According to a report published by TripAdvisor and comScore in 2017, many people prefer to make their reservations through “one-stop” platforms because these platforms meet all the needs of travelers in one place.
For this reason, key players in the tourism industry welcome the sharing of tourism data with each other, and these connections are always growing.
The synonym of this growing connection, in the field of technology, is called API or web service. In this post, the most important tourism APIs, which are used to aggregate tourism information in one place, have been reviewed.
The main types of tourism APIs and how they work
Application programming interface or API creates data flow and connectivity between different software products.
What does this concept mean in the tourism industry? For example, if you own a hotel, you can connect your platform’s reservation system to car rental providers so that customers can rent their desired car directly through your website.
In the following, the most important tourism and travel APIs that are used to aggregate travel and tourism information in one place have been reviewed:
1. Global Distribution System (GDS) APIs for reservations
The main data source and booking point for online travel agencies (OTAs) are global distribution systems (GDS).
A GDS collects and aggregates travel data from a wide range of travel service providers, allowing travel agencies to book airline seats, trains, hotel rooms and car rentals for their customers.
GDSs mainly focus on five types of services in the tourism industry:
- – Airplane seats;
- – Hotel rooms;
- – Car rental;
- – Ship lines;
- – rail.
Review of GDS types
There are several GDSs in the tourism industry, and we have reviewed the most important ones below.
1. Amadeus flight tourism APIs: It has the following two sets of APIs:
- Self-Service APIs: Applications of this type of API:
– Flight search (including lowest rates, most booked destinations, cheapest dates)
– flight ticket reservation;
– Hotel search and reservation;
– airport and city search;
– Search for content about the destination;
– Planning the trip.
- Enterprise APIs: Enterprise tourism APIs cover the following ten types of services:
– air Lines;
– rail;
– Hotels;
– Car rental and transfer;
– Cruises;
– booking travel insurance;
– reservation management;
– queue management;
– payment management;
– Customer profiles.
2. Saber Tourism APIs: Saber divides its tourism APIs into the following seven groups:
– air Lines;
– Ground transportation (train and car rental);
– Cruises;
– Hotels;
– profiles;
– Travel management;
– Meeting management.
3. Travelport Tourism APIs: It has the following two sets of APIs:
- Travelport Universal API: Features of this API:
– Combination of three GDS named: Apollo, Worldspan and Galileo;
– Reservation and purchase of plane tickets;
– Content related to weather conditions;
– the location of the seats;
– Check rates.
- Travelport Trip Services API: This REST API overlaps with the Travelport Universal API; However, it makes it possible to search and make a reservation via mobile phone in an optimal way and at a higher speed. Features of this API:
– Searching, booking and buying plane tickets;
– Hotel search and reservation;
– Car search and rental;
– ticket refund;
– Payment support.
4. Travelfusion Tourism APIs:
It is a flight and accommodation information aggregator that works with low-cost and legacy airlines and provides XML APIs to travel agencies.
5. FlightsLogic Flight Tourism APIs:
FlightsLogic Flight API is a platform for travel service providers. This API provides flight information, rates and payment options. It also connects users to more than 200 low-cost airlines and more than 750 airlines.
6. Kiwi Tourism APIs:
The Kiwi.com platform processes low-cost flights and connects to around 750 airlines, including more than 250 low-cost airlines. Its set of tourism APIs includes the following data:
-Identifiers of airline companies and their logos;
– location data;
– standard flight search;
– general search;
– Reservation and payments.
2. Flight data API
With the help of this category of tourism APIs, you can have the general flight information (such as the price of each flight) on your website in an up-to-date manner, which we have reviewed below:
Skyscanner Tourism APIs: There are two main versions of this type of API:
- Browse Flight Prices: This API collection provides the user with flight prices based on the origin and destination and the specified time periods.
- Live Flight Prices API: To retrieve prices with the help of this API, you need to search the flight time and route accurately so that you can get more accurate prices at any moment.
FlightStats and Cirium flight data tourism APIs:
FlightStats API is a provider of international flight and travel applications (owned by Cirium). FlightStats APIs enable developers to customize travel software to meet business needs. FlightStats combines the following two main products.
- FlightStats Flex API: Features of this API:
– status of flights and routes;
– flight schedules;
– Airlines and airports;
– IATA airport codes;
– delay index;
– Scores (ranking of airports’ performance);
-climate;
-FIDS (flight information display systems available at airports).
- FlightStats Trip Data API: This suite focuses on improving the travel experience for travelers and travel agents and provides the necessary information regarding flight disruptions.
. . . .
3. Hotel room booking tourism APIs
There are two main players that set the rules of the OTAs (online travel agencies) and hotel room booking market: Booking Holdings and Expedia, which we have discussed below:
Expedia Tourism APIs:
- Expedia Connectivity API: Applications of this type of API:
– Instant updates on room availability and sending booking notifications to users;
– Product management, such as updating the data of all types of rooms and sending new features to users;
– Connect to Hotwire, Expedia’s online travel agency, use its services and update room data and set prices.
