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Bókun: Operator Backend

Connect Bókun to Ventrata to resell Bókun operators' products with live availability, prices and bookings.

Bókun logo

 

Bókun is Tripadvisor's reservation and distribution platform for tour, attraction, activity, rental and ground transport operators, used by thousands of businesses worldwide. Its marketplace carries more than 2,600 OTAs and resellers, and common ownership with Viator makes it a frequent backend for operators whose demand comes largely through Tripadvisor.

 

Connecting Bókun to Ventrata lets you resell products from operators that use Bókun as their booking system. Ventrata reads their live availability and prices from Bókun, and every booking you take is created directly in the operator's Bókun account.

 

To learn more about Bókun, visit bokun.io.

 

📒 NOTE

Looking for Bókun to resell your products instead? See Bókun: Reseller Connection.

 

📒 NOTE

This connection is coming soon. It's in development, with an estimated launch in November–December 2026. If you'd like to use it, contact our Technical Support or your Ventrata Customer Success Manager.

 

Primary website

bokun.io

Tags

Booking / Ticketing System

Connection features

Availability Sync · Pricing Sync · Bookings Sync

Developed by

Ventrata (using Bókun OCTO API)

 

This operator connection (also called a backend) lets you resell products from operators that use Bókun as their primary booking system, with every booking created directly in Bókun. Features of this connection include:

  • Availability Sync – live availability comes from the operator's Bókun account.

  • Pricing Sync – prices come from Bókun, or you set prices in Ventrata.

  • Bookings Sync – bookings, updates and cancellations post from Ventrata to Bókun, and Bókun issues the tickets or vouchers.

 

Creating the Bókun Connection

🔐 Required Role Permissions: See Operators, Modify Operators, See Products, Modify Products

Before you begin:

  • You must have a commercial agreement with the operator for their rates and terms.

  • You must have the OCTO API Key for the operator. See the steps below.

  • The company whose products you want to resell is created as an operator in Ventrata.

  • The operator's products are created in Ventrata. The connection syncs availability, pricing and bookings but does not create products.

  • You must recreate the operator's products in Ventrata. See how to create products. The connection syncs availability, pricing and bookings, but doesn't create products in Ventrata.

 

Step 1: Configure the Operator in Ventrata

Ask the operator that uses Bókun. They create it in Bókun: Settings → Connectivity → API keys → Create an API key → Save → enable OCTO on this API key.

 

  1. In the Ventrata Dashboard, go to Products → Operators and open the operator. If they don't exist yet, create them as an operator first.

  2. In the Backend Partner section, select Bókun and enter the OCTO API Key. Leave the endpoint as the default https://api.bokun.io/octo/v1 unless the operator or Bókun tells you otherwise.

  3. Choose Bókun in the Backend Partner section of the operator.

  4. Enter the OCTO API Key. Leave the OCTO Endpoint at its pre-filled default unless the operator tells you otherwise.

  5. Click Update Operator.

  6. Press Update Operator.

 

 

In the Backend Partner field, select Bókun from the list of connections available and enter OCTO API Key you were provided by your Operator.

 

📒 NOTE – Each OCTO API Key connects you to one operator. Set up each Bókun operator separately.

 

Step 2: Connect Each Product

  1. Open the operator's product in Products → Products and edit it. Check that Operator is set to this operator.

  2. Tick Backend Connected. Tick Backend Availability to use availability from Bókun, and Backend Pricing to use prices from Bókun.

  3. Press Update Product.

📒 NOTE

Bókun sends retail prices only. With Backend Pricing ticked, Ventrata records the retail price and calculates your net (cost) price using the cost percentage set on the operator in the Ventrata Dashboard.

 

Set the product's Operator to the operator with the Bókun backend, check Backend Connected, then Backend Availability and/or Backend Pricing. Without them, the product uses availability/pricing set in Ventrata but still posts bookings to Bókun.

 

Check Backend Connected for this product to use the API connection (backend). To pull availability from Bókun, ensure Backend Availability is checked; to pull pricing, check Backend Pricing. If you do not check Backend Availability and/or Backend Pricing, the product will use the availability and/or pricing configured in Ventrata but will still post bookings to Bókun. Click Update Product to save.

