Expedia integration

Video

CONFIGURATION > SYSTEM & SETUP > Expedia

Expedia is a major online travel agency (OTA) where millions of travellers search and book travel products, including tours and activities. By connecting TourCMS to Expedia, you allow Expedia to sell your tours using the live availability that you manage in TourCMS.

1. Expedia can see and use your TourCMS availability

• Expedia reads your departures from TourCMS.

• When you close a date or update capacity in TourCMS, that date will also be closed on Expedia (with a short delay due to Expedia caching).

• You do not need to maintain separate availability calendars on Expedia.

Note: TourCMS works with Expedia using departures, not freesale or hotel product types.

2. Expedia checks with TourCMS before selling

• Before confirming a booking, Expedia asks TourCMS:
  “Can we sell product X on date Y for Z passengers?”

• If TourCMS says no (closed, full, or not valid), Expedia will not sell it.

• This reduces overbookings and manual corrections.

3. Bookings and cancellations flow into TourCMS

• Confirmed Expedia bookings are automatically created in TourCMS.

• Cancellations received from Expedia are automatically applied in TourCMS.

• Availability is updated immediately when a booking or cancellation is processed, so you always see your remaining spaces.

4. What is NOT handled by the API

The Expedia API connection does not manage:

• Tour descriptions and content

• Images

• Pricing rules and detailed rate setup

• Contract terms or commercial conditions

All of this remains managed directly in Expedia (Supplier Extranet) with your Expedia Destination Manager.

Pickups

• Expedia does not currently collect pickup information via this connection.

• If you require pickup details, you must obtain this information directly from the customer through your own process.

Cancellations

• If Expedia sends a cancellation, TourCMS will:

  • Cancel the booking, and

  • Notify your staff by email/SMS (if you have flag notifications configured).

• If you cancel a booking inside TourCMS, this does not cancel it in Expedia.

  • For refunds or changes initiated on your side, contact Expedia Supplier Support:
    lxhelp@expedia.com

Adding & removing dates

• Expedia checks TourCMS several times a day for closed dates and updates availability.

• Due to caching on Expedia’s website, there can be up to a 4‑hour delay before closed dates disappear from customer search results.

• As soon as a date is closed in TourCMS, no new API bookings will be accepted for that departure, even if it is still visible in cached search results.

Sub‑system live availability (if TourCMS is upstream of another system)

• If TourCMS is connected to another reservation system, TourCMS will check that system for live availability at the “create sale” stage of an Expedia booking.

• This check is not performed at the initial availability search stage, only at booking creation.

Expedia‑only tours

• Tours marked as Private in TourCMS can still be mapped and sold via Expedia.

• This allows you to have products sold on Expedia that are not visible through the TourCMS public API.

Changing a tour to "Private" may not reliably switch it off on Expedia. To ensure the product is removed from sale, manual intervention is required:

• Contact Expedia to unmap/stop the product, OR

• Manually update the mapping settings on the Expedia side.

Be aware that even when marked private, these tours remain manually mappable on Expedia despite being excluded from standard TourCMS configuration tools.

1. Confirm your commercial agreement with Expedia

• Ensure you have a valid commercial deal with Expedia to distribute your tours.

• If you do not, contact Expedia to set this up before proceeding with the technical connection.

2. Create and configure your products in Expedia

• In the Expedia Supplier Extranet, set up:

  • Tour descriptions, images, and inclusions

  • Prices and commission/contract terms

  • Operational details according to Expedia’s requirements

• Coordinate with your Expedia Destination Manager where needed.

3. Connect to the right agents in TourCMS Marketplace

In TourCMS:

1. Go to the PARTNERS > MARKETPLACE AGENTS. And connect the relevant channel to the TourSift Agent as a Trusted travel agent.

2. Connect to Expedia’s Agent ID 35232 as a Trusted travel agent.

Note: The Expedia agent must remain a Trusted travel agent, otherwise bookings may not come in as immediately confirmed.

3. Create the Expedia API key in TourCMS

In TourCMS, navigate to:

• Homepage → Configuration → System & Setup → [Expedia logo]

Then:

1. Create an Expedia API key.

2. Note down/store the key for use in the Expedia mapping process.

4. Ask Expedia to map your tours

• Email your local Expedia manager or Expedia Supplier Support.

• Tell them:

  • You are connected via TourCMS.

  • Which tours you have made available via the TourCMS Marketplace.

• Request that they map those Expedia products to your TourCMS tours using your Expedia API key.

5. Run a test booking

Once mapping is complete:

1. Make a test booking on Expedia for one of your products.

2. Verify in TourCMS that:

   • The booking appears with the correct product, date, and passenger details.

   • Availability is reduced accordingly.

3. (Optional) Ask Expedia to cancel the test booking:

   • Check that the booking is cancelled in TourCMS.

   • Check that any email/SMS flag notifications are received by your team.

6. Configure email notifications

Decide how you want to handle notifications:

• Operator notifications (to you):

  • In TourCMS, enable/adjust notifications so you are informed when a new Expedia booking is stored.

  • In Expedia / Local Expert Partner Central, you can ask your Destination Manager to reduce or disable duplicate notifications if you prefer to rely on TourCMS only.

• Customer notifications:

  • TourCMS has disabled Expedia’s travel agent from sending your TourCMS booking confirmations to Expedia customers.

  • Customers will receive their booking confirmation from Expedia’s own system.

  • This avoids customers receiving two different emails at the same time.

Use this section for quick checks when things go wrong.

1. A booking looks wrong / missing data

• In TourCMS, open the booking and check the Audit trail under the BOOKING NOTES section.

• The audit trail shows the full data that Expedia sent.

• Compare the Expedia booking and the TourCMS booking to identify whether the issue is on the Expedia side (data sent) or on the TourCMS side (mapping/config).

2. A tour is still selling on Expedia after you made it Private in TourCMS

• Remember: Changing a tour’s status to Private in TourCMS may not automatically sync to Expedia; manual deactivation may be required on their side.

• To stop sales on Expedia:

  • Contact your Expedia Destination Manager to unmap the product or close it on the Expedia side.

3. Dates appear open on Expedia after you closed them in TourCMS

• There can be up to a 4‑hour delay due to Expedia caching.

• Check that:

  • The departure is really closed in TourCMS.

  • More than 4 hours have passed since closing.

• If new bookings are still coming through after that:

  • Check the booking’s Audit trail for details.

  • Escalate with Expedia support, providing example booking IDs and timestamps.

4. Cancelling in TourCMS did not refund the customer

• This is expected behaviour. Cancelling in TourCMS does not cancel in Expedia.

• For customer refunds or changes, contact:
  lxhelp@expedia.com (Expedia Supplier Support)
  Include:

  • Expedia booking reference

  • TourCMS booking reference

  • What change/refund you need.

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