Building Seamless Hotel Booking Experiences with 6 Advanced APIs
If you’re in the process of (or thinking about) building your online hotel booking platform or have already built one, then this blog is for you. Here’s why: We understand that there’s a lot that goes into ensuring a seamless hotel booking experience, including a user-friendly interface, standardized hotel & room content, robust search functionality, rich visuals, etc. Using reliable hotel APIs can ensure all this and more. In this blog, we are going to explore six Hotel APIs that can make or break a seamless hotel booking experience for your users. Let’s get started! Below is a list of 6 essential hotel APIs that can help you streamline the booking process, improve data accuracy, and enhance customer satisfaction. Explore away!Hotel Inventory APIs give you access to the current availability and inventory of hotel rooms. They ensure that the rooms listed on your platform are up to date, preventing double bookings and showing users only available rooms. Key Features of Hotel Inventory APIs: Real-time room availability updates. Syncing with hotel property management systems. Filters for different room types and dates. Support for multiple hotels or chains. Availability updates across multiple platforms. Why Use Hotel Inventory APIs? These APIs ensure that users can only book rooms that are actually available, providing a seamless experience by preventing booking errors. They also make it easier to show real-time room availability across multiple devices and platforms. Examples of Hotel Inventory APIs: Amadeus Hotel Availability API Expedia Partner Solutions API Hotel Mapping APIs connect a booking platform to a hotel’s database, allowing for accurate representation of the hotel’s offerings, such as room types, pricing, and services. They automate the process of collecting, standardizing, and categorizing hotel data from various suppliers, ensuring a seamless integration of hotel content across platforms. Hotel Mapping APIs leverage AI to process key attributes like amenities, ratings, and policies, grouping similar hotels for easy access. Key Features of Hotel Mapping APIs: Links hotel data (like rooms and amenities) with external platforms. Syncs information such as price, descriptions, and features. Provides data on hotel locations, policies, and amenities. Standardizes room categories for easy comparison. Supports multi-language and multi-currency setups. Why Use Hotel Mapping APIs? Hotel Mapping APIs help avoid mismatches between what the customer sees and what’s available by ensuring that your platform has accurate and consistent hotel data. They also allow you to offer a more personalized experience based on user preferences. Examples of Hotel Mapping APIs: Vervotech Hotel Mapping API Travelport Hotel Mapping API Room Mapping APIs allow hotel booking platforms to organize and synchronize room-level data across various hotel suppliers. These APIs help map specific room attributes, such as size, amenities, bed types, and availability, into a standardized format. These API ensures that each room’s details are consistent and available for display in real-time. Key Features of Room Mapping APIs: Maps individual room types to external systems. Real-time price and availability updates. Details on bed types, amenities, and layout. Allows filtering by room preferences (e.g., ocean view, suite). Room categorization (standard, deluxe, etc.). Why Use Room Mapping APIs? Room Mapping APIs help ensure accurate room details to users, which ensures that they can find exactly what they want. This reduces confusion and enhances the booking experience by offering precise room options based on availability. Examples of Room Mapping APIs: Vervotech Room Mapping API Sabre Hotel Room Mapping API Hotel Reservation APIs handle the actual process of booking a room. They allow users to select a room, enter payment details, and confirm the reservation in real time. Key Features of Hotel Booking APIs: Secure and efficient room booking. Integration with payment systems for booking confirmation. Confirmation and cancellation email notifications. Real-time booking and availability checks. Multi-platform booking (mobile, web, etc.). Why Use Hotel Booking APIs? These APIs make the booking process simple and smooth. They ensure that bookings are processed securely, providing users with immediate confirmation and reducing the risk of errors like overbooking or payment issues. Examples Hotel Booking APIs: Agoda API Expedia API Payment Gateway APIs process the payments made during booking. These APIs integrate with your platform to allow secure transactions and support multiple payment methods, including credit/debit cards, wallets, and more. Key Features of Payment Gateway APIs: Secure payment processing (PCI-DSS compliant). Multiple payment options (credit cards, debit cards, PayPal, etc.). Real-time transaction confirmation. Support for refunds and partial payments. Multi-currency and multi-language support. Why Use Payment Gateway APIs? Payment Gateway APIs ensure that your users can make bookings with peace of mind, knowing their payment information is securely processed. They enable a smooth and quick transaction process that’s essential for a seamless booking experience. Examples of Payment Gateway APIs: Stripe API PayPal API These APIs handle booking cancellations and refund processing. They enable customers to cancel their bookings and automatically initiate refund requests based on the hotel’s cancellation policy. Key Features of Cancellation & Refund APIs: Automated cancellation and refund processing. Support for different refund policies (partial or full). Real-time status updates for cancellations. Integration with booking systems to manage cancellations. Email notifications for both users and hotels. Why Use Cancellation & Refund APIs? Cancellation and Refund APIs make it easy for users to cancel bookings and get refunds when needed. This ensures a smooth process for users who