For Partners & OTAs

A User Group is the core organizational unit in OpenGDS, which can be managed by navigating to User Management > User Groups in your dashboard. It acts as a secure container that links Properties, API credentials, Rate Plan Themes, Supplements, Cancellation Policies, Promo Codes, and other related settings together.

Common use cases:

• Environments: Separate your setup into Development (TEST) and Production (LIVE) groups to safely build your API integration.
• Multi-Brand / Multi-Region: Create separate groups to isolate properties and commercial rules for different websites, labels, geographical markets, or internal departments (such as regional Sales or Support teams).

Within a group, your team members can be assigned specific permissions. While we provide convenient presets like Admin, Editor, or Viewer to get you started quickly, you have full granular control to fine-tune exactly which modules and actions each user can access.

When your account is first provisioned, our team sets up your initial user groups. To help you hit the ground running, we automatically link a set of test properties and configure your first theme.

Your first steps to start building:

1. Create Rate Plans: Navigate to Rates in your dashboard to create your initial rate plans for the provided test properties under your theme.
2. Configure API Credentials: Go to Extra > APIs to generate your credentials. You will need a Core API key (for general requests) and a Core API private key (strictly for server-side security requests). To prevent unauthorized access, you must whitelist your server's IP addresses for the private key.
3. Enable Push API (Optional): If your platform relies on a local database, enable the Push API to receive all real-time ARI data (Availability, Rates, and Inventory) directly to your webhook. This allows you to instantly check availability, calculate prices, and manage restrictions locally, while keeping your data perfectly synced with the core configurations managed in the OpenGDS dashboard.

Once configured, your engineering team can start the integration immediately. For full technical documentation, endpoints, and integration flows, please visit docs.opengds.com.

Accommodations represent the physical room types, suites, apartments, or cabins available at a property, which can be managed via Accommodations in your dashboard. While properties typically create and manage their own room types, you have the full capability to configure these on their behalf. This allows you to offer a full-service onboarding experience, taking the workload off the property and significantly speeding up their time-to-market.

Configuration options include:

• Occupancy Rules: Define the base capacity, minimum required guests, and maximum extra beds (including child-only restrictions).
• Visuals: Link high-quality images to ensure the accommodations are presented perfectly in the booking flow to maximize conversion.
• System Mapping: Assign custom Interface IDs  to seamlessly link these accommodations to the internal IDs of your own system.
• Sequencing: Control the exact display order of the accommodations as they are returned via the API.

In OpenGDS, your rate plans are grouped under Themes, which can be managed by navigating to Themes in your dashboard. Most partners simply use one primary theme (e.g., named after their OTA) to hold all their standard rate plans. However, you can create additional themes to organize specific seasonal campaigns, exclusive promotions, or dedicated landing pages.

Theme-level controls:

• API & Marketing: Fetch rate plans for a specific theme directly via the Core API, or link a batch of promo codes exclusively to one theme.
• Contract Protection: Enforce strict rules by blocking a property's Channel Manager from overwriting your contracted prices, MLOS, or restrictions for all rate plans within the theme.
• Visibility: Mark a theme as Hidden  (accessible only via direct link or API) or Promocode Only  for closed user group deals.

You can create and test complex rate plans by navigating to Rates in your dashboard and utilizing your test properties. Once your API accurately processes the logic, you can effortlessly duplicate these setups for your live properties.

Finding and connecting new properties is fully integrated into the platform.

Connecting via the Partner Network:
Properties that register via our portal and opt into the Partner Network are actively looking for new partnerships. By navigating to Partner Network > Leads, you can discover these properties and view their sales contact details to negotiate a commercial agreement. Once finalized, simply click 'Start partnership'. The property will receive a confirmation email. Upon approval, they are automatically added to your user group. You can then proceed to create your own specific rate plans for the property, or utilize their shared rate plans (OpenBeds) to begin distribution.

Off-Network Properties:
If a property you want to connect with is not yet listed in the Partner Network, reach out via our support portal, and our team will facilitate adding them to your account.

Supplements are bookable extras (like breakfast, parking, wellness packages, or bike rentals) and are managed per property, since prices and applicable accommodation types vary. You can manage these by navigating to Supplements in your dashboard, utilizing a combination of two approaches:

• Property-managed: The property creates their own supplements, and you simply link them to your rate plans.
• Partner-managed (Private): You can create your own supplements for a connected property. These are private and invisible to other OTAs, which is ideal for configuring custom negotiated add-on pricing.

Supplements are highly configurable, supporting pricing rules like Per piece or Per person, specific validity dates, child rates, and strict Minimum/Maximum Length of Stay (MLOS) restrictions.

Run targeted marketing campaigns, distribute gift cards and vouchers, or grant access to exclusive deals using promo codes, which can be managed by navigating to Promocodes in your dashboard. You can link promo codes directly to a specific theme, individual rate plans, or a designated group of rate plans.

• Discount Codes: Offer fixed discounts or percentages applied flexibly (e.g., per reservation, per night, per person, or per accommodation type).
• Access Codes: Grant access to restricted rate plans (configured as Promocode Only  and/or Hidden) without necessarily applying a discount.
• External Vouchers (Promocode API): If your platform relies on an external voucher database, seamlessly integrate our Promocode API to automatically validate and redeem your own codes in real-time during the booking flow.

