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Working with Booking.com

Last updated: November 7, 2025
Languages: English, Français, Português, Italiano, Español, Deutsch

Booking.com is a global online travel agent (OTA) based in the Netherlands that operates the first travel online marketplace for accommodations, as well as for car rentals, taxis, tours, and activities.

Booking joined the FHDN as an API affiliate in 2025, and will begin advertising FHDN inventory on their website in the second part of the year.

The Booking.com FHDN integration is only available in the US, EU, and UK during this initial phase, with more regions to be added in the future.

Visibility of US Products on Booking.com

Booking.com is currently working to make US domestic products (US tours and activities available to US bookers) accessible. At this time, products from our US clients listed on Booking.com are available for international customers, but they may not yet appear to customers browsing from within the United States.

Eligibility

3 general criteria must be met in order to be listed on Booking.com:

  1. Must be part of the FHDN program.
  2. Items must use the Content Builder optimization tool.
  3. Items must meet Booking.com’s Eligibility and Minimum Content Requirements (see below) to get bookings from Booking.com. No further work is required on your end.

Note: the following are not currently supported but may be in the future as we continue to develop a more comprehensive integration with the Booking.com team:

  1. Tiered pricing of any kind, per person or per group.
  2. Items priced using a custom field.
  3. Multi-language items where the language is not specified by the customer types (i.e. only uses public headlines).
  4. General Admission/Opening Hour style tours.
  5. Items that include transportation or pickup options (as those cannot be collected from end customers).
  6. Multi-day activities.
  7. Activities with mandatory fees, surcharges, or additional costs not included in the base ticket price.

Listing experiences on the FHDN does not guarantee sales on Booking.com. Like many OTAs, Booking.com has a curated selection of products–meaning that it may opt not to display certain products that do not align with traveler demand or inventory.

For example: A product may not be displayed if Booking.com is not active in a certain destination, if a product does not fit the criteria, or if similar products are already offered.

Minimum Content Requirements

Below is the minimum required content for Booking.com. Please note that while having this content is required, it does not guarantee to be listed on Booking.com. To review your content, visit the “Listings” section of each item.

Note: Booking.com requires your Dashboard’s primary language and the item content to be in English to be listed on their platform. Items offering transportation (whether with Transportation Module or with a simple transportation custom fields setup) will also not be mapped as the Custom Fields cannot be read by the API.

Minimum Content Requirements

  1. Name – in “Basic Info” tab
    • A clear and specific title for the experience or activity.
  2. Headline – in “Basic Info” tag
    • A short, engaging description of the experience or activity.
    • Format: 1–2 sentences.
  3. Description – in “Content Builder” tab
    • A full overview of the product or experience.
    • Word Count: 60–120 words.
    • Should include: key details, setting, what the customer can expect, tone and energy of the activity.
    • Prices and promos cannot appear in the Description or Headline.
    • Transportation and/or pickups cannot be mentioned.
  4. What’s included – in “Content Builder” tab
    • A bullet-point list of everything included in the booking.
    • Minimum: 1 bullet point.
    • Format: Bullets must start with one of the following symbols: *, -, or +. New lines by hitting enter without bullet points will also work, but are more prone to errors.
    • Transportation and/or pickups cannot be mentioned.

Example:

  • Guided walking tour of the Old Town
  • Includes local snacks and beverages
  • Includes entry ticket to historical museum
  1. Valid place ID is required (no Long ID) in “Settings” –> “Locations” –> on the Primary Location
  2. A primary or start location must be assigned to each item under Info & Policies –> Notes & Policies. The assigned location must be complete with Country, State or province, City, and Zip/Postal Code. This must also include a valid Google Place ID.

Content Guidelines

Customer Types and Ages Ranges

  • Booking.com has 5 standard Customer Types: Infants (0–1), Children (2–17), Adults (18+), Person (0-100), and Group (0-100). Ages will default to these ranges unless previously noted in the item description or customer type note.
  • Age ranges can be adjusted if there are different parameters in FareHarbor. The “Person” ticket can be used for all ages or for customer types that only have a minimum age (example: ages[5]+)

**If there are age restrictions for your products this must be clear in FareHarbor to ensure those are translated to B.com accurately. **

Content must not include:

  • Excessive punctuation or capitalization
  • URLs or website links
  • Contact details (phone number, email, address)
  • Any advertising or promotional language about specific services or providers
  • Promo Codes
  • Prices cannot appear anywhere in the Content Builder Description or Headline (it’s fine for the pricing section)
  • Any additional fees must be added in the “Exclusions” section

Photo Guidelines

Quantity & Format

  • Minimum: 3 photos per listing (more is preferred)
  • Accepted formats: .jpg or .png (not .webp)
  • Max file size: 50MB per photo
  • Recommended dimensions: 2500x1600px or higher

Content Requirements

  • Images must directly relate to the travel experience
  • No nudity or implied nudity
  • No children unless using appropriate stock images
  • No promotional banners, logos, or watermarks
  • No branded images or advertisements

Opting into Genius Discount

40% of Attractions bookings come from Genius members. We recommend opting into the program and granting a 10% discount at an item level, as this can increase the chance of being displayed on Booking’s website and actively selling.