change their plans, enhancing the overall customer experience. Examples Cancellation & Refund APIs: Expedia API (for cancellation) Booking.com API (for cancellations and refunds) So that was the list! Integrating advanced APIs into your hotel booking platform is essential for creating a seamless, user-friendly experience. From real-time availability updates to secure payment processing and easy cancellations, these APIs not only enhance the efficiency of your platform but also help build trust with customers by ensuring accuracy and convenience. Whether you’re looking to enhance data accuracy, improve customer service, or drive more bookings, utilizing the right hotel APIs can significantly elevate the overall experience for both guests and businesses alike. Take the next step toward optimizing your online travel business Start your free Hotel Mapping trial Vervotech is a leading Hotel Mapping and Room Mapping API
Streamlining Hotel Reservations: Key Features of a Top API Provider
As a traveler, the first step (or second) that we take towards a travel plan is booking accommodation of our choice. But what happens when you click on a hotel booking website, enter the details… and the page loads slowly? The search results are messy, incomplete, or worse- outdated. You guessed that right- frustrated, you leave the website and look elsewhere. For hotels and online hotel reservation platforms, this is more than just a lost booking. It’s a lost customer. When it comes to hotel reservations, speed, accuracy, and a seamless experience are everything. That’s where a robust Hotel API (Application Programming Interface) or Hotel Reservation API comes into play. It’s the hidden engine that powers smooth reservations, delivering real-time hotel data to users in a flash. In this blog, we’ll explore the key features of a top-notch Hotel API- from real-time availability to easy integration and scalability. Whether you’re a hotel owner, an online travel business manager, or just curious about how booking systems work, this guide will help you understand what makes a great Hotel API and how it can transform the reservation experience for your business and your customers. Let’s dive in! A hotel booking API or a hotel reservation API, is the backbone of online hotel booking platforms like MakeMyTrip, Booking.com, Agoda, etc., facilitating connectivity between hotels, OTAs, travel agencies, and other platforms. Hotel reservation APIs enable everything from real-time booking and availability checks to pricing updates and personalized recommendations. The Hotel Booking API is most crucial for any online hotel reservation platform. It allows users to search for and book hotel rooms in real-time by connecting to various hotel databases. This API provides up-to-date information on available rooms, pricing, and other booking details, ensuring a seamless experience for customers and increasing the likelihood of converting searches into bookings. APIs play an important role in the operations of travel platforms, simplifying inventory management, pricing updates, and customer interactions. This is why choosing a hotel API provider that excels in these capabilities is crucial for driving business success.These are the five most popular hotel reservation APIs available today, each one of which is unique in features & implementations: TripAdvisor API Hotelbeds API Expedia API Cleartrip API Amadeus GDS API Now, let’s take a look at the most important features, the one that best suits your needs. Here is a list of top features that you must look for in a Hotel Reservation API: 1. Real-Time Availability A high-quality API ensures real-time updates on room availability, prices, and other booking details. This feature minimizes the risk of showing outdated information to users, enhancing customer trust and improving the likelihood of successful bookings. 2. Wide Inventory Access The API should connect to a vast network of hotel databases, offering a diverse selection of accommodations. This ensures users have access to a variety of options, from budget hotels to luxury resorts, all in one platform. 3. Customizable Search Filters The ability to filter results based on preferences like location, price range, star ratings, and amenities makes it easier for users to find suitable accommodations, creating a more personalized and user-friendly experience. 4. Fast Response Times Quick data retrieval is critical for maintaining a smooth user experience. An API with low latency ensures that users receive instant search results, reducing frustration and increasing the chances of completing bookings. 5. Integration with Hotel Mapping Hotel mapping solutions ensure consistency across different databases by resolving discrepancies in hotel names, addresses, and other details. This feature improves data accuracy, eliminates duplicate listings, and enhances user confidence in the booking process. Also Read: What is Hotel Mapping & Why It Matters for Your Online Travel Business? 6. Scalability As your business grows, so will the volume of traffic and data requests. A scalable API can handle increased demand without compromising performance, ensuring consistent service quality during peak times. Also Read: Cloud Infrastructure for Scalable and Secure Travel Booking Platforms 7. Multilingual and Multi-Currency Support For platforms catering to a global audience, the API should support multiple languages and real-time currency conversions. This feature enhances the user experience by catering to diverse customer needs. 8. Secure Transactions Security is paramount when handling sensitive user data and payment information. A reliable API includes robust encryption and adheres to industry standards like PCI DSS to safeguard transactions and protect customer privacy. Also Read: Five Ways OTAs Should Assess Payment Service Providers 9. Comprehensive Documentation Detailed and well-organized API documentation simplifies the integration process for developers. It should include clear examples, error handling guidance, and troubleshooting tips to help teams implement and optimize the API effectively. 