Hotel channel managers: when they pay off and how they work with PMS and website
As soon as a hotel or holiday rental can be booked on several portals and its own website, keeping availability and prices up to date becomes a source of errors. A channel manager keeps every channel in sync automatically. This article explains what it does, when it pays off and how it works with hotel software and the website.
What a channel manager does
The channel manager is the hub between your hotel software (PMS), the booking engine on your website and portals such as Booking.com, Expedia or Airbnb. When a room is booked on one channel, availability drops everywhere instantly. You maintain prices, minimum stays and closed dates in one place; the channel manager distributes them.
When it pays off
A channel manager pays off as soon as one of these applies:
- You can be booked on two or more portals plus your own website.
- You've had overbookings because a calendar wasn't updated in time.
- You change prices often by season, trade fair or occupancy.
- Your staff spend time every day updating portals manually.
For a single holiday apartment on two portals, iCal calendar sync is often enough. It isn't real-time, though; double bookings can happen between two syncs. With several units or high demand, a real channel manager is safer.
Set prices deliberately on every channel
Since Booking.com may no longer impose parity clauses on hotels, you can set different prices on each channel. A channel manager makes that easy: for example portal prices with a mark-up so the direct booking on your website is cheaper. The technology becomes a tool for more direct bookings.
Selection, integration and cost
What matters when choosing: certified connections to your PMS and the portals you use, a booking engine for the website or a connection to your existing one, a data processing agreement and EU hosting. Billing is usually monthly per room or unit, sometimes with a commission per booking.
We help choose, connect channel manager, booking engine and website, and set up alerts for sync errors. Integration starts at €600 with us.
Frequently asked questions
- Is a channel manager the same as hotel software?
- No. The hotel software (PMS) manages guests, rooms and invoices; the channel manager distributes availability and prices to the sales channels. Some vendors offer both in one package.
- Can an overbooking still happen?
- Rarely, for example if a connection fails or two bookings arrive in the same second. Monitor sync errors and keep a plan for the worst case.
- Do I need a channel manager for a holiday apartment?
- For one apartment on one or two portals, iCal is often enough. With several units or many channels, a channel manager pays off.
Tell us your hotel software, the portals you sell on and your number of rooms. We recommend a solution and give you the integration cost.
Connect a channel manager