Creating channels
Channels are used to create insight into how a reservation was made. Your own website and the back office have their own channel, and there are dedicated owner channels as well. Many OTA integrations automatically create a channel for themselves, for some this needs to be done manually.
You can create any channel to suit your needs. For instance, you can set up a separate channel for seasonal camping sites.
New channel
Via the cogwheel, go to Channels in the administration settings. Click +New and enter the necessary details. Below, there are a few notable settings.
Type: reseller or touroperator
It is important to know how invoicing works for a channel. If guests pay you directly when booking through this channel, it is a reseller. The channel is a tour operator if the payment is initially collected by the channel partner and then paid out to you.
Allow access to all reservations
If there is an API link, you can use this setting to allow the channel partner to view all data from your reservations, including reservations that were not made through this channel. A channel partner can use this information for marketing purposes.
Linked agencies
Here you only need to link the channel partner's travel agency account if so requested by the relevant channel.
Invoicing of rent and costs
To whom you invoice the rent is related to the channel type; reseller or tour operator. For a reseller you choose 'guest' and for a tour operator you choose 'channel'.
Then, choose to whom you invoice the costs. With 'one setting for all costs' it is easy to match the choice you made for the rent, or you can make deviating choices for specific costs with 'configure per cost'.
A common example is that all costs are paid through the channel, except the tourist tax. In this case, you have to indicate for the specific cost item 'tourist tax' that this should be invoiced to the guest.
Other invoicing settings
These settings are about invoicing in relation to confirming the reservation.
- Do you want to allow confirmation of a reservation if the downpayment/payment has not yet been made?
- Do you want to confirm reservations via this channel immediately (automatically)?
- Do you want to immediately send a channel invoice via e-mail for each reservation?
- Are guests allowed to pay upon arrival?
Payment policies
If the channel is a reseller, you must set a payment policy for guest invoices. If the channel is a tour operator, you must set a payment policy for both the channel and guest invoice. Read more about payment policies for a channel here.
Contact details
Enter the contact details of the channel and save the changes.