10. Reliable Technical Support 24/7 technical support ensures that any issues are promptly addressed, minimizing downtime and disruptions. This support is essential for maintaining the smooth operation of the API and keeping your platform reliable. And that was the list! A robust hotel reservation API is not just a tool- it’s a gateway to improved customer satisfaction, streamlined processes, and business growth. However, most hotel reservation APIs don’t offer built-in hotel mapping capabilities. Coupling a reservation API with a robust hotel mapping solution featuring high accuracy and extensive coverage ensures that hotel listings are unique, consistent, and error-free, thus enhancing the user experience by presenting clean, reliable data. Together, these tools create a seamless booking journey that fosters customer trust and satisfaction. Invest in the right solution, and you’ll be well on your way to creating a travel platform that stands out in the competitive hospitality industry.Take the next step toward optimizing your Online Travel Business Start a free trial Vervotech is a leading Hotel Mapping and Room Mapping API that leverages the power of AI and ML to quickly and accurately identify each property listing through the verification of multiple parameters. With One of the industry’s best coverage of 98% and an accuracy of 99.999%, Vervotech is quickly becoming the mapping software of choice for all leading global companies operating in the travel and hospitality industry. To learn more about Vervotech and the ways
10 Best Practices for Nailing Customer Experience with a Hotel Booking API
Picture this: a traveler excitedly plans their dream vacation, finds the perfect hotel, clicks “Book Now,” and… the page loads forever, sees the same hotel listed twice, or worse, the price suddenly changes. Frustrating, right? Moments like these can make or break customer trust in your platform. For online travel businesses, delivering a seamless customer experience isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a must. Travelers today expect speed, accuracy, and convenience at every click. A well-designed hotel booking API can work wonders, acting as the backbone of an exceptional booking journey. In this blog, we’ll explore ten practical and proven best practices to ensure your hotel booking API meets and exceeds customer expectations. From implementing hotel mapping solutions to optimizing response times, these strategies will set you up for success in creating a delightful booking experience. But first, let’s understand the hotel booking API. To put it simply, a Hotel Booking API is a software interface that allows travel platforms, websites, and apps to connect with hotel databases and retrieve information such as room availability, pricing, and property details in real time. It bridges between a booking platform and various hotel suppliers, enabling seamless communication and transactions. Now that the concept of a hotel booking API is clear let’s dive into the practices!Also Read: Choosing the Right Hotel Booking API: A Step-By-Step Guide1. Choose an API with Wide Inventory Coverage Partner with API providers known for aggregating a large pool of global properties and frequent inventory updates. The more options you offer, the better the customer experience. A Hotel Booking API with broad inventory coverage integrates data from multiple suppliers, including hotels, wholesalers, and OTAs (Online Travel Agencies). This helps ensure that your platform has options ranging from luxury resorts to budget stays, allowing customers to choose accommodations that match their needs. A diverse inventory widens their choices and increases the chances of bookings, boosting your revenue. 2. Prioritize Real-Time Availability and Pricing Updates Opt for APIs that frequently sync with hotel systems or use webhooks for instant updates. Nothing frustrates customers more than booking a room only to find out it’s unavailable or the price has changed. They expect accurate information when booking accommodation. APIs with real-time updates ensure room availability and rates are always current, minimizing discrepancies. This helps build trust and enhances the booking experience, ensuring customers get accurate availability and pricing information. 3. Ensure Easy Integration Choose an API provider with 24/7 developer support and a sandbox environment for testing integrations. An API that’s difficult to integrate can delay your platform’s go-live timeline and increase technical issues. Choosing a developer-friendly API with clear documentation, sample codes, and SDKs ensures smooth implementation. Easy integration ensures a seamless connection between your platform and the API, providing a hassle-free experience for you and your customers. 4. Optimize API Response Time Monitor your API’s performance regularly and use caching for repetitive requests to reduce server load. A slow API can result in abandoned bookings and reduced customer satisfaction. Focus on APIs known for their speed and optimize backend calls to reduce latency. Quick response times ensure a smoother user experience, smooth navigation, and instant updates during the booking process. 