To enable Genius Discount:

Once items have been made visible to Booking:

  1. Navigate to the Items tab, and select the item to be discounted.
  2. Select Integrations from the sidebar.
  3. In the Channel Settings tab, select Opt into Booking.com Genius Discount (10%).
  4. Click the Save changes button to finalize the update.

Frequently asked questions

How does Booking.com sell tours and activities?

Booking.com offers these products to their travelers in two main ways:

  1. Products can be sold on the Attractions pages of the Booking.com website, where travelers can browse activities for a select variety of destinations.
  2. Products can be sold directly to travelers via email, when they currently book accommodations through Booking.com for a specific destination.

Booking.com is not active in every destination, and may offer products differently in various destinations.

Can I sign an agreement directly with Booking.com?

Booking.com does not offer direct agreements to tour and activity operators, and will instead select products using the FHDN.

What if I am already selling on Booking through an OTA, like Viator or Musement, and am on FHDN?

If you are already selling on Booking through an OTA integration, your products may appear multiple times on Booking’s site. Booking will pull inventory from different platforms, whether it is from the FHDN or other OTA partners. By clicking into the supplier details on the product page, you will be able to see which system the product is being sent from.

Is there a way to promote my trips on booking.com like I do with other OTA platforms to increase my impressions?

Consider opting in to Genius discounts! This has been proven to attract Booking.com users and boost conversions. See the section above on how to Opt in to Genius Discounts.

How can I opt out of the Booking integration?

You must opt out of FHDN to opt out of the Booking integration.

How can I opt into FHDN only for the Booking integration?

You cannot single out one OTA. You must fully opt in to FHDN to be sold on Booking.

I also offer accommodations and/or hotel products in addition to activities. Can I connect those accommodation products to Booking.com?

The integration between Booking.com and the FHDN is only for the Attractions section.

Can I decide which activities I list with FHDN and Booking.com?

Yes! Using our affiliate rules feature, you can decide which products, dates, times etc. are available to the FHDN API affiliate to help tailor your channel mix. Any restrictions will apply to all partners in the network, including Booking.com.

How can I change the way my products show up on Booking?

Since the integration is through FHDN, the product details will pull directly from your FareHarbor Dashboard. Product content can be edited via an item’s page.

Can I modify my pricing for Booking.com?

FHDN products are resold using your online retail rates. Unique pricing cannot be set for Booking.com or FHDN affiliates.

Will custom fields flow through the API?

Custom fields are not currently available via the API. However, we expect to release additional functionality in the future. If you have activities with mandatory fees built as custom fields those are not currently eligible.

Why do I need to prepare English descriptions for my products if I don’t offer any English-speaking tours?

Booking.com requires product details, descriptions, etc. to be provided in English as an operational standard for products sold on the site. Booking.com does not require offering tours in English; it simply means that English content is required to build the tour in the Booking system.

Are bookings from Booking.com subject to API fees?

No API fee is applied, since bookings flow through FHDN.

What commission rate does Booking.com take on bookings?

Standard commission is 25% through FHDN API.

How do I modify or cancel a Booking.com booking from the FHDN API?

As for all FHDN API bookings, the affiliate (Booking.com) needs to process any booking modification or cancelation so you will need to instruct your customer to reach out to Booking.com’s customer service directly for it to be effective.

Internal-only content. Don't copy and paste to anyone.

The FHDN Booking integration will become public at the end of August (subject to changes). FareHarbor teams may inform clients and leads about the opportunity after it is public.

  • The client must be on the FHDN and use Content Builder to be sold on Booking.com.
  • There is no guarantee that Booking.com will choose to sell a client’s products if they join the FHDN. Booking.com will independently determine which products to sell on the platform.
  • Clients can refer to the client-facing help page if they have any questions.

Content requirements to be listed on Booking.com

Required Content Builder Fields for Booking integration – Example Item

Below is the minimum required content for Booking.com. All other fields will be excluded from the data sent to Booking in the initial release, so please focus only on the fields listed below.

