Modern Tech Solutions that Generate More OTA Bookings

As an online travel agency, you’re always looking for new ways to generate more bookings.

To aid you in this all-important endeavor, you should aim to update, automate, and digitize your reservation and engagement services using modern tech solutions. Integrating with a varied suite of emerging tech systems and travel management services will help you do just that.

Here are the key integrations that are proven to generate more bookings for OTAs:

Expand your Inventory with a Global Distribution System

Integrating with a robust Global Distribution System (GDS) is one of the best things you can do to take your OTA booking rate to the next level.

This integration will grant you real-time access to a global conduit of travel bookers, accommodation providers, and vehicle suppliers. You will be kept abreast of the latest product and price changes, and you will be alerted whenever availability data goes live.

GDS integration will allow you to unlock the full potential of your OTA inventory by connecting you to a vast amount of airlines, hotels, and rental car providers. By expanding your suite of services and distributing it across a network of connected distribution channels, your users will be able to bundle up various travel deals and details for the same vacation. They will have the opportunity to reserve accommodation and transportation via a centralized platform, thereby alleviating the pain point of switching between dispersed booking systems, flight scanners, and rental vehicle suppliers.

As well as helping to make life much easier for your users, GDS integration will assist you in gaining valuable market exposure. Your travel services will be highlighted on platforms and devices across the globe, increasing your visibility tenfold and, in turn, vastly improving your chances of generating future bookings.

Sabre consistently ranks among the world’s best GDS solutions. By integrating Sabre into your OTA portal, your users will be able to shop worldwide hotels and airlines as well as the excursions/perks they offer. This optimized access will significantly improve the booker’s user experience and, in turn, have a profound effect on your brand image.

You can enable a cohesive, quick, and seamless GDS integration process by augmenting your skillset with a Sabre authorized developer. The right partner will provide both technical and non-technical support in the following areas:

• External implementations
• Setup and configuration
• Application support
• Troubleshooting
• Programming

Enhance your Ease of Use with Artificial Intelligence

Travelers, especially corporate ones, don’t want to trawl the Internet for hours on end in search of the best booking options. They demand ease of use and direct access to the latest deals.

When travelers find a booking process frustrating or fruitless, conversion rates drop and OTA brands take damage. 

By acknowledging these issues and making your booking platform as straightforward to use as possible, you can position your OTA as ‘user first’ and, in turn, cement your reputation as a go-to provider of seamless booking services.

Artificial intelligence enables this streamlined ease of use like nothing else on the modern tech market.

Powered by cutting-edge machine learning technology, cognitive AI tools can observe and interpret contextual online behavior. This allows them to generate massive datasets comprising of crucial information relating to the traveler’s booking specifications. The data observed in this instance includes:

• Search results
• Browsing habits
• Previous purchases
  
  Artificial intelligence uses this information to generate complex profiles that provide a clear insight into what the user wants from their next vacation. No matter what sub-niche form of travel the user searches for – whether it’s budget-friendly excursions, dog-friendly accommodation, horseback riding, or sustainable traveling – the AI integration will instantly scour the web for relevant booking options without human interaction. It will then provide the user with bespoke travel and accommodation choices that meet their exact preferences.

By providing this targeted, tailored, and timely level of service, you will enable your users to make quick and easy travel decisions. This ease of use will go a long way in convincing users to return to your OTA when they next require a travel booking service.

There’s No Time Like the Present When It Comes to OTA Integration

With their suitcases packed, boarding passes downloaded, and sunscreen at the ready, nomads from all four corners of the globe are eager to hit the road and take to the skies once again.

After a period of enforced inactivity, the travel industry is primed and ready for a surge in post-pandemic popularity. To ensure that you’re sufficiently prepared for the oncoming onslaught of customers, you should look to integrate a suite of modern tech solutions into your OTA booking system.

GDS and AI should be among the first integrations that you consider. These cutting-edge technologies will enable you to relieve accessibility and UX pain points that have long plagued the travel industry. By actively alleviating these issues, you will position your OTA as a reputable source of travel assistance, significantly improving your booking generation rate in the process.

No matter what contemporary technologies you choose to adopt, streamline your integration operation with a travel booking software development specialist. The right partner will have the skillset and expertise required to customize your booking system for hotels, flights, vehicle rentals, excursions, and more.