It's essential for hotels to maintain a strong online presence across multiple channels, as this broadens their reach and makes it easier for potential guests to discover them. Being on OTA sites like Booking.com or Agoda increases visibility, bookings, and results in more revenue. To avoid overbookings and price discrepancies, a channel manager synchronises all changes related to price, policies, and availability in real-time, 24/7. This way, you don’t have to update each channel manually.
Time and efficiency are key when updating prices and occupancy on your online distribution channels. That’s why we have revamped our Booking.com configuration page, making mapping and synchronisation quick and easy without contacting the SabeeApp Support Team. The power over your rates, policies, and room type settings is in your hands.
In this article, we show you how to use the Booking.com self-mapping feature to maximise efficiency.
What's new?
Previously, after completing the configuration table, you needed to contact support. Now you can do it yourself, quickly and easily. When you need to map certain changes, simply fill out the relevant section in the configuration table and press Update. Here’s an overview of how to map your changes between SabeeApp and Booking.com.
To make any changes, you first need to access your connected OTAs. To access the connected channels, navigate to Distribution-Channel Manager. Here you can see the list of all the channels, including the ones already connected.
Room type management
You can add new room types or set the status between deactivation and reactivation of them.
- After selecting the Booking.com Hotel ID, click on the "Show edit settings" button to reveal a detailed table.
- To create a room type that is not available in the Booking.com extranet, click on the edit icon in the "Action" column and choose 'Create new room type on Booking.com'.
- You can fine-tune the room type's attributes in the "Available units on Booking.com" section under Settings/Roomtypes.
- Once you have created the room type and added rooms, it will instantly appear in the “Roomtype Management” section.
- Please note, that if a room type is already active on the Booking.com extranet, there's no need to replicate it in SabeeApp.
- You can activate or deactivate room types on the Booking.com extranet using the slider. This action deactivates the room type on Booking.com, and you won't be able to receive new reservations until you reactivate it.
- Note that if there are active mappings with a room type and you choose to deactivate it, the mappings will be deleted.
- To reactivate it, you'll need to remap it in the synchronisation settings section.
To map already existing room types, click on the pen icon and select the "Connect with existing room type" option.
Rateplan management
Let’s see how to add or update existing rateplans.
- Rateplans can be managed in the "Rateplan Management on Booking.com" section.
- Click the "Show Edit settings" button to view a table populated with all existing rateplans specific to the HotelID you're working with.
- You can deactivate or reactivate specific rate plans here, similar to how it's done in the Roomtype Management section.
- When adding a new rateplan to the Booking.com extranet, click the "Add rateplan" button. A new row will appear in the table, allowing you to name your rate plan and assign a meal plan. Once details are set, click "Create" to finalise. Your new rate plan will be added to the chosen extranet within seconds.
You can always add or change the meal plan assigned to a specific rateplan in the Meal plan column. The activation date of a rateplan will be displayed in the “Prices” menu, under the “Select channel” section when it is connected.
If a rate plan is already created in the Booking.com extranet, there's no need to duplicate it in SabeeApp.
Policy management
Ensuring consistency across all your channels is crucial for maintaining trust and clarity with your guests. To ensure your policies are accurately communicated on Booking.com, you can seamlessly map them with those created in SabeeApp.
Hover over the question mark icon in the SabeeApp policies column in the “Policy Management” section to view policy details for smooth mapping. The Booking.com policies column displays Booking.com's policies along with descriptions.
To map the policies, simply select a Booking.com policy from the dropdown list corresponding to the SabeeApp policy. Remember, you can update policies at any time, and each Booking.com policy can only be mapped to one SabeeApp policy.
Updating room rates
The room rate is a combination of a room price and a rate plan with specific conditions. You can easily update the room rates in a few single steps.
To begin, select the relevant Booking.com HotelID. Then, navigate to "Synchronisation settings" and click on "Add new". A new line will appear where you can start mapping. Fill in the fields with the appropriate information and click "Update". Your mapping between the two platforms is now complete.
Now, let’s see the two most common examples of using the Booking.com self-mapping feature!
Example 1: Connect a new room type and establish a connection with a new Booking.com account
- In the Booking.com extranet, select SabeeApp as the Channel Manager.
- Go to the "Settings/Room types" menu in SabeeApp and create new room types. Provide the necessary details in the "Available Unit on Booking.com" section.
- Add rooms to the newly created room type in the "Settings/My Rooms" menu.
- Set Up Hotel ID. ID of their Booking.com account which contains numbers
- Navigate to "Distribution/Channel Manager/Booking.com" and click on the "Add new Hotel ID" button.
- Specify the Booking.com HotelID along with its currency.
- Select the newly added HotelID in the "Select Booking.com Hotel ID" table.
- Go to the "Room type Management" section and locate the room type you just created in SabeeApp.
- Specify the HotelID and select a Booking.com room type name. Click the pen icon and select the "Create a new room type on Booking.com" option. Your room type will be generated in the Booking.com extranet.
- To complete the mapping, navigate to the "Synchronisation Settings" section, add the necessary mapping details, and click the "Update" button.
- Your room rate will be successfully synchronised with Booking.com.
Example 2: Connect an already existing room type and establish a connection with a new Booking.com account
- In the Booking.com extranet, select SabeeApp as the Channel Manager.
- Return to SabeeApp and go to the Booking.com configuration page.
- To set up the hotel ID, click on the "Add new HotelID" button. Then select the HotelID and map the policies in the Policy Management section.
- To map the roomtype, select the Booking.com Hotel ID in SabeeApp and navigate to the Roomtype Management section.
- Click on the pen icon next to the room type you want to map and select the "Connect with existing roomtype" option.
Benefitting from a Channel Manager
If you have a hotel, you likely use a PMS that suits your needs. Like almost every hotel, you probably have a presence on online travel agencies such as Booking.com, Agoda, Expedia, and others. Being on multiple channels offers great advantages, provides a wider reach and will likely increase your revenue. However, it also poses the risk of overbooking or losing revenue due to missed occupancy and price updates. A channel manager handles exactly that, ensuring all your data is synced across all platforms, 24/7. If you are considering upgrading your PMS or getting a channel manager, don’t hesitate to check out ours. We offer all the solutions needed to take your property to the next level.
Conclusion
Booking.com has been the world’s leading OTA for quite some time. Any changes you make to your room types, occupancy, or rates should be mapped correctly on Booking.com instantly. The self-mapping function eliminates the need to call our support team to finalise the mapping and allows you to do it with just a few clicks. We hope you found this guide useful and can use the self-mapping function with ease. If you have any questions regarding self-mapping or any other features, check out our website or reach out through this link!