The technology used in the tours and activities industry is becoming increasingly interconnected. At the same time, we hear from many of our activity providers that they often have to rely on several different systems to run their businesses. Booking platforms, partner integrations, reporting tools, marketing platforms, and websites all need to work together.
To make these connections easier, Bilberry is now expanding its technical capabilities with support for the OCTO API, in addition to a publicly available Open API.
Both are designed to make it easier for operators and partners to connect Bilberry with the rest of the technology ecosystem they use.
What OCTO Means for the Industry
OCTO is a standardized API developed specifically for the tours and activities industry.
For those of you like me, that do not work directly with tech, I did a bit of research for all of us: the OCTO API allows different systems to communicate with each other by using a shared structure for things like product information, availability, and bookings.
Instead of every platform needing to build completely custom integrations, OCTO creates a common “language” that systems can use to exchange information in a more reliable way.
For operators, this means it can become easier to connect to distribution partners and marketplaces without needing to develop complex, custom integrations for each one.
To put this into perspective: before OCTO existed, connecting to a single OTA like GetYourGuide could take weeks of custom development work. With OCTO, a booking platform that already supports the standard can enable a new channel connection in days rather than months. The protocol covers the full booking lifecycle, from checking available time slots and confirming reservations to handling cancellations and updates. That consistency reduces bugs and makes the data flowing between systems far more predictable.
Why Integrations Matter for Operators
Running an activity business rarely involves just one tool.
Operators often use several systems for things such as:
When these systems are not well connected, it often leads to duplicate work, manual updates, or inconsistent data.
Strong integrations reduce this friction and help operators keep everything synchronized.
Consider a typical scenario: an operator updates a product price in their booking system but forgets to change it on the OTA dashboard. Guests book at the old price, and the operator only discovers the mismatch when reconciling payments at the end of the month. With a proper integration, the price change propagates automatically to every connected channel within minutes. That single improvement eliminates a category of errors that costs operators both money and administrative time every season.
Bilberry's Open API
In addition to supporting OCTO, Bilberry also offers an Open API. This allows partners and customers to build their own integrations between Bilberry and the other systems they use. In practice, this could mean connecting Bilberry with a CRM system, internal reporting tools, custom-built websites, or other software that supports the day-to-day operations of the business. The goal is to give operators greater flexibility in how they build their technology stack.
A destination management company, for example, could use the Open API to pull real-time availability from multiple operators into a single regional booking page. A hotel concierge system could query available activities for the next three days and present them to guests at check-in. Developers working with the API get access to endpoints for products, availability, bookings and customer data, all documented and versioned so that integrations remain stable as the platform evolves.
From integration to operational efficiency
APIs and integrations are not just about moving data between systems. The real value shows up in day-to-day operations, when manual work disappears and the operator can focus on guests instead of administration.
Consider the interplay between the OCTO integration and resource management. When a booking arrives via GetYourGuide, the OCTO interface updates availability in Bilberry. Bilberry's resource engine checks that the right guide and the right boat are available, and confirms or rejects the booking automatically. This chain between distribution and operational capacity means you can sell on multiple channels without increasing administrative workload.
For operators who also use Bilberry's online booking widgets on their own website, the same principle applies. The widget pulls availability from the same resource pool as the OTA channels. A booking from the website and a booking from Viator compete for the same guides and boats, and the system ensures nothing is oversold. That means you can grow the number of sales channels without growing the administrative overhead.
Security, versioning and developer experience
An open API means external systems gain access to business data. For operators, it is therefore important that the API is built with security in mind. Bilberry's Open API uses token-based authentication, so only authorised partners and systems can read or write data. Every call is logged, and the operator has full visibility into who is using the API and for what purpose.
Versioning is another critical factor. When Bilberry updates the API with new features, existing integrations remain stable because they use a specific API version. This means a partner who has built a connection to Bilberry does not risk it suddenly breaking after a platform update.
For developers working with the API, there is documentation covering endpoints for products, availability, bookings and customer data. Destination management companies, hotel chains and technology partners looking to build their own solutions will find everything they need to get started quickly. See all the features Bilberry offers for activity businesses.
Building for a More Connected Industry
The tours and activities industry continues to evolve, and technology plays an increasingly important role in how businesses operate and collaborate. By supporting standards like OCTO and offering an Open API, Bilberry aims to make it easier for activity providers to participate in this growing ecosystem while keeping their operations structured and well connected.
The practical benefit is straightforward. An operator in Tromsoe should not need a development team to connect their booking system to a new sales channel or reporting tool. Open standards and documented APIs lower that barrier. As more platforms in the industry adopt OCTO and offer their own APIs, the entire ecosystem becomes easier to navigate. Operators can choose the best tool for each job and trust that the pieces will work together without custom glue code holding everything in place.