  1. Name – Basic info tab
    • A clear and specific title for the experience or activity.
  2. Headline – Basic info tab
    • A short, engaging description of the experience or activity.
    • Format: 1–2 sentences.
    • Prices cannot appear anywhere in the CB description or headline (okay for pricing section).
  3. Description – Content builder tab
    • A full overview of the product or experience.
    • Word Count: 60–120 words.
    • Should include: key details, setting, what the customer can expect, tone and energy of the activity.
    • Prices cannot appear anywhere in the CB description or headline (okay for pricing section).
  4. What’s included – Content builder tab
    • A bullet-point list of everything included in the booking.
    • Minimum: 1 bullet point.
    • Format: Bullets must start with one of the following symbols: *, -, or +. New lines by hitting enter without bullet points will also work, but are more prone to errors.
  5. Valid place ID is required (no Long ID) – Locations tab

Example:

  • Guided walking tour of the Old Town
  • Includes local snacks and beverages
  • Includes entry ticket to historical museum

Content Guidelines

Content must not include:

  • Any text in ALL CAPS
  • Excessive punctuation such as multiple exclamation marks (!!!!!)
  • URLs or website links
  • Contact details (phone number, email, address)
  • Any advertising or promotional language about specific services or providers
  • Promo Codes
  • Prices cannot appear anywhere in the CB description or headline (okay for pricing section)

Photo Guidelines

Quantity & Format

  • Minimum: 3 photos per listing (more is preferred)
  • Accepted formats: .jpg or .png (not .webp)
  • Max file size: 50MB per photo
  • Recommended dimensions: 2500x1600px or higher

Content Requirements

  • Images must directly relate to the travel experience
  • No nudity or implied nudity (e.g., party boats)
  • No children unless using appropriate stock images
  • No promotional banners, logos, or watermarks
  • No branded images or advertisements

Background

In 2020, Booking.com announced their plan to relaunch their Attractions platform with a new strategy involving partnerships with other OTAs. In Q1 of 2025, Booking.com confirmed it would join the FHDN as an API Partner to achieve its vision of “The Connected Trip”.

Instead of Booking.com contracting directly with tour and activity suppliers, the FHDN will act as an aggregator on behalf of Booking.com–allowing our extensive supply of tours, activities and attractions to be resold by Booking.com. FareHarbor clients who want the opportunity to be sold on Booking.com must join the FHDN, and we will work together to deliver a powerful and streamlined distribution opportunity to tour and activity suppliers around the globe.

Frequently asked questions

Can’t find an answer to your question? Check the client-facing FAQs for additional information. If your question is not addressed in either FAQ section, please direct any further questions to #connectivity in Slack.

Clients previously had to connect to Musement or Viator to be displayed on Booking.com. Is this new integration replacing clients’ products on Musement?

Booking will display all products on its partner OTAs based on their algorithm, which FHDN is now a part of. FHDN products will not be replacing Musement products, but come in addition to them. As a result, the same product can appear multiple times.

What does this mean for FareHarbor clients?

It has always been a goal to make the Booking.com partnership opportunity available to as many FareHarbor clients as possible. We are excited to bring the Booking.com opportunity to the forefront thanks to the FHDN.

Do clients who work with Musement need to specifically request being connected to Booking.com?

FareHarbor clients who are already live on the Musement API will not need to do anything further to be eligible to be sold on Booking.com. Musement’s standard contract with suppliers allows them to distribute the suppliers products across any platform in their network: Musement.com, Musement Agent Portal, TUI travel agencies, Booking.com Attractions, and more. Musement will email all of their suppliers to inform them of their partnership with Booking.com, and if any further actions are needed on their part.

Booking.com retains the right to curate which products listed on the platform, and may choose not to list a specific product. Booking is not obligated to list every FareHarbor product.

What can I communicate to my client or lead?

The FHDN Booking integration will become public at the end of August (subject to changes). FareHarbor teams may inform clients and leads about the opportunity from then on. Here are some important details to keep in mind:

What does the rollout look like? In which destinations does Booking.com aim to sell activities?

Due to development requirements, the rollout of this partnership opportunity was delayed on multiple occasions but it is now officially up and running. Booking has currently identified approximately ~450 suppliers to start testing with, and will not accept new suppliers until the broader integration is launched.

The list is based on geographic location and item requirements, and may expand in the future. Additional clients in other destinations may have the opportunity to participate in the months ahead. For now, we should be mindful of this testing criteria.

Do we have a direct API with Booking.com?

No, the direct API with Booking.com has been discontinued. Connectivity to Booking.com will be facilitated by the FHDN instead.

What will Booking.com bookings look like in a client’s Dashboard?

Since any bookings that come from Booking.com will be facilitated by the FHDN, the affiliate will be listed as FHDN and bookings will be tagged with the FHDN.

How will Booking.com determine which products are sold?

Like many OTAs, Booking.com has a curated selection of products–meaning that it may opt not to display certain products that do not align with travelers or inventory. A product may not be displayed if Booking.com is not active in a certain destination, if a product does not fit the criteria, or if similar products are already offered.

Booking.com will review all products that are made accessible via the FHDN, and independently determine which should be sold on the platform. There is no guarantee that joining the FHDN and meeting the criteria will result in Booking.com selling a client’s products. In addition to the prioritized destination list, other criteria to be sold include:

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