 

Mapping Products to Bókun

‼️ IMPORTANT

Mapping tells Ventrata which Bókun product, option and units to check availability for and book. If a backend-connected product isn't mapped correctly, its bookings fail. A red highlight across the product row shows an incorrectly mapped product.

 

  1. In the Ventrata Dashboard, go to Products → Products and open the product.

  2. Open the Mappings tab. It appears once the product is set to Backend Connected.

  3. For each Ventrata option and unit, select the matching Bókun product, option and units from the dropdowns, which Ventrata loads from Bókun. Don't leave any field empty.

  4. Press Save Changes.

 

The product page will now display a Mappings tab. Navigate to this tab and map your Ventrata product, option(s), and units by selecting the corresponding products, options, and units from the dropdown lists as received from Bókun. Ensure that no fields are left empty (unmapped), and click Save Changes.

 

📗 TIP

Make a test booking after mapping, and ask the operator to confirm it arrived in their Bókun account.

 

Managing the Bókun Connection

  • Update the mapping when the operator changes products, options or units in Bókun.

  • Replace the key on the operator if Bókun or the operator issues a new one.

  • Switch Backend Availability or Backend Pricing off on a product to use Ventrata's own availability or prices instead. Bookings still post to Bókun.

 

Connection Features Detailed

This section is for anyone who wants to know exactly how the Bókun connection works. Here the direction is the opposite of a reseller connection: Ventrata calls Bókun, using Bókun OCTO API. For each feature, it explains which calls Ventrata makes, when, and what that means for you.

 

In short: Ventrata asks Bókun for availability and prices whenever someone looks at a backend-connected product, and creates every booking in the operator's Bókun account. Bókun doesn't send changes back to Ventrata.

 

Timings are typical for Bókun and rounded, and they can change.

 

Product Mapping

✅

You map each Ventrata product, option and unit to the operator's Bókun product in the Ventrata Dashboard.

This works as follows:

  • Get Products (GET /products) – Ventrata reads the operator's Bókun products, options and units to fill the dropdowns on the Mappings tab.

 

What this means for you: if something is missing from the dropdown, the operator hasn't made it available to you in Bókun. Ask them to.

Content Sync

❌

Ventrata doesn't import product content from Bókun.

Ventrata doesn't import product content from Bókun. You create and describe the products in Ventrata yourself.

Availability Sync

✅

With Backend Availability on, Ventrata checks the operator's live availability in Bókun.

This works as follows:

  • Availability Check (POST /availability) – when someone uses the availability calendar in Ventrata, for example in the Dashboard, your web checkout or a terminal, Ventrata asks Bókun live for the dates on screen.

  • With Backend Availability on, Ventrata makes a live OCTO availability request to Bókun when a user interacts with the calendar (dashboard, web checkout, terminal, etc.), usually in 7-day ranges or for a specific day. The calendar may show cached (non-live) data from the previous request before the user interacts.

 

Typically with Bókun:

  • Requests cover 7 days at a time, from today up to about a year ahead, as people browse and as Ventrata loads the calendar.

 

What this means for you: customers book against the operator's live Bókun availability, so you can't oversell a slot the operator has already sold elsewhere.

Pricing Sync

✅

With Backend Pricing on, Ventrata takes prices from Bókun.

This works as follows:

  • Availability Check with the octo/pricing capability – Ventrata asks Bókun for prices with each availability request.

  • With Backend Pricing on, Ventrata pulls both retail and net (wholesale) pricing from Bókun with the availability check. Pricing is shown to the user and cached/stored in Ventrata as API generated fares. Net pricing is recorded as cost pricing regardless of the cost percentage on the operator.

  • With Backend Pricing off, the product uses the prices you set in Ventrata, and bookings still post to Bókun.

Bókun sends retail prices only. With Backend Pricing ticked, Ventrata records the retail price and calculates your net (cost) price using the cost percentage set on the operator in the Ventrata Dashboard.

Promotions Sync

❌

Promotions aren't sent to Bókun.

Promotions aren't sent to Bókun. Your Ventrata promotions still apply to the price your customer pays in Ventrata.

