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How to set up Hotel, Experience, and Trip Distribution for a Tour Operator? (Detailed configuration)

KOOB enables Destination Management Companies (DMCs) to control the distribution of their Hotels, Experiences, and Trips to Tour Operators (TOs). With custom visibility settings, pricing margins, and availability controls, DMCs can decide what products TOs can access and under what conditions.

✅ Configure distribution per TO with tailored pricing and visibility settings.
✅ Manage access to Hotels, Experiences, and Trips based on distribution strategies.
✅ Assign allotments, free sales, and define markups on specific products or room types.
✅ Ensure TOs can only book what has been approved, with automatic notifications for any changes.

🚀 Objective: Provide a structured method for managing product visibility and pricing per TO to ensure efficient distribution and avoid manual errors.

 

📌 Note: KOOB offers a Bulk Edit Distribution feature for handling multiple TO settings efficiently. This is covered in a separate article.

 

Accessing the distribution settings

To configure distribution for a specific TO:

  • Navigate to the "Distribution" section in the KOOB dashboard.

  • Click on the Wheel Icon ⚙ next to the TO you want to configure.

  • Choose the product category to configure:
    • Hotels → "Hotel Settings"
    • Experiences → "Experience Settings"
    • Trips/Templates → "Trip Settings"

This will open the detailed distribution settings for each product type.

 

Managing Hotel Distribution for a TO

Accepting or declining distribution requests

At the top of the page, you will find the Accept and Deny buttons:

✔ Accept → Grants the TO access to your hotels.

 

❌ Deny → Blocks access; the TO will not be able to see or book your hotels.

📌 Example: If a TO is new and you want to validate their credibility first, you may deny access initially and grant it later after internal discussions.

📌 Important: If denied, hotels previously marked as "Showcase Only" remain visible but cannot be booked.

 

Applying global pricing margins

To define pricing for hotels:

  • Navigate to the "Browse hotels" section.

  • Search for hotel name, location, or filters (e.g., number of stars).

  • Choose between Percentage margin

  • or Fixed amount margin

 

  • Apply a global margin across all hotels OR set margins per location (region/city).

📌 Example: You set a 10% margin across all hotels in Bangkok for a European TO, ensuring pricing competitiveness while maintaining a profit margin.

 

 

 

  • Click on the Eye Icon 👁 to apply the selected margin to all hotels in the list.

 

 

  • Click on Save

 

 

📌 Tip: You can modify margins per hotel later if needed.

 

Controlling hotel visibility

  • Hotels selected for TO distribution appear in the left column ("Selected hotels").
  • Click the Eye Icon 👁 to move hotels between visible (distributed) and hidden (not bookable).

 

  • Once selected, you can:
    • Adjust individual margins per hotel.
    • Remove hotels from distribution if necessary.

 

 

Managing room type distribution & allotments

For hotels that have been added:

  • Click on the Bed Icon 🛏 next to the hotel.

  • Configure:
    • Room types available to the TO.



📌 Example : This TO specializes in budget travelers. You only distribute Superior rooms, while keeping Double Room unavailable.

    • Specific markup per room type.
  •  


    • Allotment distribution (only if pre-allocated in your DMC contract).

📌 Example : This hotel gives you 10 rooms per night under an allotment contract. You allocate 4 rooms to this specific TO.



    • Free Sales Enable/Disable options.

 

📌 Tip

  • If a stop-sale is applied by the hotel, disable Free Sales and set allotments to "0" to restrict TO bookings.
  • For more information about allotments and Free sales : How to manage hotel allotments ?

 

 

Managing experience distribution for a TO

Defining experience visibility & margins

  • Click on the "Distribution" section.

 

  • Identify the TO you want to configure.

 

  • Click the Wheel Icon ⚙ → Select "Experience Settings".

  • To define pricing for Experiences :

    • Navigate to the "Browse Experiences" section.

    • Search for Experience name, location, or Type (All, Program, Activity, Air Transfer, Boat Transfer, Land Transfer, Rail Transfer, Extra)

 

  • Choose between Percentage margin

 

  • or Fixed amount margin

 

  • Apply a global margin across all Experiences OR set margins per location (region/city).

📌 Example: You set a 10% margin across all Experiences in Bangkok for a European TO, ensuring pricing competitiveness while maintaining a profit margin.

 

 

 

 

  • Click the Eye Icon 👁 to add experiences to the TO's available catalog.

  • Click on Save

📌 Tip: You can modify margins per hotel later if needed.

📌 Example: A TO focuses on luxury travelers. You set a higher margin (30%) for premium experiences and a lower margin (10%) for standard tours.

 

Filtering & managing experience types

KOOB offers filters to refine experience selection:

  • By Name
  • Region/City
  • By Type (All, Program, Activity, Air Transfer, Boat Transfer, Land Transfer, Rail Transfer, Extra)

📌 Example: A TO selling only Activities shouldn’t have access to Programs. Use filters to exclude Programs.

 

Managing Trip Distribution for a TO

Configuring template visibility & margins

  • Click on the "Distribution" section.

 

  • Identify the TO you want to configure.

 

  • Click the Wheel Icon ⚙ → Select "Template Settings".

 

  • To define pricing for hotels:

    • Navigate to the "Browse Templates" section.

    • Search for Template name

 

    • Choose between Percentage margin


    • or Fixed amount margin

 


  • Click the Eye Icon 👁 to add Templates to the TO's available catalog.

 

  • Click on Save

 

📌 Example: A TO books mostly FIT (individual travelers). You hide group tour templates and only distribute customized private trips.

 

Important pricing considerations

Trip pricing consists of:

✔ Markup on individual experiences (inside the trip).
✔ Additional markup on the full trip template.

📌 Example: You apply a 15% markup on experiences and an extra 10% markup on the full trip, ensuring a healthy profit margin.

⚠️ If you add an additional markup in the template distribution, the markup will be added to the markups set up in the Experiences composing your DMC template.

📌 Remark : Avoid overpricing due to double markup layering. Ensure markup percentages are well-structured.

 

Saving & activating the distribution settings

Once all settings are configured:

  • Click "Save" (top-right corner).
  • The TO will receive an email notification indicating:
    • Whether their request was approved or denied.

 

    • If approved, they can start booking immediately.

📌 Tip: If changes are needed later, simply update individual hotel, experience, or trip settings.

 

VIDEO TUTORIAL

 

Takeaways 

✅ Full control over TO distribution – Customize per product type.
✅ Flexible pricing options – Apply global or individual markups.
✅ Granular visibility settings – Showcase products without making them bookable.
✅ Allotment & Free Sales management – Prevent overbookings.
✅ Instant notifications – TOs receive automatic updates on access changes.

 

FAQ

Q: Can I apply different pricing for different TOs?
✅ Yes! Each TO can have a custom markup per product type.

Q: What happens if I deny a TO's request?
✅ They won’t be able to book, but can still see showcase products.

Q: How can I edit pricing settings later?
✅ Go to My Connections and adjust visibility or markups.

 

Related Articles

 

📌 Need help? Visit our KOOB Knowledge Base or contact KOOB Support for assistance. 🚀