5. Implement a Hotel Mapping Solution Duplicate listings, mismatched details, or missing properties can confuse users. Implementing a hotel mapping solution helps organize and standardize hotel data across various suppliers, ensuring accuracy and consistency. Here’s how: When your booking system aggregates inventory from various suppliers, there’s often a risk of duplicate listings, conflicting property details, or incomplete information. This can confuse users trying to book an accommodation, often leading to frustration and lost bookings. A hotel mapping solution, such as Vervotech Hotel Mappping, eliminates these issues by standardizing data for each property. For instance, if one supplier lists “Hilton Downtown” and another lists it as “Downtown Hilton,” the mapping solution recognizes they’re the same property and consolidates the details into a single listing. Vervotech’s Hotel Mapping Solution helps online travel businesses eliminate errors, simplify navigation, and standardize hotel content on the platform. Also Read: A Beginner’s Guide to Hotel Mapping Solutions 6. Offer Personalization Options Use APIs with advanced filtering options and AI-driven recommendation engines to deliver personalized experiences. Believe it or not, personalization helps create a more tailored and engaging booking experience. Customers appreciate personalized recommendations based on preferences like favorite destinations or budget ranges. This is why you should choose APIs that allow filtering by preferences like destination, budget, and amenities to enable your platform to recommend options aligned with user needs. This will not only enhance the user experience but also help increase conversion rates by aligning options with individual needs. 7. Focus on Mobile Compatibility Test the API across multiple devices and browsers to ensure consistent performance. With many bookings made on mobile devices, ensuring mobile compatibility is highly important. Go for APIs optimized for mobile performance, offering features like responsive design, touch-friendly interfaces, and fast loading times. This helps ensure a smooth experience for customers booking on the go. 8. Provide Clear Cancellation and Refund Policies Ensure your API fetches detailed policy information for each listing and displays it prominently during the booking process. Transparency in cancellation and refund policies builds trust and reduces disputes. This is why ensuring your API provides clear and detailed information on cancellation and refund policies for every booking is necessary. Displaying this upfront reassures customers, reduces disputes, and makes your platform more user-friendly. Customers value platforms that clearly display rules upfront and make the process easy to understand. 9. Enhance Multilingual and Multi-Currency Support Implement APIs with localization capabilities, including language preferences and region-specific payment options. Catering to a global audience means accommodating different languages and currencies. APIs with multilingual support and automatic currency conversions help international customers feel at ease. This inclusivity expands your reach, making your platform more accessible and appealing to diverse users. 10. Regularly Test and Update Your API Schedule routine API tests and updates to align with
Türkiye-Based Etscore Integrates Vervotech’s Solutions to Improve Their Travel Booking Experience
Etscore, the high-tech b2b travel brand from Turkey’s leading travel company Etstur, has announced a strategic partnership with Vervotech to enhance its booking platform by integrating their AI-powered hotel and room mapping solutions, which are designed to enrich hotel data quality, remove duplicates and enhance user satisfaction. Etscore’s collaboration with Vervotech aligns with its commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction. Integrating Vervotech’s AI mapping solutions to manage complex hotel data will strengthen the company’s position as a leader in Türkiye’s competitive travel market. As Türkiye’s leading travel tech platform, Etscore provides various services, hotel bookings and exclusive travel experiences customized to customer needs. This partnership with Vervotech signifies its dedication to utilize modern technologies for continuous improvement. Through this collaboration, Etscore and Vervotech aim to raise the bar for travel booking standards, ensuring a seamless, dependable journey from search to booking. The partnership will also allow Etscore to address a core industry challenge: offering users precise, error-free hotel listings that improve booking consistency and reduce friction. Here are some highlights of the partnership between Vervotech & Etscore: Enhanced Data Accuracy: Vervotech’s hotel & room mapping solutions provide Etscore with accurate, de-duplicated hotel data for improved customer experiences. Streamlined Booking: The integration reduces data inconsistencies, ensuring a seamless, reliable booking process for Etscore’s users. Operational Efficiency: Vervotech’s solutions optimize Etscore’s backend processes, allowing more focus on customer service. Market Leadership: This collaboration strengthens Etscore’s position as a tech-forward leader in Türkiye’s travel sector. When asked to express their thoughts on this partnership, Emre Karadağ, Head of Global Distribution Channels at Etscore said: “Partnering with Vervotech enhances our ability to deliver a superior customer experience. We’re excited to offer an improved booking experience without the confusion caused by duplicated or incomplete information.” Shilpi Yadav, VP, Sales at Vervotech, added: “We’re excited to extend our mapping solutions to Etscore and play the role of a catalyst in their journey of improved booking platform. We look forward to adding a layer of innovation in travel technologies that help our clients deliver precise, reliable booking options to their diverse customer base.”Etscore is an online platform for travel professionals, connecting travel agencies and tour operators to over 1,000,000 hotels globally, including 10,000 directly contracted in Türkiye, across 15,000 destinations in 150 countries. Launched in 2023, it offers a user-friendly interface, extensive inventory and 24/7 multilingual support for reliable and efficient hotel reservations.Vervotech is one of the leading AI-driven mapping companies offering Hotel Mapping, Room Mapping, and Hotel Curated Content solutions, empowering travel companies worldwide to deliver quality travel data to their customers. Vervotech is a part of Juniper Group, a subsidiary of Constellation Software Inc (TSX: CSU), one of the world’s largest software companies.
