Visit Dorset Business Support Hub Online booking

Users of destination websites now expect to book accommodation, attraction tickets and activity days out at the click of a button.

Visit Dorset have invested in providing our members with direct links to some of the leading online booking providers. Being online bookable can make a significant difference by increasing booking potential and income.

If you’re not currently using one of our affiliated platforms no problem. Visit Dorset member landing pages can feature a ‘book now’ button that can link directly to your own website booking pages.

Further details of all booking platforms which can link with can be found below.

TXGB - Tourism Exchange Great Britain 

TXGB can enable online bookings via visit-dorset.com for accommodation, attraction and activity businesses.

Tourism Exchange Great Britain (TXGB) is a business to business digital platform, connecting tourism suppliers in England to distributors around the world.

In partnership with VisitEngland, TXGB is a ‘one stop’ exchange for suppliers to manage availability, pricing and bookings and for distributors to tap into a huge range of tourism businesses which TXGB is able to link to.

How does TXGB work?

TXGB is a digital platform that links live availability, pricing and bookings uploaded by you into a booking system (or into TxLoad) and feeds it into a global network of distributor systems, where consumer bookings take place (you can opt into many other distributors, they are working with over 200).

Are there any costs?

With TXGB, there are no upfront fees or set up costs.

For each online booking, you pay a small fee of 2.5% + VAT. Visit Dorset will not apply any additional fees or commissions.

If you do not have a booking system already TXGB can enable you to have use a booking system which enables online booking.

If you do already have a booking system but want to enable online bookings with visit-dorset.com and other distributers like England's Coast or Visit Bournemouth? Check out the list of booking systems that TXGB currently partners with including many hotel and attraction booking systems which could enable you to distribute your bookings to more websites nationally and internationally.

  • Call - 0330 223 5050
  • Visit - TXGB.co.uk
  • Email - support@TXGB.co.uk

eviivo 

Trusted by over 20,000 accommodation owners/managers internationally; with over 6,500 of those in the UK eviivo is a property management system and one of the most advanced products of its kind offering a range of booking solutions for B&Bs, Hotels and Self Catering providers.

The eviivo booking system has been fully integrated with the visit-dorset.com website. This allows users to update availability once; avoiding updating multiple calendars and this will feed to a number of booking channels (other websites) without having to make any allocations or alterations.

Features include:

  • A beautifully designed, award-winning booking calendar.
  • A mobile-friendly hotel website to showcase your property, or a booking button on your website to secure instant bookings.
  • Property and guest management features to support your team and customers.
  • Guaranteed connections to over 100 OTAs including TripAdvisor, Google Hotel Ads, AirBnB, VRBO, Expedia, Hotels.com, and Booking.com at a click of a button.
  • Online chat, portal and personal telephone support for you.

For further information on the eviivo products and to find out more about how your business could benefit contact a member of their support team via the links below:

  • Call - 0800 422 0088
  • Visit - eviivo.com
  • Email - enquiries@eviivo.com

Free-to-book

Freetobook is an all in one online reservation system used by more than 7000 accommodation businesses (B&B, hotel, self catering and hostels) in over 130 countries With no sign up cost or tie in contracts.  

Direct availability feeds to the Visit Dorset website providing accommodation businesses the ability to increase their bookability. Set up is free and all bookings made via the Visit Dorset website are commission free.

Find out more how you could benefit from working with freetobook and how to link availability to your landing page on the Visit Dorset website by contacting the freetobook team today.

  • Call - 01412 702173
  • Visit - freetobook.com
  • Email - info@freetobook.com

SuperControl 

SuperControl offers booking management software, channel manager facilities and ongoing expert guidance to help self-catering businesses to thrive.

If your business currently uses Supercontrol you can benefit from online bookings directly from your Visit Dorset website landing page.

The set up of the SuperControl availability feed on the Visit Dorset website is free and bookings can be received without any additional fees or commission being applied. If you're a current user of SuperControl and would like to feed availability to your landing page on visit-dorset.com just let us know.

If you're new to SuperControl and would like to know more of the product and it's benefits contact the SuperControl support team for further details.


Hotel Planner, Free-online-booking or Sykes Cottages 

Get in touch if are a member and work with any of these online booking providers to enable us to display your online booking information on visit-dorset.com on your landing page.

Hotel Planner

Freeonlinebooking

Sykes Cottages 


Online Travel Agents (OTAs)

Visit Dorset can link directly with the leading online travel agent booking websites, providing greater exposure for your accommodation.

If you would like to find out more about instant online booking for your accommodation, please contact one of the team who will be able to assist.

The reach the leading online travels agents (OTAs) have is very powerful and because of this many accommodation providers see benefit in working with these organisations and accept that the higher commissions charged. With this in mind Visit Dorset alongside Simpleview have set up direct links with 2 of the leading providers.

  • Booking.com
  • Expedia

How it works

When a visitor carries out a search for accommodation, our website will request availability and pricing information from all external suppliers and then display the list of providers who have rooms that match the search criteria.

The prices are then displayed to the visitor in a very similar way that a comparison website would, allowing potential customers to get the best deal on their booking.

When the visitor decides to book they will be taken to the external supplier’s website where they will complete the transaction.

Bookings made by any of these channels via the Visit Dorset website do not incur any added commission or costs. The standard commission rate agreed with the OTA applies as the bookings are handled directly on the supplier's website.


If you’d like to connect online booking to your landing page on visit-dorset.com or link to an OTA please contact a member of our team.

Find out more

Digital toolkit

Photography, film and Visit Dorset logos for Visit Dorset members.

What does your Dorset look like? Adventures on our epic coastline? Visiting attractions with family? A walk through the beautiful countryside? Or perhaps a chilled out evening eating and drinking with friends? Discover a sample of your #VisitDorset images below and share your love for Dorset using the hashtag on Instagram.