Amsterdam, Netherlands – 14 November 2016
Booking.com launched its new Content API for accommodation channel managers, content providers and property management companies. Following a successful round of beta testing earlier this year with a select group of early adopters, these new specifications provide free access for providers to instantly send all necessary information to build and maintain multiple listings on Booking.com, including property photos and information about their facilities and policies, via a direct connection, dramatically reducing the time to upload content from weeks to hours.
After implementing the code required to connect to the API, providers can automatically send all information required to build new listings on Booking.com from start to finish. Previously, photo content, facilities information and policies had to be uploaded manually on a per property basis, often taking several weeks, depending on the number of properties in a provider’s portfolio. Now with the new Content API, providers can instantly push all the relevant information for thousands of properties directly to Booking.com’s system, reducing the content upload process from several weeks to a couple of days.
“We’re constantly looking at innovative ways to create a more seamless, intuitive and automated experience for our partners,” said Remco van Zanten, Global Director of Partner Services at Booking.com. “We know that having great content is key to engaging effectively with consumers, which is not only vital to a great customer experience, but allows our partners to generate more incremental business via our platform. That’s why we’ve created a scalable solution that helps PMCs and other providers list dozens or even thousands of properties on Booking.com more quickly and at no cost.”
The new Content API also enables providers to more easily optimise their existing listings on Booking.com with updated content on a more regular basis, including:
- Providing updated photos to reflect renovations, new branding or just to be in tune with the current season (summer vs. winter)
- Adding new policies and facilities information almost instantly
- Uploading new room types, limited-time promotions and rates in bulk, even on short notice
“We maintain visual content for many large global hotel chains across various distribution channels and Booking.com’s Content API is a truly valuable service,” said Henry Woodman, President at ICE Portal. “Not only were the specifications of Booking.com’s new Content API easy to implement, but now we’re able to update photos for thousands of different properties almost instantly, making light work of what used to be a huge project that have taken several weeks to complete. Our partnership with Booking.com helps the hotel groups we represent maintain better control over their visuals.”
If interested in connecting to the new Content API, providers that already work with Booking.com can access the specifications for free directly from the provider portal at https://connect.booking.com.
For providers that are new to Booking.com, they should contact [email protected] for more information and to learn more about the certified provider process. Once certified, they can enjoy free access to the complete Content API specifications.