Distribution
What is a hotel booking engine?
A hotel booking engine is the software on a hotel's own website that shows live room availability and rates, takes the guest's details and payment, and confirms the reservation. Bookings made through it are direct, so the hotel pays no OTA commission on them.
How it works
The guest picks dates, sees the rooms and rates available, and pays through a payment gateway. The booking should land straight in the hotel's system and reduce availability everywhere else. If the booking engine and the front desk keep separate inventories, staff have to update one by hand.
What to look for
The points that most affect how many visitors complete a booking:
- A checkout that works well on a phone
- Local payment methods, such as UPI in India
- The same rates and availability as the front desk and OTAs
- Promo codes for returning guests and campaigns
- The room held for the guest while they pay
In StaySynq
StaySynq's booking widget sells from the same rooms and rates as your front desk, with promo codes and Razorpay or Stripe checkout.
Common questions
What is the difference between a booking engine and an OTA?
A booking engine sells rooms on your own website with no commission. An OTA sells them on its website and charges a commission for bringing the guest.
Related terms
- Direct bookingA direct booking is a reservation a guest makes with the hotel itself, through its website, by phone, by message or at the desk, rather than through an online travel agency. The hotel pays no OTA commission on it and holds the guest's contact details from the start.
- OTA (online travel agency)An OTA, or online travel agency, is a website or app that sells hotel rooms on behalf of hotels and earns a commission on each booking. MakeMyTrip, Goibibo, Booking.com, Agoda and Expedia are examples. OTAs bring reach and marketing that a single hotel can't match, in exchange for a share of the revenue.
- Rate parityRate parity is the practice of offering the same price for the same room, dates and conditions on every public sales channel, including OTAs and the hotel's own website. Many OTA contracts require it, and visible differences can push a hotel down in OTA search results.
- BAR (best available rate)BAR, or best available rate, is the lowest rate a hotel offers to the general public for a given date without restrictions such as prepayment or a minimum stay. It changes with demand, and most other rate plans are set as a discount or premium to it.
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