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Where can I check and set up the cancellation policies of my products?

KOOB enables DMCs to define and manage cancellation policies for both hotels and experiences, ensuring clear terms for bookings made by Tour Operators (TOs). These policies play a crucial role in handling last-minute cancellations, reducing financial risks, and ensuring operational efficiency.

✅ Hotel Cancellation Policies → Can be customized per TO and per booking type (DMC internal bookings vs. TO bookings).
✅ Experience Cancellation Policies → Visible directly to TOs in the Marketplace.
✅ Defined within product settings and automatically applied to bookings.

🚀 Objective: Provide clear cancellation terms to TOs and efficiently manage cancellation requests within KOOB.

📌 Tip: Well-defined cancellation policies reduce disputes and improve supplier relationships by setting clear expectations.

 

Understanding Cancellation policies for Hotels vs. Experiences

KOOB allows different cancellation policy setups for hotels and experiences:

Feature Hotels Experiences
Who sets the Policy? DMC sets policy for both internal and TO bookings. DMC sets policy only for TO bookings.
Where It’s Applied? Both DMC internal bookings (My Bookings) and TO bookings (Clients’ Bookings). Only applies to TO bookings (DMCs don’t book their own Experiences).
Where TOs see It? - KOOB Marketplace and Trip Designer (before booking)
- Booking Details (after booking)		 - KOOB Marketplace and Trip Designer (before booking)
- Booking Details (after booking)
Customizable per TO? ✅ Yes, in Distribution Settings (Hotel Condition tab). ❌ No, policies are standard for all TOs.

 

📌 Note : Hotel policies can be customized per TO, while Experience policies are standardized across all TOs.

 

Setting up cancellation policies for hotels

KOOB provides two types of hotel cancellation policies, depending on who makes the booking:

My contracting conditions (DMC Bookings)

  • Applies when the DMC books a hotel for their own needs (e.g., direct clients, agents, or internal use).
  • Defines how hotels handle cancellations for DMC-initiated reservations.

Clients’ contracting conditions (TO Bookings)

  • Applies when a Tour Operator books a hotel via the KOOB Marketplace.
  • Ensures TOs have clear cancellation rules before confirming a booking.

📌 Example:

  • A DMC in France has a flexible policy for its own bookings but strict policies for TOs.
  • A hotel in Bangkok applies stricter penalties for cancellations during peak season.

 

Where to configure Hotels contracting conditions?

Cancellation and contracting conditions are managed in the "Contracting Conditions" tab within a hotel contract.

There are two sections:

  • My Contracting Conditions → Defines the DMC’s cancellation policy with the hotel.
  • Client Contracting Conditions → Defines the DMC’s cancellation policy for TOs.

Steps to access contracting conditions:

  • Go to "My Catalog" and select the hotel contract you want to update.

  • Click on the "Contracting Conditions" tab.
  • Choose either:
    • "My Contracting Conditions" → Rules for DMC-hotel contracts.

 
    • "Client Contracting Conditions" → Rules for TOs.

     

    📌 Note: Setting the correct time zone ensures accurate penalty calculations.

     

    Configuring cancellation policies

    KOOB allows you to set dynamic cancellation policies by defining penalties based on how many days before check-in the booking is canceled.

    • Steps to set a cancellation conditions:
      • Click "Add Condition" to create a cancellation policy.


      • Choose whether the penalty is a percentage (%) or a fixed amount by clicking "Use percentage".

      • Select the period for the cancellation policies

    • Choose whether the penalty applies to all nights or only the first X nights.
      • Example: If the rule applies to only the first 2 nights, enter "2".
      • If the cancellation applies to the entire stay, enter "0".

     

    • Define the cancellation period by entering the time range:
      • Example: "From 3 to 7 days before check-in".

    • Define the penalty charge:
      • Example: 50% charge for the first 2 nights if canceled 3-7 days before check-in.

    ✅ Example Cancellation Setup:

    Days Before Check-in Cancellation Penalty
    30+ days before No charge
    15-29 days before 25% of total stay
    7-14 days before 50% of total stay
    0-6 days before 100% charge

     

    Managing seasonal cancellation policies

    Many hotels apply different cancellation rules for peak and off-peak seasons. KOOB allows multiple policies for different periods to accommodate these variations.

    Example Seasonal Setup:

    Condition 1: Summer Period (May 1 - Sep 30)

    • Cancellation 7+ days before check-in → No penalty.
    • Cancellation 3-6 days before check-in → 50% charge for the first night.
    • Cancellation 0-2 days before check-in → 100% charge for the full stay.

    Condition 2: Winter Period (Oct 1 - Apr 30)

    • Cancellation 14+ days before check-in → No penalty.
    • Cancellation 7-13 days before check-in → 25% of the total stay.
    • Cancellation 0-6 days before check-in → 100% penalty.

    ✅ Tip: If different seasonal policies apply, set up separate conditions for each period.

     

    Adding written conditions

    In addition to dynamic cancellation conditions, KOOB allows you to add custom written conditions for contractual agreements. These typically include terms such as:

    • Allotments → The hotel reserves the right to request the return of unsold rooms.
    • Overbooking → The hotel reserves the right to relocate guests, offering alternative accommodation without compensation.
    • Amendments → The agreement is valid only if signed by both parties, with waivers granted at the hotel’s discretion.