Vervotech Bags “World Travel Tech Awards” for the Record Third Time
Vervotech, a leading provider of travel technology solutions, proudly announces its third win at the prestigious World Travel Tech Awards. Vervotech was nominated along with key players like Mize, Trawex, and VeTravel, and voted winner by industry peers as World’s Best Hotel Mapping Solutions Provider in 2024. This achievement reinforces Vervotech’s position as a pioneer in the travel tech industry, recognized globally for its accommodation mapping solutions. The award, voted by travel professionals and industry experts worldwide, highlights Vervotech’s commitment to delivering cutting-edge technology and unparalleled service excellence. “We are incredibly honored to receive this recognition for being a travel tech company,” said Sanjay Ghare, CEO of Vervotech. He further added, “This award belongs to everyone who placed their trust in us and voted for us. Our mission has always been to empower the travel industry with reliable and innovative technology, and this award is a testament to our efforts. Thank you to our clients, partners, and our phenomenal team for making this possible.” This milestone underscores Vervotech’s dedication to transforming how businesses in the travel sector operate and thrive. As Vervotech looks to the future, it remains committed to transforming travel technology, driving efficiency, and delivering practical solutions to its global clientele.Vervotech is one of the leading AI-driven mapping companies offering Hotel Mapping, Room Mapping, and Hotel Curated Content solutions, empowering travel companies worldwide to deliver quality travel data to their customers. Vervotech is a part of Juniper Group, a subsidiary of Constellation Software Inc (TSX: CSU), one of the world’s largest software companies.
A Beginner’s Guide to ‘Hotel Mapping Solutions’
Imagine this: you’re gearing up for an upcoming long weekend. You have the dates & the destination; all you need is a hotel reservation. So, you visit ‘ABC’ hotel booking website but get confused when you see the same hotel listed four times at different prices. For the next few minutes, you spend time on the website scouring hotels, get confused with multiple results of the same hotel, get frustrated, and eventually move on to another hotel booking website. Now, look at this scenario as the business owner of ‘ABC hotel booking website’. With multiple hotel listings of the same hotel, your customers go through a bad booking experience, and you lose a potential customer. Now, imagine if the hotel listings on your website were error-free, with no duplications and standardized content. That would certainly make the hotel booking experience quite seamless for your website visitors. ‘Hotel Mapping’ is what helps you achieve this seamless website experience. Read on as we introduce you to the concept of hotel mapping. ‘Hotel mapping’ is the process of merging multiple listings of the same property sourced from various sources, known as ‘suppliers’ into a single property, and assigning it a unique ‘id’ to avoid inconsistent naming and duplication in listings. Duplications and inconsistent listings happen when an OTA or travel agency sources information from two or more providers, from channels like bed banks, channel managers, GDSs, or other larger OTAs. Hotel Mapping can be done manually, but that can be extremely time-consuming and complex. Most OTAs opt for AI-powered Hotel Mapping solutions to get the job done with ease. This helps travel businesses achieve high customer satisfaction by aiming to prevent end-users from booking the wrong hotel and nullify losses resulting from the same. Let’s understand how it works this with an example: Suppliers- Beds&Beds and HotelBookings.com have different IDs and names for the properties they push to distributors. The hotel property can be called, say, Luxury Inn in Beds&Beds and Luxury Hotel & Casino in HotelBookings.com. To map these listings, the Hotel mapping API sifts through a set of static attributes such as hotel names, policies, reviews, ratings, and geolocation to find identical properties and merge them under a unique ID. In a nutshell, hotel mapping reduces duplicate hotel listings by standardizing hotel details, such as contact information, address, ZIP code, descriptions, Geo-location, policies, etc. Hotel mapping allows online travel businesses to streamline their operations and enhance customer trust. It organizes fragmented data from multiple sources into unique data, thus resolving issues like duplicate listings and inconsistent hotel details. This, in turn, ensures customers receive accurate, reliable information, reducing booking errors and cancellations. For OTAs, mapping simplifies inventory management by integrating data from GDS, property management systems, and suppliers, keeping listings up-to-date and boosting conversions. It also reduces operational overhead, allowing OTAs to focus on delivering personalized travel solutions and staying competitive in the dynamic travel industry.Hotel mapping offers significant advantages across the travel ecosystem, benefiting