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Where do the many hotel booking websites get their hotel data? ie. # of free rooms within certain dates, price per night, etc. Is it possible to get the data somewhere and handle booking myself, i.e customers book and pay through my website? Or is this only possible through apis? If so, which apis can I use? |
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There are huge companies that manage relationships with the various airlines, hotel chains, rental car services, etc. and make that information available to those who pay them. |
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Late answer, but may be useful. I saw an operation of this kind in Birmingham, UK and they primarily sourced their data by having a telesales team constantly in contact with hotel booking teams. They were able to offer a specialised service to TV/film crews (who change plans at the drop of a hat) by virtue of their up-to-date data, and web/mobile availability. |
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Might be worth checking out hotelsbase -though the data ain't live |
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They usually get this information from direct contact with the hotels or some contract with tourist agencies that collect them. You do not specifically ask, but the way this is organized vary by country and in each country different systems created by tourists agencies may exists. Also, in each town that is tourist place this information is usually collected by local tourist information centers. "Booking" part involves some logistics and may require direct contact with the hotels or some booking system but this again varies by country. |
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