What it is
A channel manager is a system that connects your properties to the sites where you list them, such as Airbnb, Booking, Expedia, Vrbo or Despegar, and keeps the same information on all of them.
When a booking comes in on one site, it closes those nights on the others. When you change a rate or a restriction, it sends it to every channel. The goal is to never sell the same nights twice and to stop logging into every extranet.
What it syncs
- Availability: which nights are open and which are sold or blocked.
- Nightly rates and, depending on the system, a different rate for each site.
- Restrictions: minimum stay, arrival and departure days.
- Bookings: they come into the system on their own, with the guest details each site sends.
API connection or exported calendar
There are two ways to connect a site. An API connection is direct: information travels instantly in both directions and includes rates, restrictions and bookings.
The other way is to use the calendar each site exports. It is free, but it only passes booked nights, not rates, and it refreshes every so often, not instantly. In that gap a second booking for the same nights can come in.
Channel manager vs. PMS
The channel manager takes care of the booking sites. A PMS (property management system) takes care of operations: bookings, guests, cleanings, team, payments and each owner’s money.
For a property manager with several units, it is practical to have both in the same system: a booking comes in from a site and already creates its cleaning, its payment and its line in the owner statement.
What to check before choosing one
- That it connects by API to the sites you use, including regional ones like Despegar.
- That it allows a different rate per site, to offset each one’s commission.
- That bookings come in with the amounts the site sends.
- That it includes, or integrates with, your direct booking website.
- How it charges: per property, per booking or a percentage.
- That support answers in your language.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a channel manager if I only list on Airbnb?
If you list on a single site, there are no calendars to sync. It becomes necessary once you add a second site or your own booking website.
Does a channel manager prevent double bookings?
With an API connection, availability updates instantly on every site, which keeps the risk of selling the same nights twice to a minimum.