Expedia Affiliate Network launches new ‘rapid’ API

Expedia Affiliate Network has unveiled a new API for its partners to get faster access to hotel rates and availabilities. EAN Rapid, initially offered to new partners only, has been designed to meet its agent partners’ varying needs, and gives … Continue reading →

Expedia Affiliate Network has unveiled a new API for its partners to get faster access to hotel rates and availabilities.

EAN Rapid, initially offered to new partners only, has been designed to meet its agent partners’ varying needs, and gives access to 400,000 properties.

Launched today at ITB in Berlin, it lists 35 accommodation types – including hotels, resorts, B&Bs, ryokans, riads and even treehouses and houseboats – in 25,00 destinations.

Designed to give greater choice, the API claims to give faster responses for a more efficient experience and can be filtered by property type.

EAN Rapid also provides partners access to more than 13 million property images, with more than 85% large. Its research suggests images are a vital part of the booking process. EAN aims to provide at least 20 photos for every accommodation listing through EAN Rapid.

Ariane Gorin, president of Expedia Partner Solutions brand, said: “In 2017, the Expedia group spent more than $1.3B in technology innovation. In our partner business, we leverage that research and development investment by advancing our products to provide our partners with the best solutions possible to drive their businesses. EAN Rapid is one of these innovations. EAN’s new API is all about speed, giving our partners faster access to our rates and availabilities in order to service their customers better.”

XML Travelgate, specialists in XML integration to the travel industry, are the first platform partner to be certified to launch EAN Rapid.

Pedro Camara, chief executive of XML Travelgate, added: “We are excited to be the very first platform partner to integrate EAN Rapid into our system. The API will give us the ability to connect our clients to EAN’s rates and availabilities faster than ever. In turn, our clients will be the first in the world to be seamlessly connected to EAN’s unrivalled portfolio.”