Supporting Accommodation Members to Drive Direct Bookings Through Visit York

Visit York has published a new members’ guide to help accommodation businesses connect their live availability to the Visit York Accommodation Availability Search, supporting members to increase visibility and make it easier for visitors to find and book places to stay in York.

Developed as part of Visit York’s ongoing work to support members and strengthen the city’s visitor economy, the guide explains how accommodation providers can link their booking system to Visit York so their listing can display live availability. Our availability search allows visitors to select dates, view available accommodation and move directly through to the member’s own booking platform to complete their reservation.

The new guide is designed to help accommodation businesses appear at the point visitors are actively searching for somewhere to stay. By displaying live availability, listings become more useful and engaging for potential guests, helping members improve listing performance, stay competitive and reduce the need for manual updates.

Visit York currently integrates with selected booking providers - freetobook and SuperControl - to power the accommodation search experience on the website. To make the process as simple as possible, the guide includes a template email that members can send directly to SuperControl or freetobook. Once the request has been made and property details are up to date, members are asked to email digitalteam@makeityork.com with their business name so the Visit York Digital Team can finalise the connection to the website.

Once connected, availability will feed directly into the Visit York website, enabling visitors to search by date and discover bookable accommodation in York. Users will then be directed to the accommodation provider’s own booking system to complete their reservation. This is a great opportunity for Visit York accommodation members who are not currently connected to the booking engine.

Members can read the full guide here: https://visityork.org/members/use-your-membership/connect-to-visit-york-accommodation-availability-search