The channel manager for hotels, B&Bs and holiday lets.

A channel manager is the software that keeps your property's rates, availability and restrictions in sync across every channel where you sell (Booking.com, Airbnb, Expedia, your website, GDS…). When a booking comes in on any of them, it automatically removes that inventory from the others, so you never sell the same room twice. Without one, you have to update every extranet by hand, with the risk of overbooking and of losing sales by leaving allotments closed for too long.

The PMS manages what happens inside the property, such as the room calendar, check-in and check-out, invoicing, housekeeping or guest records. The channel manager manages what happens outside, the distribution of your rooms across sales channels. In Avirato the two are the same product, so a Booking.com booking goes straight into the calendar and a room blocked for maintenance disappears from the OTAs without you having to do anything.

No. Avirato charges no commission on bookings that come in through the channel manager, nor any extra cost for connecting new channels. You pay your plan fee and connect as many channels as you need. The only commissions you still pay are each OTA's own, according to the agreement you have with them.

Yes. You can try Avirato's complete platform, channel manager included, free for 20 days with no credit card. After that, the Advanced plan includes the channel manager permanently, with no separate fee and no time limit. Our technical team helps you with the initial mapping of rooms and rates so the set-up doesn't depend on you.

Avirato connects to more than 450 OTAs and channels across online travel agencies, metasearch engines, GDS and wholesalers, including Booking.com, Airbnb, Expedia, Agoda, Vrbo, Google Hotel Ads, trivago, Tripadvisor, Amadeus, Sabre, Travelport and Hotelbeds. You can switch on as many as you want with no limit or surcharge, and manage several channel IDs or different rates per OTA from a single panel.

A GDS (Global Distribution System) is a wholesale network used by travel agencies and companies to book accommodation, flights or cars. Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport are the main ones. For a hotel, being on a GDS means reaching corporate travellers and professional travel agencies, a segment with longer stays and less seasonality than individual leisure travellers.

A metasearch engine compares, on a single screen, the prices offered by several OTAs and by the hotel's own website for the same dates. The most widely used are Google Hotel Ads, trivago, Tripadvisor and Kayak. Well connected to your booking engine, they let you show your direct rate next to Booking.com's and win back bookings that would otherwise have gone to an OTA.

Changes to rates, availability and restrictions reach the channels within seconds, not in update cycles of several minutes. That is what lets you work with aggressive revenue management strategies, such as raising the price at a demand peak or opening last-minute allotment, without being left selling at an out-of-date rate.

It depends on what your property needs, so it is worth comparing on criteria and not just on a name. A good channel manager should connect the channels where you sell (Booking.com, Airbnb, Expedia), be built into the PMS so nothing is typed twice, sync rates and availability in seconds and charge no commission per connected channel. Avirato's connects to more than 450 channels and sits inside the PMS, next to the booking engine. When comparing Avirato with Cloudbeds, SiteMinder, Mews, Little Hotelier, Amenitiz or eviivo, ask each provider how many channels it connects, whether the channel manager is its own or a third party's, whether it charges per channel or per booking and whether the PMS and booking engine come in the same system.

Connect both to a channel manager. Avirato connects with Booking.com and Airbnb, and a booking from either one goes into the PMS calendar and removes that availability from the other within seconds, so there are no two calendars to update by hand and no risk of selling the same room twice. Our team does the initial mapping of rooms and rates with you.

Yes. It works for any property that sells by rooms, apartments or units, including hotels, B&Bs and guest houses, holiday lets, villas and campsites. Each unit is linked to its equivalent on every channel, such as Booking.com, Airbnb or Vrbo, and shares the same inventory with your website and your front desk.