Connecting Viator lets Viator check your availability and send its bookings straight into your TripWorks calendar. You set it up once with your Viator Supplier ID and API Key, pick the activities Viator can sell, and Viator bookings arrive as ordinary trips attributed to your Viator reseller.

How the connection works

• Your availability is live. There's nothing to push or sync. Each time Viator needs to know, it asks TripWorks, and TripWorks answers from your current availability. A timeslot that is sold out, blocked out, or past its booking cutoff shows as unavailable. Viator sees open or unavailable, not a seat count.
• Bookings, changes, and cancellations come to you. When a guest books, changes, or cancels on Viator, Viator sends it to TripWorks and the trip is created or updated for you.
• Viator pays you, not the guest's card. TripWorks records the amount Viator reports and never charges a card for a Viator booking.

Before you begin

• A Viator supplier account, with TripWorks available as your reservation system.
• A Viator reseller profile in TripWorks. If you don't have one, choose More → Resellers, then New, and pick Viator.
• Ticket types on each activity that match Viator's traveler types. See Match your ticket types.

Step 1: Connect your Viator account

In the Viator supplier portal:

1. Sign in at supplier.viator.com.
2. Select your company name, then Account → Connectivity, then Edit.
3. Choose TripWorks as your reservation system.
4. Copy the API Key and the Supplier ID, then save in Viator.

In TripWorks:

1. Go to More → Resellers and open your Viator reseller.
2. Open Settings, then the General tab, and scroll to API Information.
3. Turn on Connect Availability API.
4. Paste in the Viator Supplier ID and Viator API Key, then select Update.

Not sure where to find the ID? See Where do I find my Viator Supplier ID?.

Step 2: Choose which activities Viator can sell

1. On your Viator reseller, open Settings and the tab named for your activities.
2. Check the activities you want to sell on Viator, then select Update.
3. In Viator, go to Products, select Manage next to the product, then Product Connection, choose Connect, and pick the matching activity.

Saving sets up the matching Viator needs for each selected activity that has upcoming timeslots. If you add timeslots later, save the reseller again.

Match your ticket types

Viator tells TripWorks how many travelers of each type are booking, such as Adult or Child. TripWorks matches each one to a ticket type on the activity by name.

• The names need to match. Use the same names in TripWorks that you use in Viator.
• A mismatch doesn't stop the booking. The booking still arrives, but TripWorks puts those travelers on the activity's default ticket type, which can give the wrong price.
• How to check: open a new Viator booking and confirm the ticket types look right.

How pricing works

TripWorks prices a Viator booking from your own rates, not from what Viator charged the guest. It looks up the price for that activity, date, timeslot, and ticket type, including any rate sheets or seasonal pricing that apply to your Viator reseller.

• Viator's amount is recorded, not used as the price. It's the net amount Viator reports. TripWorks uses it only to work out commission when Auto calculate commission rate is on.
• Guest Payment Amount decides how commission affects the total. With Wholesale, which is the default for Viator, commission is subtracted from the trip total. With Retail, it isn't.
• With Auto calculate commission rate on, TripWorks derives the commission from Viator's net amount, so the trip total lands close to what Viator pays you plus taxes. If Viator's net is higher than your TripWorks price, commission is zero and the total stays at your TripWorks price.
• With it off, TripWorks uses the commission rate or fixed amount you set on the reseller and ignores Viator's amount.
• Taxes apply to Viator bookings when the tax is set to apply to OTAs. See Set up taxes & surcharges.

How the money flows

• Viator holds the money. It collects from the guest, keeps its commission, and pays you the net. TripWorks never holds the funds or charges a card.
• The trip shows as paid. When the booking arrives, TripWorks adds a wire payment to the trip for the trip total, so there's no balance due. If you've set the Viator reseller to invoice instead, the payment stays outstanding until you apply it.
• Products you add later aren't covered. If you add a product or add-on to a Viator trip in TripWorks, the payment record doesn't grow, and the extra shows as a balance due.
• Reports. Viator bookings show in your reseller reports. Net Sale is revenue after commission, and Commission is what Viator keeps. See Report on reseller revenue & commission.

When a guest changes a booking on Viator

A guest can change the date, time, or number of travelers on Viator, and the change arrives in TripWorks automatically.

• TripWorks rebuilds the booking to match. Edits you made to that booking in TripWorks are replaced, and the new booking is priced at your current rates.
• The payment record is resized to the new trip total, which also absorbs any products you added.
• A change to a different activity isn't accepted.
• A change can bring a cancelled booking back.

When a guest cancels on Viator

The cancellation arrives in TripWorks automatically, so you don't need to cancel the trip yourself.

• The trip is cancelled and its spots are released.
• The payment record is removed, so the balance goes to zero, and commission is zeroed too. The record stays if the trip is on an invoice that has been sent or paid.
• Messages scheduled for the guest are cancelled.
• TripWorks doesn't email the guest. Viator communicates with them, and confirmations from TripWorks are off by default for Viator.
• Team members subscribed to cancellation alerts are notified.

When you cancel or edit a Viator trip in TripWorks

• Nothing is sent to Viator. Cancelling in TripWorks doesn't cancel the booking on Viator or refund the guest. Cancel in the Viator supplier portal as well.
• The payment record stays. A trip you cancel in TripWorks shows as cancelled but still carries the payment.
• Rescheduling works as usual. The payment record carries over. If the price changes, you're asked whether to keep the original price or use the new one.
• Guests can't reschedule or cancel Viator bookings through your customer portal.

Refunds

Viator refunds the guest, not TripWorks. To cancel and refund a guest, use the Viator supplier portal. The cancellation then arrives in TripWorks and corrects your record on its own.

Don't issue a refund in TripWorks for a Viator booking. TripWorks holds none of the money, so a refund there changes only your records and the guest isn't paid.

Connect more than one Viator account

If you run separate brands, locations, or franchises with their own Viator accounts, connect each one to the same TripWorks account.

1. Create a separate Viator reseller for each Viator account, with its own Supplier ID and API Key.
2. On each one, check the activities that account should sell.
3. Give each reseller its own commission rate and payment method.

Viator bookings are routed by Supplier ID, so each booking lands under the right reseller and shows up separately in your reseller reports. A Supplier ID can only be used on one reseller, and the ID and API Key must be entered together.

Examples

• Find out why a Viator booking has the wrong price. Check that the ticket type names on the activity match Viator's traveler types, such as Adult and Child.
• Stop selling one activity on Viator. Uncheck it on the Viator reseller and select Update.
• Handle a guest who cancels. Cancel and refund them in the Viator supplier portal. The trip cancels in TripWorks on its own.
• Work out why a trip total is lower than Viator's amount. Check whether Auto calculate commission rate is on. If Viator's net is above your TripWorks price, the total stays at your price.
• Chase a balance due on a Viator trip. Look for a product or add-on added after the booking, since the payment record doesn't grow to cover it.
• Run two brands. Create two Viator resellers and give each one its own Supplier ID, API Key, and activities.

Frequently asked questions

Related

• Where do I find my Viator Supplier ID?
• How OTA & reseller bookings connect to TripWorks
• Report on reseller revenue & commission
• Set up ticket types