accurately. To address these challenges, you must first find out who the providers in the market are.
The most encouraging thing you should know now is that no matter where your venture stands, you will find providers easily. And almost all providers will allow you to discover, rate, availability, etc. At the same time, the trickier part is managing the cost attached to it.
This article will mainly focus on the biggest distributor in the online travel market, that are OTAs, the APIs they need to source and distribute hotel rooms effectively.
But before we go there and discuss individual APIs and their functions, let’s first look over how the ecosystem of hotel distribution works.
How does the hotel distribution ecosystem function?
Despite the big push from hoteliers over the years to promote direct booking, over 50 percent of hotels are still booked indirectly. And for every indirect booking, there’s an intermediary involved. And this is the reality of the day. These intermediate players run the travel industry and facilitate easy access to travel products to the end consumer. The middle players could be GDSs, bed banks, channel managers—or other connectivity providers like bigger OTAs.
To effectively source and distribute hotel rooms, OTAs rely on APIs that connect to the intermediaries, allow for seamless communication between different software applications, and help OTAs access critical data, such as hotel rates, availability, and room types, in real time.
Five key room booking APIs for OTAs
We highlighted the importance of APIs for running a successful online travel business. However, not all APIs are essential to operate a successful OTA. To offer you a broader understanding of critical APIs, we list five key APIs that OTAs must integrate for room booking and their mapping.
Google Maps API is one of the most popular APIs used by OTAs to provide location-based information to their users. With the Google Maps API, OTAs can display maps, satellite imagery, and street-level views of locations where their users can book rooms. OTAs can also use this API to provide directions to these locations and to display nearby points of interest, such as restaurants, shops, and tourist attractions.
Vervotech Room Mapping API is a powerful tool that allows OTAs to display correct, consolidated and structured information about hotel rooms. This API provides accurate mapping for supplier content in real time, including detailed information about each room type, rates, and images.
One of the key advantages of Vervotech Mapping API is its ability to handle large volumes of data quickly and efficiently. This makes it an ideal choice for OTAs that need to process large amounts of information in real-time.
3. Kayak API
Kayak is a travel search engine that aggregates and compares travel deals from various travel portals. For room booking, the Kayak API allows you to search for available hotel rooms based on criteria like location, check-in and check-out dates, and number of guests. It also provides information on prices, amenities, and reviews for different hotel options.
Skyscanner API allows your developers to access real-time travel data and integrate travel search and booking functionalities into your OTA. Also, the Skyscanner hotel API enables you to search for available hotel rooms in specific locations, view pricing details, and retrieve information about amenities and reviews.
TripAdvisor is a well-known platform for travel-related reviews and information. The TripAdvisor API is an excellent option for room bookings to retrieve details, such as room availability, pricing, and user reviews. The API also enables developers to incorporate TripAdvisor’s extensive review and rating system.
Conclusion!
Room booking APIs are the key to offering integrated travel experiences. They provide real-time information on available rooms and locations, making them an essential resource for OTAs and developers looking to curate high-yield travel products.
With these APIs at your disposal, you can confidently build a travel platform that delivers the best possible experience for your users.