travelers, OTAs, and hoteliers alike. For Travelers, it ensures access to accurate hotel details, enabling them to make informed decisions. Simplified comparisons of hotels across various platforms save time and reduce confusion. For suppliers, hotel mapping ensures that their inventory is presented accurately across multiple travel booking platforms by reducing misinterpretation and duplication. It also helps them maintain consistency, improving their collaboration with the OTAs. For Bedbanks like Hotelbeds and WebBeds, hotel mapping ensures the seamless grouping of hotel inventory, preventing duplicate listings and improving the reliability of data shared with OTAs and suppliers. This improves operational efficiency and helps boost their adoption rates. Ensuring that your hotel listings are accurate is the best chance you have of making your online travel business competitive. Hotel mapping solutions help you unify the content, improve the quality and accuracy of the data you present on your travel booking platform and, ultimately, increase customer satisfaction.Does your travel booking business require mapping services? Explore Vervotech’s hotel & room mapping solutions today!Vervotech is a leading Hotel Mapping and Room Mapping API that leverages the power of AI and ML to quickly and accurately identify each property listing through the verification of multiple parameters. With One of the industry’s best coverage of 98% and an accuracy of 99.999%, Vervotech is quickly becoming the mapping software of choice for all leading global companies operating in the travel and hospitality industry. To learn more about Vervotech and the ways it can enhance your business in the long run contact us: sales@vervotech.com
Vervotech Launches Dualmap: An All-New Powerful Tool to Enhance Hotel Booking Accuracy
Vervotech, one of the leading global providers of accommodation data management solutions, announced the launch of DualMap at World Travel Market London 2024, an all-new tool designed to enhance the accuracy and reliability of bookings in real-time. The tool re-verifies property mappings at crucial points during the booking process, catches mapping errors before they impact end customers, and reduces operational burdens for online travel businesses. Addressing Key Challenges in Hotel Bookings Online travel businesses work with multiple suppliers, and they have to have a mapping system in place, either in-house or third-party solutions. But these solutions do not entirely negate the odds of bad bookings. Booking discrepancies resulting from incorrect property mappings often lead to serious consequences for online travel companies, including: 1) Financial losses from bad bookings. 2) Operational strain from managing mismatched or inaccurate bookings. 3) Customer dissatisfaction caused by booking the wrong property. 4) Damage to brand reputation. DualMap addresses these issues through the re-verification of property mappings both before and after the booking is made. How the Dual Map Tool Works 1. Pre-Booking Re-Verification: Just before a booking is finalized, DualMap performs a real-time check of property mappings. This ensures that properties that could be mapped properly are identified before the booking is completed, reducing the likelihood of costly errors or customer dissatisfaction. 2. Post-Booking Re-Verification: For companies that prefer to avoid interrupting the booking flow, the tool can also verify mappings immediately after the booking is confirmed. This allows discrepancies to be addressed quickly without affecting the customer’s experience. DualMap compares existing property mappings against data from Vervotech’s trusted supplier network. Early detection of discrepancies enables businesses to take appropriate action based on their own rules, such as booking value or refund conditions. Key Benefits of DualMap 1) Prevents revenue losses that occur when incorrect property mappings lead to booking errors. 2) Reduces manual interventions through automated real-time mapping checks. 3) Accurate bookings lead to fewer complaints and improved customer satisfaction. 4) Businesses can define their own strategies for handling discrepancies, depending on factors such as refund policies or booking value. “DualMap represents a significant step forward in enhancing mapping accuracy for online travel businesses. It addresses the long-standing challenges associated with proactive mapping. With DualMap, our clients can confidently offer accurate bookings, improve customer experiences, and safeguard their operational integrity’, said Dharmendra Ladi, CTO of Vervotech. For more information on the DualMap tool and its benefits, visit API documentation here: https://hotelmapping.vervotech.com/documentation/index.ht…Vervotech is one of the leading AI-driven mapping companies offering Hotel Mapping, Room Mapping, and Hotel Curated Content solutions, empowering travel companies worldwide to deliver quality travel data to their customers. Vervotech is a part of Juniper Group, a subsidiary of Constellation Software Inc (TSX: CSU), one of the world’s largest software companies.