Codes are managed in Bundles. You can generate batches automatically (e.g., 2,500 unique alphanumeric codes at once), enter them manually, or upload them in bulk. Bundles support advanced rules, such as one-time use restrictions, enforcing strict stay length requirements, or excluding specific arrival dates.

To attract new properties, you can set up a Showcase Profile by navigating to Partner Network > Showcases in your dashboard. This acts as your B2B digital storefront where you can actively pitch your platform to hoteliers.

Key profile elements include:

• The Pitch & Audience: Highlight your unique selling points and define your core Market Segments (types of travelers) and geographic Source Markets to attract the right properties.
• Commercial Terms: Transparently display your Commission structure (percentage or fixed fees) to set clear expectations and qualify leads upfront.
• Lead Generation: Configure designated email addresses so your sales team is instantly notified whenever a property sends a proactive connection request to distribute their inventory on your channel.

Seamless connectivity is crucial. The exact process varies depending on the property's specific Channel Manager or PMS, but generally consists of establishing the connection and mapping the inventory.

1. Establishing the Connection:

• Property Initiated: The property connects their system directly using their unique OpenGDS Property ID and, depending on the provider, additional secure credentials such as a username and password.
• Provider Initiated: The connection setup is handled manually by the provider's support team. This activation request can be initiated either by the property itself or by our OpenGDS support team, who will then coordinate directly with the provider to supply the necessary credentials and mapping data.

2. Mapping & Synchronization:

• External Mapping: The property fetches the OpenGDS room types and rate plans to map them directly within their own Channel Manager interface before initiating the synchronization.
• OpenGDS Mapping: For certain systems, the room type and rate plan mapping is completed directly within the OpenGDS dashboard.

Already Connected Properties:
If a property is already connected to OpenGDS via their Channel Manager or PMS, the initial connection step is skipped. Whenever you create new rate plans for them, they simply need to map these new rate plans and synchronize.

While properties and providers handle these setups, you maintain full visibility into the active configurations by navigating to Extra > Channel Manager in your dashboard. This allows you to verify mapping IDs and review synchronization logs, ensuring that reservations are successfully delivered and that ARI updates flow seamlessly into your platform.

The Status module provides a real-time, visual grid of a property's Availability, Rates, and Inventory (ARI), along with daily restrictions. While properties keep this data in sync via their Channel Manager or PMS, or by managing it manually directly within OpenGDS, this dashboard allows your team to inspect specific dates, review detailed logs of all data changes, and perform bulk modifications using the Batch Update tool. Additionally, you can utilize the Availability Audit to quickly identify which connected properties are falling behind on their synchronization.

Contract Protection & Manual Overrides:
If you have negotiated fixed allotments or guaranteed prices with a property, you can configure the underlying rate plan (inheriting defaults from the theme settings) to lock these values and explicitly ignore external updates. This ensures your agreed-upon availability, rates, and Length of Stay (LOS) restrictions cannot be overwritten by the property's Channel Manager, PMS, or via their manual dashboard updates. This allows your team to safely control and manage these values exclusively from your Status grid.

Standardize your guest communication by using the Templates module, which can be managed by navigating to Extra > Templates in your dashboard. Templates allow you to configure the visual branding and sender settings for all automated confirmation emails sent to the guest (including modifications, cancellations, and payment updates).

Customization options include:

• Visual Branding: Upload your custom logo, configure your platform's main text colors and header backgrounds, and set the destination URL your logo links to. Because you can manage multiple templates, you can easily design unique styles for specific campaigns or holidays (e.g., a "Christmas Sale" theme) and dynamically trigger them.
• Sender Details: Set a custom "From" name, "Reply-to" email address, and a specific email subject.
• API Integration: Simply pass the desired Template ID via the template_id parameter during your Core API reservation request. This ensures that every booking processed through your platform automatically triggers the correct, fully branded confirmation email to the guest.

The Reservations module allows you to manage all incoming bookings across your connected properties in real-time. You can easily monitor confirmation and payment statuses, apply extensive filters to quickly find specific bookings, and export the data for your financial administration or custom reporting. When viewing a specific reservation, you have the flexibility to update the guest's email address. This is especially useful for your support team in common scenarios where a guest's mailbox was full, or they request to use an alternative address. After updating, you can easily trigger a 'Resend guest confirmation' or 'Resend property confirmation' to make sure everyone has the correct information. Furthermore, you can track the exact delivery status and communication logs for each reservation between OpenGDS and the connected Channel Manager or PMS. Should the external system experience temporary downtime, our intelligent retry logic ensures that no booking data is lost and automatically attempts the delivery again.

Because the platform handles highly sensitive guest data and credit card details, OpenGDS operates within a strictly audited PCI DSS environment. While Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) is optional for general system login, it is strictly mandatory when accessing crucial functions such as data exports and viewing credit card information. Furthermore, you can enforce robust access controls for your team through granular user permissions. This lets you define exactly who can view, modify, or export data across different modules, and who can access highly sensitive information. As an added layer of security, you can also require specific device verification and restrict system access solely to whitelisted company IP addresses.