- Expedia Partner Solutions API or Expedia Affiliate Network (EPS or EAN): Uses of this API:
– Get the list of hotels;
– Reservation management;
– Access to content and geographical areas;
– search for travel plans;
– canceling the reservation;
-Receiving room pictures and hotel information;
– Definition of payment types.
(Booking.com, Kayak, Momondo,…) Booking Holdings:
- Priceline API:
It focuses only on online travel agencies and helps their customers find the travel data they need. Currently, Priceline API allows for hotel reservations, car rentals, flight reservations, and more.
- Booking.com: includes the following two services:
–Booking.API: Currently, Booking.API enables affiliates to search and book hotel rooms.
-Booking Connectivity API: Support for the following:
- – Contents;
- – Rates;
- – Reservations;
- -Advertising;
- – Report problems.
. . . .
4. Tourism APIs to connect hotels to suppliers
If you want your hotel to be visible in the list of travel agencies, you can use the following intermediary services:
Dhisco:
Dhisco enables connecting travel agencies, metasearch engines and GDSs to hotel chains.
API: DerbySoft tourism hotel reservation and content related to hotels:
DerbySoft communicates with a variety of hotels, integrates with some hotel management software such as Oracle Opera or TravelClick, and provides access to these software for more than 150 online travel agencies.
. . . .
5. Content tourism APIs and accommodation mapping
For many travelers, the pictures of the place of residence and its surroundings are very important. Some travelers also tend to compare the offers of different tour operators. Content tourism APIs help them in this regard.
GIATA API:
GIATA API connects to around 500 content providers such as tour operators and various travel agencies.
Its XML interface allows mapping at all levels, the possibility of searching for different content, from images and videos to comparing tour operators with each other.
Gimmonix Mapping.Works API:
Mapping Works is a set of APIs that help property owners and OTAs map their properties. This API works on two mapping levels: hotel mapping and room mapping.
TripAdvisor Content API:
This API allows searching for information about places, restaurants and tourist attractions and provides details such as location ID, property name, addresses and latitude and longitude.
. . . .
6. Tourism APIs for ratings and reviews
TripAdvisor Content Tourism APIs:
70% of people check nearly 20 different reviews before booking a travel service online. TripAdvisor is an authoritative source that contains more than 200 million registered reviews. The user can read the opinions of different people about a tourist attraction, hotel or restaurant and record his own opinion.
TripAdvisor Content API collects all types of content and comments registered by users and updates them on your website. Uses of this API:
- – Display location ID;
- – display the name and address of the place;
- – Longitude and latitude of the tourist place;
- – Reading and commenting;
- – Scores and awards;
- – Categories (price level, accommodation, type of attractions, restaurants and food).
. . . .
7. Car rental tourism APIs
Rentalcars.com:
If you are looking to add a car rental option to your website, you can consider their services. Because Rentalcars provides car rental in almost 163 countries and 60,000 different tourist locations.
CarTrawler:
CarTrawler is a B2B service that connects international travel agencies and airlines with local car rental suppliers. Currently, this company offers its services in 43,500 tourist locations in 190 countries.
. . . .
8. Tourism APIs related to public transportation
Google API: providing the following APIs for tracking routes and schedules:
- General Transit Feed Specification or (GTFS):
This type of API is used by transit app providers and transit agencies that share public transit data. This API only sends static data, meaning users can view schedules and routes, but not track delays and changes to schedules.
- GTFS Realtime:
As the name suggests, the main purpose of this service is to provide real-time data about delays and changes in schedules.
Local APIs:
APIs of local operators, such as the API of the Dutch Railways and the French National Railways, provide real-time updates and additional data (such as the possibility to rent a car or bike near a railway station). Besides, they also send real-time updates about the engineering work done or disruptions in the railway line.
. . . .
9. Tourism APIs related to business travel
Concur Tourism APIs:
Concur offers a cloud-based travel management platform where businesses can track and manage travel expenses in addition to booking flight seats, hotel rooms, and car rentals.
Tripit Tourism APIs:
Tripit, another product from Concur, integrates the user’s travel data such as flight, hotel and restaurant reservation confirmations, turning them into a neat and organized travel plan. Also, it provides data related to weather conditions to its users.
. . . .
10. Tourism API introducing tours, attractions and restaurants
Ticketmaster Tourism API:
Ticketmaster covers booking concerts, festivals, shows and sporting events throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, England, Ireland and other European countries. In 2016, it released the Commerce API, Discovery API, and Partner API to allow third parties to add the ability to search and book Ticketmaster events to their other services.
. . . .
11. Tourism APIs
Related to arranging travel packages
These types of tourism APIs enable custom travel packages such as travel tours, accommodations, and car rentals.
Bokun Tourism APIs:
Bokun API is a tourism service sales platform and marketplace that allows local travel service providers and accommodation owners to connect with travel agencies. This API provides the following facilities to travel agencies:
- – Tourist tours;
- -residence;
- – Car rental;
- -Cart;
- -Reserve.
Trekksoft Tourism APIs:
Trekksoft API focuses only on tourism and accommodation.
Redzy Tourism APIs:
Redzy API connects suppliers to travel agencies. Now, you can also use this API to create custom travel packages; Because it provides access to:
- – Tourist tours;
- – Car rental;
- – Charter flights;
- – Shuttle buses.