Metasearch Engines, potential and underlying challenges
Metasearch engines have become a pivotal tool in the travel industry, significantly influencing how travelers find accommodations. With one in three travelers discovering hotels through metasearch platforms, these engines are undeniably valuable for visibility. However, despite their widespread use, they often struggle to convert lookers into bookers, with only about 1% of users completing a booking. This low conversion rate highlights the unique set of challenges that meta-search engines present to hoteliers and marketers. Mapping The first and most critical challenge in metasearch marketing is hotel mapping. Metasearch engines aggregate data from various sources, but they can only present the best rates and options if they can accurately map and group hotels across these feeds. Poor mapping leads to discrepancies in listings, which can confuse potential guests and result in missed booking opportunities. This issue directly impacts the effectiveness of metasearch campaigns and is a primary reason for low conversion rates. Advanced CachingAnother significant challenge is the need for advanced caching technology. Metasearch engines are designed to display real-time rates, but this capability can place a heavy load on the Central Reservation System (CRS). Without advanced caching, there’s a risk of either overwhelming the CRS with too many requests or providing users with outdated rate information. Both scenarios can degrade the user experience and decrease the likelihood of conversions. Campaign ManagementThe third challenge lies in effectively managing and optimizing metasearch marketing campaigns. Marketers must constantly assess whether they are receiving the right amount of traffic, whether that traffic is converting into bookings, and whether their ROI targets are being met. Unfortunately, the process is often slow and cumbersome due to reliance on manual campaign management techniques. Real-Time Bidding Finally, the introduction of real-time bidding (RTB) models by platforms like Google Hotel Price Ads (HPA) adds another layer of complexity. RTB allows for nuanced control over bidding strategies, factoring in elements like room rates, length of stay, and user location. However, this sophistication requires hoteliers to be agile and precise in their campaign management, which can be a daunting task for those unfamiliar with such detailed bidding processes Vervotech offers a robust solution to this challenge through its advanced AI-based hotel mapping technology. By ensuring that hotels are correctly and comprehensively mapped across all data sources, Vervotech helps imp rove the accuracy of listings, enhancing the user experience and boosting the effectiveness of metasearch marketing efforts. In conclusion, while metasearch engines are instrumental in hotel discovery, they come with several challenges that can hinder conversion rates. Accurate hotel mapping, advanced caching, and efficient campaign management are critical to overcoming these hurdles. By leveraging solutions like Vervotech’s mapping technology, hoteliers can better navigate these challenges, improve their conversion rates, and achieve their ROI goals. Vervotech is a leading Hotel Mapping and Room Mapping API that leverages the power of AI and ML to quickly and accurately identify each property listing through the verification of multiple parameters. With One of the industry’s best coverage of 98% and an accuracy of 99.999%, Vervotech is quickly becoming the mapping software of choice for all leading global companies operating in the travel and hospitality industry. To learn more about Vervotech and the ways it can enhance your business in the long run contact us: sales@vervotech.com
What is Hotel Mapping And Room Mapping? (Explained)
Are your customers getting confused by seeing the same hotel listed multiple times which is indirectly hurting your business? Well, you are not alone. The travel fraternity faces a common problem of inconsistent hotel listings and a lot of hotel providers are trying to manage and resolve it. Since the hotel distribution market is so big and complex, oftentimes, data is not displayed properly on the website. This is where technologies like hotel mapping comes in handy where a hotel mapping tool is used to get the job done.Online Travel Agent source their hotel data from multiple channels like bigger online travel agents, global distribution systems, and bed banks. Often, the data collected is inconsistent with a lot of duplicate hotel listings. This happens because each channel has its set of hotel listings and oftentimes another channel also has a similar set of data with similar listings. When OTAs combine all their data they end up with duplicate content and customers see the same hotels on their website multiple times which leads to confusion. This is where hotel mapping tool plays a huge role. Hotel Mapping is a method of aggregating hotel properties from varied sources in an organised manner to avoid inconsistency and duplication in hotels found on a website. It guides you to take control of the integration process by mapping all your hotels. Hotel Mapping is an excellent solution that adapts to consumer needs. It can be done manually, but that can be extremely time-consuming and complex. Most OTAs opt for automated means where a hotel mapping tool is used to get the job done with ease. This helps travel businesses achieve high customer satisfaction by aiming to prevent end-user from booking the wrong hotel and nullify losses resulting from the same.Read More – What is hotel mapping and why it matters for your online travel businessOnline Travel Agents face the similar issue of duplication when it comes to rooms listed on their website. Every data provider provides each room of a hotel differently but in reality, the same room is listed. Room duplication is a tedious problem since every supplier has different standards when it comes to offering room data. Room Mapping aims to improve the customer experience while finding the right room and optimizes profitability for the business. Room mapping is a process of identifying room level data via multiple parameters, detecting which room listings are the same, and discarding duplicate results. It is carried out to display rooms accurately meanwhile sorting them by various filters according to the user’s preference. It is crucial to uniquely identify categories across multiple providers along with Room type, Description, Room ID, Amenities, Bed type, Policy, and