Channel Manager

What is a Channel Manager?

A Channel Manager is a tool used by hotels and other tourist accommodations to centralize and manage hotel bookings across online reservation channels such as Booking, Expedia, Airbnb and others.

This system allows real-time updates of any price or availability changes, providing the hotel with details of new bookings, modifications, cancellations, credit card information and more. It is software designed to centralize and automate the management of all sales channels in a single control panel.

In short, it’s a system developed to automate the inventory of room allotments published by hotels on different channels. This way, when a reservation is made through any platform, it is automatically reflected and updated in real time across the rest of the channels. It is a tool designed to meet the needs of hotels and other types of tourist accommodations, such as hostels, B&Bs, aparthotels and vacation rental properties.

How does a Channel Manager work?

1. Channel integration: The Channel Manager first connects with different online sales channels such as OTAs, booking websites and other distribution portals.
2. Availability updates: It allows hotels to update room availability in real time across all connected channels. This means that when a room is booked on one channel, availability is automatically updated everywhere else, avoiding overbookings.
3. Rate synchronization: Besides availability, the Channel Manager also synchronizes room rates across all platforms, ensuring price consistency and avoiding confusion for travellers.
4. Booking management: When a reservation is made on any connected channel, the Channel Manager receives the booking information and records it in the hotel’s system, centralizing all reservations in one place for easy management.
5. Reports and analytics: The Channel Manager provides detailed reports and analytics on bookings and performance across channels, helping hotels evaluate their distribution strategy and make informed decisions to maximize revenue.

PaynoPain and Channel Managers: discover our connections

Throughout more than 15 years in the payments industry, we’ve worked with multiple channel managers.