    📌 Tip: Use the rich-text editor to format conditions clearly for easy reference.

    📌 Reminder: These conditions appear in the booking details and help ensure smooth operations between DMCs, hotels, and TOs.

     

    Translating contracting conditions

    KOOB supports multiple languages, allowing you to translate contracting conditions for better clarity with international TOs.

    • Click on the language selector (flag icon) in the top right corner.
    • Select the desired language from the dropdown.

    • Translate the field : Written contracting conditions.
    • Save the translation.

    The default language remains English, but translations help facilitate clear communication between DMCs, hotels, and TOs.

     

    Configuring TO-specific contracting conditions

    Under "Client Contracting Conditions", DMCs can define different cancellation rules for each Tour Operator partner.

    🔹 How to set TO-specific rules:

    • Click “Client Contracting Conditions” in the tab.
    • Click "Add Condition" to configure a custom TO cancellation policy.

    • Follow the same process as previously see above to set up TO contracting conditions.
    • Save the changes once TO conditions are configured.

    📌 Tip: You can choose whether TOs see the hotel's contract conditions or your customized DMC-TO conditions under the “Distribution Parameters” settings.

     

    📌 Reminder: Cancellation policies are displayed automatically during the booking process, ensuring transparency for TOs.

     

    Enabling TO-specific Hotel contracting conditions (Distribution settings)

    In addition to default policies, DMCs can customize policies per TO via Distribution Settings.

    Steps to activate TO-specific hotel contracting conditions:

    • Go to → Settings > Distribution.
    • Select the TO you want to configure.
    • Find the "Contracting Conditions" toggle:
      • Enable TO Contracting Conditions → Uses the cancellation policies set in the hotel details.
      • Enable DMC Contracting Conditions → Uses internal cancellation rules for DMC bookings.

     

     

     

     

    📌 Example:

    • Scenario 1: A DMC wants stricter cancellation policies for a major European TO (stricter last-minute booking terms).
    • Scenario 2: A hotel applies different policies for peak season bookings.

    📌 Tip: You can modify policies at any time to match supplier contract updates.

     

    Setting up cancellation policies for experiences

    Unlike hotels, DMCs do not book their own experiences. This means that:

    ✔ Experience cancellation policies only apply to TOs.
    ✔ They are visible directly to TOs in the KOOB Marketplace before booking.

    📌 Tip: Experience cancellation policies cannot be customized per TO—they apply to all TOs equally.

     

    How to set up Experience cancellation policies ?

    From Experience settings (default rules)

    • Go to → Experiences Catalog.

     

    • Select an experience to configure.

    • Open the "Conditions" tab.
    • Define Cancellation Rules:
      • Enter cancellation terms (e.g., penalty amounts, deadlines).

    • Click Save Changes.

     

    📌 Tip: If no conditions are set, TOs can cancel freely without penalties.

    📌 Example:

    • A DMC offering guided city tours might allow free cancellation up to 7 days before the tour.
    • A seasonal adventure experience might charge 100% for cancellations within 3 days due to limited availability.

     

    Where to check cancellation policies in bookings?

    Checking policies in My bookings (DMC)
    • Once a booking is made, the applied cancellation policy is visible in the Booking Details.
      • Go to → My Bookings.
      • Find the Hotel or Experience Booking using filters (Booking ID, TO Name, Date, etc.).
      • Click the pencil icon to open the Booking Details.

    • Look for "Contracting Conditions" → Displays the applied cancellation policy.

    Checking policies in TO bookings

    • Once a TO booking is made, the applied cancellation policy is visible in the Booking Details.
      • Go to → Clients’ Bookings.
      • Find the Hotel or Experience Booking using filters (Booking ID, TO Name, Date, etc.).
      • Click the pencil icon to open the Booking Details.

     

    • Look for "Contracting Conditions" → Displays the applied cancellation policy.

    📌 Tip: If a TO cancels a booking, KOOB automatically calculates the fee based on the cancellation policy.

     

    Takeaways 

    ✅Hotels have two types of cancellation policies (DMC & TO bookings), while Experiences only have TO policies.
    ✅Hotel contracting conditions can be customized per TO via Distribution Settings.
    ✅Experience cancellation policies are always visible to TOs in the Marketplace.
    ✅All cancellation policies are automatically applied at the time of booking.
    ✅DMCs can review and modify policies via Hotel & Experience Settings.

    📌 Tip: Properly setting up and managing cancellation policies ensures transparent booking conditions, reduces disputes, and improves supplier relationships.

     

    FAQ

    Can I set different cancellation policies per TO? ✅ Yes, but only for hotels. Experience cancellation policies apply equally to all TOs.

    Where do TOs see the cancellation policies? ✅ In the KOOB Marketplace (before booking) and in Booking Details (after booking).

    What happens if a TO cancels a booking? ✅ KOOB automatically applies the cancellation fees based on the set policy.

    Can I change a cancellation policy after a booking is made? ❌ No. The cancellation policy at the time of booking remains in effect.

     

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