APIs in the Travel and Tourism Industry

Digitalisation does not stop at tourism either. Increasingly complex requirements for flexibility and effectiveness in interaction with the customer require new technologies with which the offers can be brought as close as possible to the target person. Making potential customers aware of special travel arrangements that are suitable for them requires advanced applications that can only be implemented with APIs.

Offers from the travel industry often reach their target group in an unusual contact situation. There is a core segment that is looking for the most advantageous offer with concrete travel plans and objectives. The vast majority of future travel customers, however, have not yet consciously realized their desire to consume.

People who carry their holiday plans around with them as a subliminal background noise in the back of their mind can become high-quality leads if they are picked up in the right way. This can happen in many different ways, but when the first interest is aroused and the lead is about to qualify, procedures and processes must be put in place that will not resist the project as much as possible and that will additionally support and promote it through suitable, intelligent processes. This is one of the strengths of APIs in the tourism industry.

Through the use of APIs, a cooperative interaction between hotels, airlines and customers trimmed to effectiveness becomes a reality. However, this is only the core area of API functionality.

The customer particularly evaluates the product benefit of a tourist offer by the additional service offers on site, which the tour operator makes accessible to him in an uncomplicated way - from the rental car to the concert to the excursion. Here, too, APIs can provide the customer with effortless access routes.

For the organizer, the use of APIs means a noticeable increase in efficiency. The technology allows the optimal organization of contingents, which leads to better results on the booking platforms.

APIs allow to embed booking masks in any other web offer, if desired with the complete functionality of the travel portal. This opens up completely new ways in advertising and sales promotion. Additional value can be generated through additional services delivered via APIs. For example, the displayed travel offer can be enriched with tourist information, the current calendar of events or visitor information on cultural facilities and sights.

A particular strength of APIs in tourism is their direct contact with customers. The technology makes it possible to break down even complex information structures into the compact form factor of mobile end devices and thus provide the customer with the entire functionality and real-time communication directly in his hand.

For the provider, this means that contingents can be checked at the moment they arise. For the customer, this means that offers appear on his display the second they are made available for use. For both sides, this means that current offers can be booked without delay, linked to suitable offers from third-party providers and presented to the customer as a comprehensive, convenient travel package.

APIs offer the travel industry new perspectives for generating qualified leads and accelerating and intensifying concrete business processes. In particular, the combination of proprietary offerings with third-party value-added and optimized traffic between providers are a clear signal for the increased use of APIs.