much more for better customer experience.As we mentioned, manually fixing inconsistencies when it comes to Room and Hotel mapping is immensely difficult. Online travel agents end up with tons of duplicate hotels and rooms on their website which indirectly leads to confused customers. The best solution for this issue is integrating a hotel mapping tool or a hotel aggregator API. These tools help to consolidate and attain control over hotel content. Vervotech Mappings offers great Hotel Mapping and Room Mapping software. Its seamless easy-to-use interface and API help users in configuring supplier credentials, uploading content files, pinpointing duplicates, mapping hotel content, and more.Vervotech is a leading Hotel Mapping and Room Mapping API that leverages the power of AI and ML to quickly and accurately identify each property listing through the verification of multiple parameters. With One of the industry’s best coverage of 98% and an accuracy of 99.999%, Vervotech is quickly becoming the mapping software of choice for all leading global companies operating in the travel and hospitality industry. To learn more about Vervotech and the ways it can enhance your business in the long run contact us: sales@vervotech.com
Why Apartment Mapping is the need of the hour for travel agencies in 2024
The rise of the sharing economy and COVID-19 made vacation rentals and apartments a popular choice among travelers. A Research and Markets report shared the global vacation rental market size is expected to reach $119 billion by 2030. There is a growing preference for apartments and homes among travelers, thanks to the comfort, privacy, safety, better amenities and reasonable tariffs. Also, platforms like Airbnb, Vrbo, Booking.com, and FlipKey have understood the traveler’s pulse and keep offering lucrative alternatives to the traditional hotel experience. Short-term rentals are gradually becoming a mainstream accommodation choice. And 2023 is predicted to be the year of reimagining travel, where 73% of travelers are more optimistic about travel than they were in 2022. So, it’s time for accommodation providers such as OTAs, tour operators, DMCs, and TMCs to focus on enhancing their platform with apartment mapping. This blog will explain apartment mapping, its challenges, why it is a must in 2023 and its benefits. Let’s get straight into it. What is apartment mapping? Apartment mapping or matching is the process of aggregating apartment IDs from various suppliers in an organized manner. This minimizes inconsistency and duplicate apartment names on the website. The end goal of apartment mapping is to improve customer booking experience, where the end-user can view organized and accurate apartment information without duplicates. Apartment mapping powered by AI and NLP follows data cleansing, data standardization, apartment content enrichment and deduplication. Overall, apartment mapping takes care of the following details: Apartment address apartment name contact details geocodes general description policies amenities Why is apartment mapping a must? The short-term rental or vacation rental ecosystem is growing profoundly. Travelers are looking for offbeat homes that bring a dash of adventure or unique experience to their holiday trips. And due to the increasing demand for vacation rentals, every travel agency wants to invest in short-term rentals. However, there is a good share of complexity involved with apartments, such as apartment data being unstructured, apartment information being minimal, unreliable and ambiguous data. Here’s how apartments are described on vacation rental platforms or OTAs: 30A Beach Cottage – Gated, Private Beach, Heated Pool Sleek 30A Beach Vacation Condo with Private Beach Access, Heated Pool Both descriptions are of the same property but are displayed as two unique properties on the website. Also, the vacation rental information is highly variable, due to which travel agencies tend to miss out on duplicate data. That’s why there is a growing need for apartment mapping. Now that we have explained apartment mapping and its necessity let’s find out its on-going challenges. Apartment mapping challenges Apartment mapping or non-hotel accommodation (NHA) mapping is highly complex. Here are some of the challenges associated with apartment mapping: 1. Unstructured data Apartment data is cluttered with details that need to be streamlined to avoid duplication. This massive unstructured data adds a layer of complexity to the apartment mapping process. 2. Minimal apartment data Unfortunately the apartment data is not as straightforward as hotels. The descriptions are catchy and don’t have complete information. For example, Cottage in Yosemite National Park. Stay in the heart of the woods. This apartment title has minimal details about the apartment name, room type, number of rooms, etc. Because of such minimal data, the mapping process for apartments or vacation rentals turns out to be a tedious task. 3. Increase in bad mapping Minimal data and unstructured apartment information lead to inaccurate matching, which increases bad mapping volumes. Here’s an example of two different condos in Atlanta. Contemporary Condo Located in the Center of Downtown Atlanta Crispy & Clean 1 Bedroom Condo in the Heart of Downtown Atlanta Both condos have a similar title but are different properties. Due to unstructured data challenges, 2 different apartments get wrongly grouped under one ID, resulting in bad mapping. 4. Plenty of data variation Apartments have various data variations, such as the condo might be open for a week or it might shut down immediately. Such changes don’t get updated by the property managers, making it difficult for OTAs to sell right apartments at the right time to the right traveler. Recommended: Vacation rental software: Five key features to consider Conclusion The future of travel is influenced by short-term rentals, and it is expected to topple hotels, resorts and redefine the hospitality industry. 2023 is the year when vacation rentals will be highly in demand; that’s why travel agencies must look into solving the growing issue of apartment data duplication on priority. Vervotech offers apartment mapping powered by AI, and machine learning with an accuracy of 99.999% and a coverage of above 98%. Currently, we have mapped over 1 million apartments and have 700,000 apartment IDs. How do we do it? We have a robust manual content analyst team that verifies every apartment and short-term rental and ensures accurate data is showcased on our client’s platform.
