Ranking high on multiple OTAs (online travel agencies) is essential for ensuring high occupancy and revenue. Channel managers play a pivotal role in enhancing your ranking and managing your listings across OTAs. That is why choosing the right channel manager is vital. In this blog we explain how a channel manager can boost your OTA ranking and how to choose the right one. 

What is a channel manager for hotels and short-term rentals? 

Before we explain what exactly a channel manager is, we have to understand the concept of connectivity providers and APIs. 

‍

APIs (Application Programming Interface) are the means for one program to talk to another. You can compare an API to an electrical outlet into which a plug is placed to create connection. 

Connectivity is the medium that APIs use to work, you can think of connectivity like the cables that allow electricity to flow to a lamp to make it light up. Connectivity can streamline and automate the flow between a website and an OTA. 
‍

Connectivity providers ensure you’re connected to your chosen channels and offer distribution solutions. 

A channel manager is a specific connectivity provider. Now what does a channel manager do? It allows hoteliers and property managers to update multiple OTAs at the same time. Thanks to channel managers, updates can be made in real-time, without human intervention. All your listings on different channels are managed from one centralised dashboard.

One example of a channel manager is Cubilis by Stardekk. This software offers a reliable, user-friendly channel manager that connects to over 200 OTAs, from large international to smaller local platforms, allowing you to reach a broad audience and tap into niche markets. 

‍

What is Premium connectivity on Booking.com, and why is it important?

Booking.com uses three levels in the Connectivity Partner Program to describe the quality of the channel managers they partner with. The highest level is Premier, they call these partners Premium Connectivity Partners. They offer the highest connection quality and the most advanced technology which results in optimal channel management. 
‍

Booking.com and all the other OTAs profit from distinguishing the best partners because the better the connectivity software, the more bookings can be made, and the more profit they make. That is why they want you to collaborate with their preferred partners and it also is rewarding for you to use them.

How do Premium Connectivity Partners increase rankings on OTAs?

Otamiser research shows that having a premium connectivity channel manager can increase rankings significantly. There are a couple of reasons for this.
‍

First of all, the Premium Connectivity Partners have the highest update speed. This means that when you want to make changes, for example in the pricing of your listing on Booking.com due to lower market demand, these changes will be implemented the fastest through the Premium Partners. And optimal pricing has a big impact on how high you rank on OTAs. 

Another way that Premium Connectivity Partners help you rank higher on Booking.com is by offering the possibility of implementing dynamic pricing plans. To determine the price of your listing on OTAs like Booking.com, you can both use Extranet on the OTA itself, or you can connect with the channel manager by using XML (eXtensible Markup Language) pricing. This allows you to link your listings to a revenue management system that employs dynamic pricing.

‍

👉 To learn more about how to improve your ranking on Booking.com by using Extranet, read our blog. 

‍

Based on market trends and other factors, a revenue management system improves your visibility on OTAs. With a higher ranking, your hotel or short term rental stands out more in the crowd and it enables your prices to play more into the needs of possible guests. 
‍

Otamiser research even shows that not using dynamic rate plans on average decreases your online visibility by 19%. And of course the better your connectivity partner, the better these prices are linked with the OTAs.

Cubilis by Stardekk is one of the premier partners of Booking.com since 2006, they offer a high-quality integration with many advantages for property owners. The company continuously strives to implement the latest hospitality trends, features and innovations, as reflected in their long-standing preferred partnerships with Booking.com and Expedia. 

‍

What benefits do property managers gain from Airbnb preferred plus partners?

Just like Booking.com, Airbnb categorises their best performing connectivity partners, they call them Airbnb's Preferred Plus Partners. They provide the required functionalities that meet or exceed all the criteria set by Airbnb, in terms of technology and performance. And also on Airbnb, partnering with those providers is very beneficial for your ranking and performance on the OTA. 
‍

The first way how choosing a Preferred Plus partner boosts your ranking, is that hosts gain early access to new features and updates on Airbnb. This is very interesting for owners to stay ahead of the competition and adapt quickly to changes in the industry. Staying ahead also means staying on top.

On top of that Preferred Plus partners provide advanced tools and resources that empower property managers to optimise their property’s performance, elevate guest experiences, and maximise their revenue potential. And of course all of these factors play an important role in your ranking, resulting in more revenue. 

‍

How do you choose the right connectivity provider? 

To ensure efficient rate management and correctly synchronised availability across all your OTAs, there are a number of qualities your connectivity provider should have. Based on these criteria, you can determine for yourself which channel manager is best suited for you.

Here is a checklist of what to look for when choosing a channel manager for your property:

1. A centralised dashboard to update prices and availabilities across all your OTAs at the same time
   To be able to react quickly to changes in the market, it is necessary to look for a channel manager that allows you to update prices and availability for all of your listings across OTAs from one central dashboard. 

2. Integrations with multiple OTAs
   Make sure that the channel manager you choose is integrated with all the OTAs you are listed on and more.

3. Efficient management of standard and calculated pricing plans
   Your channel manager must offer the possibility to create at least five calculated rate plans with specific restrictions derived from your standard rate plan. This is important for when you make any changes to your standard rate plan. This way you don’t need to update each of your other rate plans separately. 

4. Real-time synchronisation of availability
   Real-time synchronisation of availability across all connected OTAs eliminates the risk of double bookings, which is not only important for you as an owner, but also for your guests' satisfaction. 

5. Seamless connection with your website’s booking module
   An integration with your website’s booking module is essential to eliminate the risk of overbookings or inconsistencies. This is also crucial for increasing your direct bookings.

6. Integration possibilities to apply automated dynamic pricing
   A channel manager like Cubilis and a revenue management system are the perfect combo to optimise and automate your rate plans. Dynamic pricing algorithms determine the optimal rate for a given time period or booking situation. These algorithms can be tuned for many factors such as temperature, number of flights, etc. This assures you to always use the perfect prices for your rooms, which helps you maximise your revenue. 

7. Smooth integration with your Property Management Systems (PMS)
   This integration means you won’t need to manually capture reservation details in your internal systems, instead it automatically manages bookings.

Those are the most important criteria you should consider when choosing a channel manager for you. That is why we often advise Cubilis as channel manager for our clients, since it offers all of the functionalities above.

‍

Choose a reliable connectivity partner

The Otamiser Booster® implements the benefits of using channel managers that are Premium Connectivity Partners, like Cubulis in combination with our in-house created algorithm targeting 951 parameters to ensure your properties are ranked on top of the OTAs. 

‍

Cubilis has been our connectivity partner from the beginning. They offer a high-quality channel manager and an innovative solution with high-quality integrations and personal support in multiple languages. Request your 14-day free trial and experience the many advantages for your accommodation!