Travel Tech Solutions: What are the Benefits of a Powerful Cache API?

Travellers don’t want to wait; they expect instant, accurate results when searching for hotels or packages. Behind the scenes, the Hotelbeds Cache API makes that possible.

Travel APIs: What is our Cache API?

Let’s say you’re a travel distributor working with Hotelbeds, and you offer thousands of products across your website, mobile app, and third-party platforms. You need to quickly show prices and availability for all these products at the same time, without sending a separate request to Hotelbeds for each search. That’s where the Cache API comes in.

With the Cache API, you can download Hotelbeds’ data files and store them locally in your own system. This way, your customers enjoy faster search, while you provide a better user experience.

Why are Cache APIs important for the travel industry?

If you’re managing large amounts of traffic, publishing on third-party websites, or building packages that need instant price and availability data, a Cache API can help. Here are some benefits of using it:

• Speed and efficiency: You’ll display availability and pricing information instantly, without waiting for live API calls.
• Better user experience: Customers see accurate, instant results, which keeps them engaged.
• Reduced load on backend systems: You minimise repeated live queries and store key information on your local system.
• Dynamic package content: You can use Cache APIs across hotels, transfers, and activities to offer personalised travel packages.
• Improved conversion rates: Your users are more likely to complete the booking when the experience is fast and reliable.
• Cost savings: Fewer live requests reduce the operational costs.

Discover more about our travel APIs with an introduction to Hotelbeds' API services and integreations for hotel APIs and experience APIs here.

What are the roles of the Hotelbeds Cache API?

On Hotelbeds, you’ll find Cache APIs across three products: Hotels, Activities, and Transfers. Let’s take a closer look at each:

Hotels Cache API

With Hotels Cache API, you’ll have access to all the hotel prices and availability on Hotelbeds, so you can create travel packages or upload the data on third-party platforms.

When using the Hotels Cache API, you have two options:

1. Retrieving all the Hotelbeds files

This workflow retrieves all available data from Hotelbeds and replaces your existing data. You’ll receive the files in a .zip format. Once unzipped, you’ll be able to access and load the full dataset into your system. The process is simple and straightforward, but keep in mind that you’ll have larger downloads.

This is recommended for the first setup, full refreshes or fixing data mismatches.

2. Managing only the updates

The second option is to update instead of replace. This is useful when you want to update some parts of the data and don’t want to overwrite the unchanged parts. If you choose this option, you’ll have smaller downloads, but a more complex workflow.

This is recommended for ongoing updates after initial setup to keep data fresh. Updates can be requested once per hour.

Transfer Cache API

With the Transfers Cache API, you can download data such as currencies, vehicle types, pickup points, routes, terminals, and more. For example, if you’re showing airport transfer options, you can preload all relevant routes and pickup points so your users get instant search results without waiting.

This data is delivered via HTTPS GET requests, and responses come in JSON format, so it’s easy to work with using most modern programming languages.

Activities Cache API

The Activities API allows users to map all of the activities listed as 'active' in a destination. This API does not provide any price or availability information, but forms a vital component of our API Suite by allowing our partners to accurately determine which activities are active, and therefore sellable, in each of the destinations we offer.

Speed up your travel business with our Hotelbeds API Suite

Partner with Hotelbeds to use all our API solutions: our Cache API for fast, up-to-date pricing and availability, the Booking API for real-time reservations and confirmations, and the Content API for hotel and activity details like descriptions and images.

Our travel API services, gathered together into our powerful API Suite offer these three solutions to empower your business and activate an optimised travel booking process and experience for both your business and end customers.

Depending on your company’s size and scope of operations, you can pick the right framework to integrate into your existing system, with an API solution that can be tailored to your exact needs.

Sign up today to discover a faster, more intuitive booking experience which reduces end-to-end friction.