Creating and Managing OTA Channels

Overview

In Zaui, [Channel] Partners refer to resellers that have a direct integration with Zaui. Online Travel Agencies such as Expedia Local Expert, TripAdvisor Experiences or GetYourGuide are great examples of  Channel Partners.

Check out this webinar to learn more about working with OTAs.

The first step to connecting with an Online Travel Agency is to create your Channel Partner as a Company in Zaui. Follow Step 2  in this article to create a new reseller company. Once the company is created, follow the steps below to enable the reseller to connect and resell your tours. 

This article will cover the following topics:

• How to Enable a Channel Partner Connection
• Channel Partner Rules and Controls
• Troubleshooting Fixes

How to Enable a Partner Connection

1. From the navigation bar, select Resellers > Channel Partners.
2. Locate the partner with which you want to connect on the list. 

Channel Information

The following information is required: 

1. Map reseller to account is where you will select the company created for this reseller. The company linked here will be linked to the voucher transaction for payments on any automated bookings and will be able to be reported on using the Invoice Reports.

The following Channel Information is optional:

1. Enable Channel allows you to turn the channel on or off.
2. Enable Alerts will enable notifications of bookings through the channel.
3. Send Alerts to this Email is where you can enter the email addresses you wish alerts to be sent to; you can enter multiple email addresses separated by a comma. 

Channel Partner Rules and Controls

Channel Rules are the mechanism for you to throttle inventory to your different channels of distribution. A reason to do this would be to give more availability to a reseller during your shoulder season sacrificing more commission to get the seats filled and then scaling it back in your peak season when you have fewer issues filling those seats with your own distribution points (Website, Walkup, Phone in).

You may limit what/how much the reseller is able to sell under Channel Rules and Controls:

1. Set a Start and End Date for your rule.
2. Select how many days into the future you wish the reseller to be able to sell your activities. We recommend setting this to 365 days to avoid any potential disruption to your listing online.
3. Select how close to the activity date a reseller can create, edit or request a cancellation. You have the ability to specify how far in advance your connected resellers may access and sell activities on your behalf, as well as how near to the booking date they can request a change or cancellation.
4. Select the amount of inventory you'd like to allow the reseller to sell on your behalf. This can be either as a number of spots, or a percentage of inventory.
5. Select any activity, specific activities, or activity groups to which this rule applies.
6. Add any additional rules.
7. Don't forget to Save.

1. Ensure you have enabled the API flag on the Category setup page.
   
   
2. Ensure you have enabled the API flag on the specific Activity set-up page, under Additional Settings.
   
3. When creating your Channel Rules, ensure you have included an End Date and that it has not expired.