Bookings Sync

✅

Bookings made in Ventrata for a backend-connected product are created in the operator's Bókun account.

This works as follows:

  1. Hold: Booking Reservation (POST /bookings) – when the product is added to the cart in Ventrata, Ventrata reserves the places in Bókun.

  2. Confirm: Booking Confirmation (POST /bookings/{uuid}/confirm) – after payment, Ventrata confirms the booking in Bókun with the customer's contact details, and the ticket or voucher Bókun returns becomes the Ventrata ticket or voucher.

  3. Change: Booking Update (PATCH /bookings/{uuid}) – changes made in Ventrata are sent to Bókun.

  4. Cancel: Booking Cancellation (POST /bookings/{uuid}/cancel) – cancellations made in Ventrata are sent to Bókun.

Bookings, changes and cancellations for Backend Connected products are sent to Bókun automatically: reservation when the product is added to the cart, confirmation after payment (with customer contact info), update when a booking changes, cancel when a booking is cancelled. The voucher/ticket from Bókun is ingested in Ventrata, except PDF_FILE, which Ventrata does not support.

 

‼️ IMPORTANT – Bookings sync one way, from Ventrata to Bókun. If the operator changes or cancels a booking in Bókun, Ventrata isn't notified. Ask the operator to tell you about any changes they make.

Pickups/Dropoff Sync

❌

Pickup and drop-off details aren't passed to Bókun.

Pickup and drop-off details aren't passed to Bókun. Share them with the operator another way if a product needs them.

Custom Questions Sync

❌

Answers to your booking questions aren't passed to Bókun.

Answers to your booking questions aren't passed to Bókun. Share them with the operator another way if they need them.

Extras Sync

❌

Extras and add-ons aren't booked in Bókun.

Extras and add-ons aren't booked in Bókun. Only the main product, option and units are.

Redemption Sync

❌

Redemptions and other status changes in Bókun aren't sent back to Ventrata after a booking is confirmed.

Redemptions and other status changes in Bókun aren't sent back to Ventrata after a booking is confirmed.

Not supported. Booking status from Bókun (for example Redeemed) is not communicated back to Ventrata after confirmation.

Pass Walkup Scanning Sync

❌

Pass walk-up scanning isn't available with Bókun.

Pass walk-up scanning isn't available with Bókun.

Gift Card Sync

❌

Ventrata gift cards aren't passed to Bókun.

Ventrata gift cards aren't passed to Bókun. Gift card payments stay in Ventrata.

✅ supported · ❌ not supported

 

Good to know: limits and details of the Bókun connection

  • Live availability: availability comes from Bókun as people browse.

  • One-way bookings: changes the operator makes in Bókun don't reach Ventrata.

  • Bókun, part of Tripadvisor, is a booking, inventory and channel management system for tours, activities and attractions.

 

FAQs

I get an error when I save the operator's backend configuration.

The OCTO API Key or endpoint is most likely incorrect. Check them with your operator. If the issue persists, contact our Technical Support.

There's no Backend Connected box in the product settings.

The operator set on the product most likely doesn't have a backend configured. Check the operator's Backend Partner settings and try again. If the issue persists, contact our Technical Support.

The product, option or unit I want to map isn't in the dropdown.

The dropdowns list what the operator has made available to you in Bókun. Ask the operator. If the issue persists, contact our Technical Support.

Bookings fail for a backend-connected product.

Check the product's mapping first: every option and unit must be mapped. Then check that the slot is still available in Bókun. If the issue persists, contact our Technical Support.

Error when updating the operator to save the backend configuration.

Likely the OCTO API Key or OCTO Endpoint is incorrect. Double-check these details with your operator. If the issue persists, contact Ventrata support.

The product/option/unit I want to map is not in the dropdown.

The dropdown list is pulled from Bókun based on the products, options and units the operator made available to you. Double-check these details with your operator. If the issue persists, contact Ventrata support.

 

Useful Resources

 

📚 More about Ventrata connections

 

Partner Information

Tripadvisor LLC dba Bókun

400 1st Avenue

Needham, MA 02494, USA

bokun.io

 

Ventrata Partner ID: 18d71b21-57e4-4811-8818-a7be06311725

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