A channel manager is a technology solution to a problem that plagues many hoteliers in today’s predominantly online marketplace.

If you are promoting your hotel rooms through multiple online channels – such as online travel agents and your own website – and are finding the task of constantly updating and adjusting your listings a nightmare, then a channel manager can help solve the problem.

Here’s a complete definition of a channel manager for your hotel:

A channel manager is a tool that will allow you to sell all your rooms on all your connected booking sites at the same time. It will automatically update your availability in real-time on all sites when a booking is made, when you close a room to sale, or when you want to make bulk changes to your inventory.

With the explosion in recent years of travelers preferring to book their stays online and the rise of online booking agents such as Booking.com and Expedia, channel managers were created to help hoteliers negotiate the new marketplace without losing guests or revenue – in fact a channel manager can greatly increase the capacity for a hotel to attract bookings and maximize profit.