Mapping involves linking the rate plans you have in your OTA's extranet with those you have set up in the Hotel Link channel manager.
What is mapping?
OTA mapping is a crucial process that ensures seamless and accurate communication between your property's rate plans in the Hotel Link channel manager and the rate plans offered on your Online Travel Agencies (OTAs).
When mapping is required?
Once the connection between the channel manager and the OTA is approved, the next crucial step is to initiate the mapping process. While the process of connecting the Hotel Link channel manager to various OTAs shares similarities, it's important to note that each OTA has its distinct set of requirements. For detailed instructions on how to connect the Hotel Link channel manager to a specific OTA, please refer to the Channel Manager section in this help portal.
How does a two-way connection work?
When a rate plan is mapped between the channel manager and the OTA, the availability, rates, and restrictions are transmitted to the OTA. Please note that not all restrictions are synchronized with every OTA.
When a reservation is made on the OTA for a particular rate plan, the OTA transfers the reservation to the channel manager. This bidirectional link forms a two-way connection that not only sends availability, rates, and restrictions but also receives and processes reservations.
Is it necessary to map all rate plans I have on the OTA?
Mapping all your rate plans from your OTA is essential to ensure accurate reservation processing by the channel manager. If certain rate plans are not mapped in your OTA, reservations for those specific plans will not be forwarded to the channel manager.
How to do mapping in Hotel Link?
Upon receiving confirmation from our support team that the OTA connection request has been approved, it's essential to promptly proceed with the mapping process. By this stage, you should already have the necessary information to activate the OTA connection. In most cases, you'll need your OTA ID, your username, and sometimes a password. You'll also need to select the currency used in the OTA you're about to map. Follow the steps below to complete the mapping with any OTA in Hotel Link extranet:
- Go to Channel Manager and select the OTA to be mapped.
- On the 'Instructions' tab, you will find specific information about the selected OTA, including details like 'Coverage', 'Distribution', 'How to Connect', 'Data Connected', 'Booking Retrieval,' and more. Click on 'Map Channel' or proceed directly to the 'Mapping' tab.
- Enter the necessary information into the required fields. Certain OTAs such as Booking.com, Agoda, and Expedia only require your OTA ID, while others like Despegar require your OTA ID, password, and username.
- Once you have entered all the details, click 'Fetch Rooms'. By clicking on 'Fetch Rooms' the channel manager will access the OTA system to retrieve the complete list of rate plans available.
- After the retrieval of the rate plans is complete, a table will appear on the screen showing rate plans retrieved from the OTA on the left, and the rate plans in Hotel Link on the right. If this is your initial connection to the OTA, you'll see that no rate plans mapped (None). In the case of reactivating a previously deactivated OTA, you might see the old/previous rate plan mapping.
- The next step is to link the rate plans on the right with the respective rate plans on the left.
- When all rate plans are linked, and before saving the mapping, you have the option to adjust the rates that are going to be sent to the OTA using the 'Rate Adjustment' field. Enter the percentage amount to adjust the rate sent to the channel. A positive percentage will increase the rate on the channel by that specific percentage amount. To decrease the rate sent to the channel, enter negative values.
- After mapping the rate plans, carefully review and ensure accurate mapping of room types and rate plans between OTA and Channel Manager. This is vital, as OTA bookings will be directed to the matched Channel Manager rate plans.
- Click 'Save' and all the connected data will be sync between OTA and Channel Manager.