What is the difference between a website and a direct booking engine?
Website: Your property's marketing and advertising tool that showcases your accommodation, amenities, and location to potential guests.
Direct booking engine: The website that facilitates and processes online bookings.
Why should I connect my booking engine to my website?
For guests who find your property online and wish to book require a method to make a reservation. Without this connection:
Guests calling your property may encounter busy lines or unanswered calls
Guests emailing enquiries might face delays in response, losing their interest
Guests turning to OTAs can result in commissions on bookings that could have been direct
What if I don’t have a website yet?
Website builder provides a simple solution requiring no technical expertise, allowing users to create a professional website in hours, not weeks. It features built-in mobile optimisation for all devices, seamless booking engine integration, professional templates designed specifically for accommodation providers, and simple content management for updates and changes.
Do I need technical skills to connect my booking engine?
Using our Website builder: No technical knowledge required. The integration is built-in and automatically configured for optimal performance.
With an existing website: Some technical knowledge may be helpful. For custom websites, basic HTML knowledge or assistance from a web developer might be necessary.
How can I integrate my booking engine with social media?
Facebook: Add a Book Now button directly on your business page
Instagram: Place your booking link in your bio
TikTok: Include your booking link in your business profile bio
Twitter: Add your booking link to your profile
Use URL shorteners with tracking codes to measure which social media platforms drive the most bookings.
Where else can I integrate my booking engine?
Beyond your website and social media, connect to Google Hotel Ads, Trivago and TripAdvisor for direct bookings.
How can I increase my direct bookings?
Here are some ways to maximise your direct booking potential:
Place Book Now buttons prominently on every page of your website
Clearly communicate that direct bookings offer the best value
Create special packages only available through direct booking
Offer returning guests special perks for booking direct
I need to change my booking engine URL to reflect my new property name
Your booking engine URL (Direct Booking URL) includes a channelcode that typically contains your property name. Updating your property name in Property settings does not change this URL automatically. To update your property name in your booking engine URL, contact our support team. After the channel code is changed, update any booking links, buttons or widgets on your website that use the old URL.