''We are working on the mapping of the booking site'' is a sentence you probably hear the support team say quite often. But every time you hear the word ''mapping'' you have no clue what is happening. Let us explain it to you!
Synonyms for the word Mapping: connecting, linking, matching.
Mapping is needed when you want to create a connection between SmartHOTEL and a booking site. Another situation when we need to map is when you would like to change the current connection. Think of adding or deleting room/rate combinations.
We will always ask you to which room/rate in SmartHOTEL you want to map the new room/rate too. Translated: you added a new room/rate type at the OTA, which room/rate corresponds with it in SmartHOTEL? We need to know this because we have to literally have to link (e.g. connect or match) the room/rate types to each other. Otherwise, the booking site and SmartHOTEL are not able to communicate with each other.
What does mapping look like? Below example shows it (click on image to get a bigger overview):
On the left side, you see the setup that is created at Expedia. On the right side, you see the actual setup at SmartHOTEL. Expedia has a unique room/rate ID for each type, that ID needs to be mapped to the setup of SmartHOTEL. (Imagine drawing lines to one another to make a connection)