Channel manager is industry shorthand rather than a defined term, so what it covers varies from product to product. In typical use it links to the property’s own management system and sends rates and availability to each connected channel. VisitBritain’s advice to accommodation businesses says online travel agents work best with an automatic feed, usually a channel manager connected to the property management system, to control distribution across online channels.

How common they are

In a survey for HOTREC, the umbrella association for hospitality businesses in Europe, 66% of hotels said that in 2025 they used a channel manager to keep rates and availability up to date on online booking channels, while 23% still updated channels by hand. Small, rural and seaside hotels were less likely to use one. The survey drew 1,882 responses from hotels in 28 countries.

Why it matters for travel businesses

• Channel managers are not only for consumer websites. Some trade suppliers, such as bed banks, take hotel rates and availability this way. One says it works with more than 200 channel managers and that, with one in place, a hotel’s rooms are pooled so only available rooms can be booked.

• If you contract hotels directly, it helps to agree how your rates and availability will be loaded and updated and how stop sales and release dates will reach you.

• Keeping prices in step across channels is a technical task. Whether a hotel must offer the same price everywhere is a separate question of contract and competition law, covered under rate parity.