Technology specialist Gateway is set to introduce its new hotel booking engine for the UK-based travel agents early next year.

Published: 17 Dec 2008

Technology specialist Gateway is set to introduce its new hotel booking engine for the UK-based travel agents early next year.

The Gateway hotel engine, available either as an individual agent module for B2B applications or as a B2C version that can be integrated as a standard or customised facility on an agent's website, features a best net price option. This lets agents add their own mark up and create their own cancellation rules, in addition to those of the hotel in question. It will have an initial global inventory of over 100,000 hotels.

Gateway's inventory is provided both by the major accommodation vendors such as Tourico, Hotelbeds, Jacobs and GTA, as well as by country specialists such as ETours (India) and Personal Brasil, regional specialists like Asian Trails, and luxury specialists such as Bonhotel.

Its 'smart search' facility enables searches around user-defined interest points in some 600 cities. Each listed hotel is supported by a city map with zoom function, property photo and overview information.

Andries Oprel, sales and marketing manager, Gateway said, "One main benefit is our enhanced inventory offering a massive selection of both standard and specialist properties. Another benefit is how easily we can customise content individually to agents' needs, adding particular properties of their own choice. And we can also customise the look and feel of B2C web pages and processes to suit an agent's preferences."

Oprel says the Gateway engine is already being used by around 800 travel agencies across Western Europe. "Most of these are B2B applications," he said, "but we are getting more and more B2C users such as Cheaptickets in Germany and the Netherlands, and Connections, the biggest travel retailer in Belgium."