5,6k
7 minutes readWhat is a hotel booking API?
Travel industry professionals have no doubt heard the phrase ‘hotel booking API’. But what does the initialism API stand for?
API stands for ‘application programming interface’, and is a piece of programming code and a means of communication between two services. It acts as a digital pipe that carries queries and responses between different software programs, apps and websites. An API helps these various programs and applications to communicate with each other, sharing travel-related data, like hotel search results and updates to hotel booking details.
Connecting existing programs and websites, the API booking function makes a guest’s hotel search, hotel booking—and the booking of other types of accommodation—faster and easier than ever before, and in real-time.
As a travel booking API, the API offers customers the widest choice when they search for the ideal place to stay at their desired travel destination.
In terms of hotel search API functionality, a dedicated travel API gives travel professionals the opportunity to offer their clients a wide range of options and the delivery of reliable hotel search results and great hotel booking deals for the customer. The search API function permits highly targeted search requests for accommodation in specific travel destinations.
Through the technological innovation of an efficient travel booking and management API network, organizing trips and booking venues couldn’t be easier.
Why do companies use APIs?
There are a number of reasons why companies choose to develop and use APIs.
As we’ve already seen, APIs help to connect businesses and technology.
Booking APIs help travel professionals in a number of ways. In particular, they can help to improve customer satisfaction and help their businesses to grow.
Powered by a wide range of APIs and successful travel API integration, API networks improve efficiency through search, booking and management automation. They drive the developer-led customization of travel services and drive business growth through partnerships with other companies involved in providing travel and digital products and services.
For travel industry professionals, APIs are an invaluable tool. APIs enable them to create their own custom-made products that connect to online booking tools, like RateHawk. Using an API, a company has the ability to tap into an extensive list of suppliers and an inventory of accommodation at great prices.
New API travel products enable travel professionals to give their clients various options, such as booking hotel rooms and facilities, and then the management of the hotel bookings.
They also make it possible for a company to download all bookings to its own customer relationship management (CRM) system.
And importantly, through the use of APIs a company can leverage the benefits of an existing hotel booking tool without having to invest in developing its own online booking product, hotel supplier network and travel accommodation inventory.
Our USPs
We suggest integration in just a few hours: multi-functional web interface, fast integration with different platforms, direct API integration as well as custom and reliable white labels with an excellent design.
When devising integrations, we are guided by the need for simple code and the principle of reliability. The product will be fully adapted to meet your needs.
Software Development Kit (SDK)
SDK is a ready library with the help of which you can easily and quickly begin working with the system.
- High integration speed — the integration code will be considerably shorter.
- Predictable behavior — the use of the same libraries over and over means that the system follows a standard behavioral pattern, which considerably eases the search for and eradication of errors.
- Ease of integration — all methods, structures and addresses are described in the automatic documentation, thanks to which you minimize the number of errors during external development.
Easy RESTful API integration
Our architectural solutions allow you to install only the functionality that your business needs.
100% RESTful API integration prevents you from getting any headache.
Different integration models
You can select the business model for integration that is most convenient for you: net prices, commission, or affiliate.
Hi-tech platforms and mid-offices
You get a fully customized and rapid integration via hi-tech platforms. You may use mid-offices for financial reporting and accounting automation.
Wide choice of hotels and rich content
You choose from over 1,400,000 hotels, guest houses, hostels, and apartments at great prices for corporate clients and travel agencies. We work with the world’s largest hotel suppliers and tens of thousands of hotels directly. This enables us to provide the best rates and save your money.
Also, we suggest full multi-lingual information about 1,4M hotels (including name, geographical names, photos, location, services, and others).
Multiroom and upsell
You may immediately select on the search page the required number of rooms and book them in a single order. Also, you can add early check-in/late check-out to the order directly when you make the booking.
API Support and instructions
We have described the entire integration process in detail in the new documents — now you won’t have a headache trying to figure out which method should follow which other one, meaning that integration will require less effort and time. API Support staff guides our partners through the process and answers any questions.
Launch in 18 languages
All languages found on Emerging Travel Group sites are now supported in the API — you may find information about hotels in Albanian, Arabic, Bulgarian, German, Chinese, Greek, English, Spanish, French, Italian, Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese (EU), Romanian, Russian, Serbian and Turkish.
Our partners
RateHawk offers two types of integration
Direct API integration
In this instance, our partner receives support documentation and an API key, and within one integration has access to all of the inventory. RateHawk’s API Support staff guides our partners through the process and is ready to help and answer any questions.
API integration with different technology platforms
This means of integration enables clients—independent travel professionals and companies—to receive inventory details from all the suppliers, for example hotels and guest houses, that are connected to any of our technology platform partners.
The suppliers are in turn connected to all of the travel professionals and companies who use one of the platforms.
We work with top technology platforms, and if you want to access our hotel inventory via any of the platforms listed below, please ask your account manager—he or she will gladly help and explain how to arrange it.
This list contains platforms to which we are connected. If you already work with any of them, please let your account manager know about it. We will connect our inventory, and you will be able to book accommodation on RateHawk at favorable prices.
- TravelgateX was founded in 2012. TravelgateX is fully dedicated to connectivity for the travel industry. A single connection provides a gateway to the largest network of buyers and sellers, trusted by industry leaders and niche providers around the world.
- DCS Plus is a technology company that provides business critical enterprise software for the travel and tourism industry. DCS plus offers a complete travel ecosystem, designed in house, including a mid-back office (TINA), a booking engine/ agent desktop (IRIX), an OBT, a B2C online solution (TRIP) and an inventory management application (AIDA).
- WBE was born in 2009, after 6 years being in the forefront of custom integrations with hotel service providers, as a desire of the company DirectVision to extend its software services and build a robust, tailor-made solution for the travel industry. Since its inception WBE has dedicated its efforts in delivering to its clients quality software products and services, constant innovation according to the ongoing trends, having in mind the ever-changing travel market.
- Juniper is one of the leaders in providing solutions for Travel Companies, with more than 360 clients in 50 countries. Leader in XML connectivity, Juniper has more than 350 XML integrations developed with external tourism product suppliers. It offers a complete inventory of its own and external product via Web Service to customers around the world.
- ANIXE is a leading provider in the digital travel sector servicing a wide range of clients through its hotels and flights divisions. The company provides a full range of services, from precise business analysis to rapid implementation.
We also work with ATRIIS Technologies, BePro Travel, Bookingmotor, Corteos, E-tickets, GenX eSolutions, Global Innovations, Goodwin soft, Goranga Tech, GP Solutions, Gridnine, Innstant Connect, Multireisen, Nemo Travel, Netstorming, Nexta, Onetourismo, Parsec, Puratech, Q Travel Cloud, Qtech Software, Raketa, Travel Compositor, Travolutionary, Waavo.
Access to our API is free of charge. If during the process of integration, certification or working with the system later you have any questions, our support service will help you.
