Constantine Nikolaou - Solutions Architect | May 2025 Breaking Barriers: Lessons Learned from API integrations with large Hotel Chains 

Use Slido for questions and to leave me feedback Slido: #1868996 Please scan the QR code 

3 I’m Constantine Nikolaou. Professional background in Software Development, Startups, Scale-ups and currently working for one of the largest OTAs in the world. Netherlands is home since 2018. Husband. Father to a 3.5 year old daughter. Joined Booking.com in November 2019 as a Solutions Architect, a few weeks before the world halted for covid. About me Agnes Monkelbaan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons 

April 2025 

Booking.com Presentation name “ Make it easier for everyone to experience the world Booking.com Mission Statement 

I work in Connectivity for Professional Services—bridging hospitality tech companies, tech teams, and travelers. It is about making connections simpler—not just for technology, but also for people. My role at Booking.com Photo taken from the Booking.com Amsterdam office, Constantine N. - April 2025 

7 Disneyland Paris 

8 8 Story time Family Travel How we tried to make it easier for families with children to book rooms on Booking.com Hotel Onboarding Last Available Room How we tried to speed up the process of onboarding between a Global Hotel Chains and Booking.com How we convinced Global Hotel Chains to give us the Last Available Room I would like to share 3 stories with you about my experience working with 3 of the largest Global Hotel Chains. 

9 a Global Hotel Chains intro But first… 

10 10 Global Hotel Chains: definition A group of hotels operating under the same brand that follows a standardized business model, IT systems, processes and share the following key characteristics: 1. Standardization 2. Centralized Management 3. Brand Consistency 4. Global Footprint 5. Ownership Models The Chain HQ often acts as a centralised service organisation to support the hotels. Source: https://www.altexsoft.com/blog/hotel-groups-chains-brands/ 

11 11 Integrating diverse technology stacks (10+ PMSs per chain, legacy CRS, regulatory and location restrictions) Achieving cross-functional alignment, as integration touches product, ops, IT, revenue, legal, and compliance on both sides Navigating legacy infrastructure and technical debt, where a minor API change can have broad, unpredictable operational impacts Empowering and supporting Chains to try new approaches (e.g. offering new room types, rate structures, bundled rates etc …) Delivering real-time, robust integrations that directly impact overbooking, accuracy of data and the guest experience Unlocking access to new market segments (e.g. family and group travelers, underserved regions) There are challenges and opportunities How is it like to work with Chains on Connectivity? ..and solving at scale 

12 Skift, "The World’s Largest Hotel Chains," March 2024 Global Hotel Chains: World’s largest by number of rooms 

13 High-level Typical Workflow between Hotel & OTA Hotel B Provider A Provider B Hotels Channel Manager CRS CMS PMS B Global Hotel Chain Connectivity Providers OTAs Booking.com OTA 2 OTA 3 PMS C PMS A Hotel A Hotel C Inventory Content 

14 14 01 Story #1 How we tried to make it easier for families with children to book rooms on Booking.com Family Travel 

15 1. Families are a high-value audience. 2. On average, families tend to spend more than solo travelers or couples. 3. Families have the second-longest stays, making them a very important customer segment. “Family travel is 40% of US leisure market” (Skift) Multi-generational travel is on the rise, with 31% of surveyed travelers showing interest in trips that include parents, grandparents, and children, and 46% of family travel now involving multiple generations (Skift - October 2024) Source: Skift - U.S. Travel Trends Q2 2024: Insights into Family Travel. N = 1,021 Why families are important? 

16 16 Searching for a family stay Search results without optimised inventory Search results with optimised inventory Same chain hotel in Madrid, Spain Different chain hotel in Paris, France 

17 1. We looked at the data on Booking.com 2. We identified 5 gaps 3. We initiated conversations with Chains 4. We received feedback and learned 5. We offered advice, support and guidance What did we do? Occupancy does not cover all beds Findings: 5 Occupancy Gaps Non-optimal occupancy settings Child rates do not cover all children Flexible child rates do not cover all rooms and rate plans Infant occupancy is not utilised nor classified 1 2 3 4 5 

18 What does a Connectivity solution look like? Current Connectivity Usage Proposed Connectivity Usage To Fix Occupancy To Fix Bed Set Up For Chains that are connected to Booking.com and are using OTA_HotelInvNotif API endpoint (part of RRM API), changes were easy to make and push to Booking.com. For Chains that are not connected to Booking.com via API, the global operations team is processing the updates manually. To Add Payable Children 

