Why Have An API?
All you need to know about an API
Find out what an API is and how Travel Trade Ready's API is crucial for any Travel Trade Business. Select what you would like to know on the left.
What is an API?
What does API stand for? Application Programming Interface, and it includes three important elements:
1. Procedures
Also referred to as routines, procedures refer to the specific tasks or functions a program performs. For example, Twitter provides a search API for developers to explore data for analytical purposes.
2. Protocols
The protocol is the format used to communicate data between applications. This can get complicated, though. Applications may not rely on the same format. But, more on this later.
3. Tools
Think of tools as a set of building blocks – the components needed to construct new programs
How an API works
APIs communicate through a set of rules that define how computers, applications or machines can talk to each other. The API acts as a middleman between any two machines that want to connect with each other for a specified task.A simplified example would be when you sign into Facebook from your phone you are telling the Facebook application that you would like to access your account. The mobile application makes a call to an API to retrieve your Facebook account and credentials. Facebook would then access this information from one of its servers and return the data to the mobile application.
What is an API Platform?
Why an API can improve your business.
By opening up information access via an API, companies empower their customers to design and tailor their own experiences. The possibilities are endless. 75% of individuals believe that their company's use of APIs has significantly enhanced their customer experience
Benefits of using our API
The Travel Trade Ready API is dedicated to supporting DMOs and their members to take their information and share it with potential buyers of their services quickly to wherever it is needed. Imagine DMO led campaigns laden with trade ready products, with targeted information and insights in a PDF format across your attractions, accommodation and experiences being sent directly to buyer’s inboxes.
Imagine preparing for trade shows without asking for the latest information from your members; because you know it is already safely and securely available to you exactly where you want it to be.
With Travel Trade Ready’s API, there is no need to make do with a one size fits all approach – everything is bespoke because it’s designed around you.
Benefits for DMO's
Seamless integration:
Travel Trade Ready’s customised integration will work seamlessly with whatever platform your website is built on. From Word Press to Simple View, you can be assured that the full Travel Trade Ready supplier and buyer experience appears as part of your website. Colours, fonts, headers and more will all be designed around your look and feel.
The API will also allow the Travel Trade Ready content to be more easily embedded or interwoven throughout your sites or other applications; ensuring a smooth and integrated user experience, with relevant and up-to-date information for the user. The information is delivered wherever it can be useful to them, not just in those places where your team has had time to update the content.
Wider Reach:
Our API can support DMO marketing now and in the future. The API can be used to share your member’s information to new audiences such as remote sales teams working for tour operators in source markets. In addition to reaching core buyers through Travel Trade Ready, those that may not visit your website can get specific supplier information from other websites that they regularly visit (TXGB for example – additional charges may apply for new connections).
Automation:
APIs allow machines to handle the workload, which would otherwise require the manual work of a team member. This can be as simple as having one content update propagate to multiple sections of a site (or multiple websites) at once. More broadly, though, APIs enable updates on your trade ready members done with fewer steps and greater productivity.
Personalisation:
All the information provided by your trade ready members is pre-personalised and editable at any time by them so that you can mutually benefit from providing the most up to date insights without requesting it manually against specific deadlines for campaigns, sales missions, buyer meets and more.
Future-Ready:
As your needs change, APIs help to support unanticipated future uses. Making the Travel Trade Ready data available via API can support faster and easier data and will always be ready when you are.
Benefits for Suppliers
The Travel Trade Ready API dramatically increases the speed and efficiency to provide suppliers with what they are looking for; confidence to know that they are able to work with third parties, and immediate access to buyers that are interested in starting a conversation with them.Our API access allows a trade ready supplier to create content once on the platform per buyer type that they are looking to work with and automatically publish or made available via download to a buyer that is interested in hearing from them both within the platform and on links provided by the DMO. The supplier can of course edit this material at any time via their dashboard.Free, unlimited supplier signups:
To protect the security of your supplier’s information, all content is held centrally on our dedicated secure servers. There is no limit to how many members join the platform, or how many different types of business audits they undertake. Because all data is held remotely, there will be no data lag or performance effect that could impede the user experience as a result of the integration on your website.
Fully bespoke analysis:
Travel Trade Ready assesses the ten most common requirements across 5 different types of supplier against the five most common types of buyer. If you would like to make changes to the type of suppliers and buyers we offer or the questions asked; please feel free to request changes as part of your bespoke travel trade engagement.
Benefits for Buyers
Sharing in advance:
Having access to a wide array of trade friendly product information supports contractors attending everything from buyer meets to trade shows. It will allow them to understand the portfolio, make informed choices on itinerary plans and be better prepared for every meeting you attend, meaning you can get right down to business!