Channel managers provide connections to OTAs, agents and resellers, and often come with many other tools to increase efficiency and sales for tour operators
Channelling growth: the key to thriving in the tours and activities sector
Let’s start with the basics. The main function of a channel manager is to act as plumbing for your distribution. It is the pipe that connects your reservation system to online travel agencies (OTAs) and other resellers. This pipe, called an API, allows communication between the technology you use and the resellers. Many different functions can be built on top of this to help you sell more tickets and increase efficiency. Read our article on ‘What is a channel manager?‘ as your primer
Why are channel managers important?
Save time, effort, and money with Channel Managers centralising all your bookings in one place. Violeta Yonkova, API & Connectivity Specialist Manager at Palisis, describes the benefit of a channel manager this way, “If you want all of your bookings in one place, you need to use a channel manager. For example, let’s say you work with six or seven different online travel agents. Without a channel manager, you would have to log in to each of their portals to update your offerings and available time slots. The channel manager automates many manual processes, so you only have one portal to update.”
Another time-saving benefit is that, with a channel manager, when technical issues come up, you can have one point of contact to help you fix the problem instead of having to coordinate troubleshooting across multiple platforms. “Blockages are inevitable when trying to make multiple systems talk to each other,” says Violeta. “With TourCMS as your channel manager, we will support and troubleshoot for you.”
Additionally, a channel manager increases your revenue possibilities by maximising your availability across all channels and OTAs. In a res tech without a channel manager, the number of agents you can work with is limited because of all the manual work that goes into setting up and maintaining different agent platforms while ensuring you don’t overbook across the other OTAs. With a channel manager, if you have one or two timeslots left for the day, they will go to whichever channel claims them first instead of possibly leaving slots empty and missing out on revenue because you guessed incorrectly which channel could fill those bookings.
Not only can a channel manager increase your revenue, but it will also help you keep better track of where your revenue and sales are coming from. Gone are the days of manually creating reports through spreadsheets that may or may not be totally accurate. A good channel manager will make it much easier to create those same reports, but with more accuracy and less time commitment.
Channel managers are for everyone
At its core, using a channel manager is simply digitalising and automating. In the same way that airlines, hotels, etc., have all digitalised, every tour and activity company could benefit from using a channel manager. “Every channel manager might not be right for your tour company, and at TourCMS, part of our consultation is seeing if we are a good fit. We will always be honest about that,” Violeta explains. But no matter which channel manager you choose, your business will improve, and you will have more control over each sales channel.
OTA relationships
As a QC expert, Violeta proactively reaches out to customers when spotting the potential for discrepancy based on how the reseller checks availability. In Common Connectivity Challenges Explained, we lay out strategies for manoeuvring challenges.
Let’s take, for example, our Advance Connectivity Partner status with GetYourGuide, which we rank as one of the top 10 res tech solutions. Plus, we’ve been awarded the prestigious 2024 ELITE Connectivity Partner award by Expedia Group, which is given to only two top companies.
This recognition is a direct result of our proactive approach to watching, responding, and resolving errors efficiently. Our speedy resolution directly correlates to our performance stability and seamless experience by both customers and resellers, placing TourCMS by Palisis as a highly reliable reservation system.
Channel management is a hot topic at industry conferences
Eduard Marti is taking the stage at Arival Berlin 2024 to dive deep into Channel Management and how it’s for everyone. If you are attending Arival, don’t miss this panel session as we investigate and debunk the complexities and nuances of channel management, a topic Eduard is deeply passionate about.
“I am genuinely excited about my team’s participation in Arival Berlin. The conference is renowned for its data-driven town halls, engaging debates, insights from OTAs, and presentations with practical, creative workshops. I’m particularly thrilled to be sharing my expertise in distribution and channel management. A standout moment for me will be taking the stage alongside colleagues and partners who bring deep knowledge on strategically enhancing connectivity to OTAs and resellers for our suppliers,” shared Eduard Marti, CRO at Palisis.
Channel management case study
Increasing sales and opening new OTA distribution channels was vital to Cesarine’s strategic growth plan—this culinary activities and experiences operator sought a stable channel manager and distribution partner. Their past res tech provider did not meet their needs precisely because of their vast catalogue of experiences.
A smart, responsive solution allows them to manage capacity, monitor availability and avoid overbooking, all with a small core operational team.
“We receive bookings very reliably and smoothly with the connection between Palisis, OTAs, and our subsystem. Palisis is a smart system”
Martina Giuberi at Cesarine
In Martina’s role, the automation that Palisis/ TourCMS enables bulk changes makes her job so much easier. “The massive benefit for me is that all the products can be changed through Palisis. For example, if I need to modify pricing, I can do this with a single click, and the pricing for all our departures will update automatically.”
The future of channel management
Over the last few years, channel managers have evolved and improved to be even better for tours, activities, and attractions. More and more OTAs and channel management providers are recognising the benefits of standardisation. Instead of every agent having unique field names and APIs having to map to different fields for each OTA, having a single standard across the industry is becoming more common, which will benefit everyone.
On the agent side, more OTAs are being proactive about pulling information from the client side of an API beyond just slot availability. At Palisis, we expect that channel management will only continue to become more critical for the success of travel operators.
Palisis is your connectivity “tour guide”
Have you left a sales meeting feeling like the salesperson only understood half of your business model? Our team of experts sits down to also discuss each department’s needs, how to digitalise, product mapping, and growth plans.
Our team’s consultation style sets us apart. We are there to identify optimisations and truly dig into all aspects of the business with our holistic approach to seeing the entire business model, including future plans.
Don’t worry about needing to be an API expert. We’re here to walk you through everything and alert you when connections are malfunctioning. Palisis developers, engineers, and QA bring a technical prowess that relays into dependable and future-forward features. We never oversell, and our team confidently communicates if a fit is wrong.
Discover how Belvedere Museum, one of Vienna’s most iconic attractions, has leveraged Palisis since 2021 to enhance its operations, expand its reach, and deliver exceptional visitor experiences. With a seamless implementation process, competent support, and constant upgrades, Palisis has become its trusted Channel Manager and connectivity hub.
Register for a free trial on TourCMS today. Our team will reach out to talk you through the setup process and work out which OTAs and partners will be best suited to your needs. You can also arrange a call with our team on our contact page.