19 19 Impact Ongoing initiative. Global Hotel Chains that have the API implemented, are making changes themselves, from their own systems. Most importantly, eliminate booking barriers so families can seamlessly reserve rooms that fit their needs perfectly. 19 

20 20 02 Story #2 How we tried to speed up the process of onboarding between a Global Hotel Chains and Booking.com Hotel Onboarding 

21 1. Average time to onboard a new hotel to Booking.com can range from a few days to up to 2 weeks. Delay mean loss of business. 2. Manual and multi-step process: property registration, verification of details, property setup, and final approvals. 3. Process relies on exchange of information using spreadsheets according to predefined SLOs. Better onboarding experience at Beds24 resulted in 40% decrease of properties with 0 bookings - Beds24 After completing Seamless Experience Accelerator (SEA) and modular API implementation, reported that 50–60% of their properties now onboard in as little as 1 day (previously “could take anywhere from 3 days to 2 months”) - STAAH Why property onboarding is important? 

22 22 How the Connectivity solution used to look like? An API with a single interface covering multiple use cases. The API is OTA_HotelDescriptiveContentNotif. The API did not cover all onboarding use-cases, properties still needed to contact the Booking team in advance for manual steps before being able to connect and become Open Bookable. The API used an overlay concept every time an update is made. Needless to say, this API was not useful nor attractive to our partners. Most importantly, Global Hotel Chains cannot use it. Example snippet from the OTA_HotelDescriptiveContentNotif API payload 

23 Around 2 years ago, we set ourselves up to modernize our APIs, starting with onboarding and driven by the increasing demand for automation from the Home segment. What did we do? To support the modernization efforts, the Professional Services team tailored an intensive workshop with partners that aims to accelerate the efforts to adopt the newly developed modularised APIs. Property Settings API Property Details API Contracting API 1 2 3 Licenses API Facilities API 4 5 Foundational solutions for the Home segment: Charges API 6 

24 24 Impact Ongoing initiative. Multiple sources confirm that the adoption of modular Content and onboarding APIs by providers has substantially accelerated the onboarding of new properties. Improvements extend beyond the API connection to also touch the overall onboarding experience of properties such as: reducing manual work, errors, and unnecessary delays. We set the invitative in motion, used an experiment approach, closely collaborated with partners for feedback to build APIs that work for their needs. After successful validation in the Home segment, we are now trying to apply the learnings with the Global Hotel Chains in mind. 24 

25 25 03 Story #3 How did we convince Chains to give us the last available room Last available room 

26 1. Global Hotel Chains are connected to multiple OTAs to sell their inventory. 2. Global Hotel Chains run their own full fledged direct digital channel, brand.com. 3. Booking.com sells inventory that is provided by partners. 4. Overbooking is a significant operational and financial problem for Global Hotel Chains and Booking.com. When they occur, they impact guest satisfaction, partner relationships, and cost money. Why live availability check is important? 

27 What did we do? Starting around 2020, Booking.com began partnering with major chains (e.g., Accor among others) to implement Live Availability Checks across all channels (Desktop, Mobile Web and Mobile). Guest Booking.com Chain A CRS 1. Guest selects a room to book 2. Check if the room is still available 3. Room is still available 4. Room is no longer available 3.1. Allow guest to proceed 4.1. Redirect guest to alternative options Generic and simplified LAC workflow 

28 28 For Chain A: The removal of the 5-room threshold in exchange for a led to a 93% reduction in reservation fallbacks and an 80% reduction in overbookings during the pilot phase. For Chain B: Over 2,000 reservations annually previously involved availability issues, with the live check project reducing costly guest relocations by at least 80%, saving up to 200€ per relocation instance and significantly improving Customer Satisfaction and review scores. For Chain C: Within 4 months from launching the service, 1600+ new rooms were added leading to an increase of +3000 room nights. Data from pilots directly informed scaling these solutions to other Global Hotel Chains. Despite popularity, this service is restricted for Global Hotel Chains for the moment. Impact 28 

29 29 Summary 1. Data driven decisions 2. Experiment, learn, improve 3. Focus on your real customer 

Thank you! Slido: #1868996