APIDays_India_Sushant Mathur_The Connected Traveller.pdf

In today’s fragmented travel landscape, travelers expect more than just bookings—they demand fluid, personalized journeys across air, hotel, and ground services. Yet behind the scenes, disconnected APIs and siloed systems often stand in the way.

In this talk, I shared how we tackled these challenges at scale—drawing from my experience in travel distribution and API ecosystems. You’ll hear real-world stories of loyalty mismatches, booking failures, and how we overcame them with smart API design.

I also covered how APIs can transform travel from a patchwork of providers into a cohesive, intelligent experience. From real-time availability and smart bundling to loyalty integration and embedded services, APIs are the invisible engine powering modern travel.

1. How APIs Turn Fragmented Journeys into Seamless
Experiences
The Connected
Traveller
Sushant Mathur
Director, Product Management | Sabre Corporation

2. Travel is the World’s Favourite Way to
Connect, Relax, and Do Business

3. APIs are the invisible
threads connecting
every part of the travel
journey for a seamless
experience.

4. Agenda
#1. Travel ecosystem
#2. Traveler Expectations and Challenges
#3. Lessons from the Field
#4. Travel APIs Design : Best Practices
#5. Developer Experience
#6. What’s Next

5. Travel
ecosystem
01

6. Complex and Fragmented
Vast,
interconnected
ecosystem
Real-time
integration
Data-Driven
Journeys
Collaboration
at Scale

7. Common Challenges
Airlines, hotels, rail,
car rentals, OTAs.
CRS (airlines), PMS
(hotels), GDSs, and
payment gateways
Lack of standards,
Inconsistent,
Unstructured information
Multiple suppliers Different systems Fragmentation

8. Technical Constraints
Legacy systems (SOAP/XML, mainframes)
High latency (multi-supplier lookups <2s)
Data sync across CRS, PMS, GDS, OTAs
Idempotency (avoid duplicate bookings)
Rate limits & throttling

9. Designing Travel
APIs
02

10. Use Case:
Build APIs to
Power Seamless
Hotel Shopping
Experience

11. Anatomy of Hotel Search APIs
Booking API
Check real-time
availability & pricing
Fetch images, amenities,
policies
Supporting different
payment options
Add extras: bags, meals,
Wi-Fi
Notifications, changes,
refunds
01
04
02
05
03
06
Search API Content API
Booking API Payment API
Ancillary API
Post-Booking API

12. Step#0: Basics remains the same
Standardized
Protocols
Modular
Architecture
Security &
Compliance

13. Step#1: Hotel Search
Purpose
Design
Allow users to search for hotels by location,
dates, and preferences.
Example
User searches for hotels in Paris
for Oct 10-12.
1.RESTful endpoint: GET /hotels/search
2.Accepts parameters: city, check-in/out dates, guests, filters
(star rating, amenities…)
3.Integrate with multiple supplier systems (CRS, PMS, GDS) via
adapters if needed.

14. Hotel Shopping Alone
Doesn’t Deliver
Seamless Travel

15. Solving Fragmentation
Reduce inventory and
pricing mismatches
Enable system
interoperability
Real-Time SyncBridge Data Silos

16. Step#2: Hotel Details
Purpose
Design
Provide rich content for each hotel (images,
amenities, policies, location).
Example
User clicks on a hotel to see photos, rates,
amenities, cancellation policy etc.
1.RESTful endpoint: GET /hotels/{hotelId}/details
2.Fetch data from content management systems and supplier
feeds
3.Supports localization and multi-language content.

17. One size doesn’t fit all

18. Generic to Tailored Journeys
Loyalty Integration
Personalized Offers
Dynamic filteringRetailing

19. Response Time: The
Hidden Metric

20. Caching –Speed and Scale
•In-memory or distributed
cache
•Store recent search
results and hotel details.
•Cache Rates and Rate
options.
•Invalidation rules to
ensure data freshness

21. Step#3: Price Check
Purpose
Design
Ensures real-time, accurate pricing and
availability before booking.
Example
User clicks on a hotel to see photos, rates,
amenities, cancellation policy etc.
1.RESTful endpoint: POST /hotels/price-check
2.Take hotel ID, room type, dates, and guest info.
3.Call supplier APIs in real time to confirm rate and inventory.

22. Reconciliation &
Eligibility

23. Ensuring Booking Accuracy
Validate eligibility before
booking
Reconcile discrepancies in
real time
Booking
Eligibility
Multi-Supplier
Reconciliation

24. Step#5: Booking
Purpose
Design
Finalizes the reservation, processes
payment, and issues confirmation.
Example
User clicks on a hotel to see photos, rates,
amenities, cancellation policy etc.
1.RESTful endpoint: POST /hotels/book
2.Idempotency to prevent duplicate bookings.
3.Integrate with payment gateways and supplier booking
systems.

25. 25
Unlocking additional
Value with add-ons

26. Step#6: Merchandising
Purpose
Design
Surfaces upsell and cross-sell opportunities
(breakfast, room upgrades, late checkout).
Example
After booking, offer breakfast, spa access,
or a suite upgrade as add-ons.
1.RESTful endpoint: GET /hotels/{hotelId}/merchandising
2.Integrates with ancillary services and supplier APIs
3.Returns available add-ons and dynamic pricing

27. Great travel APIs don’t
just connect systems—
they orchestrate
experiences.

28. What’s next
04

29. #1. APIs Beyond Distribution
Ancillary
Services
Enable dynamic upselling of
bags, seats, meals, and
lounge access.
Embedded
Travel APIs
travel integrated with fintech
super apps, and voice
assistants.
Payment &
Wallet APIs
Support local payment methods,
BNPL, and tokenized
transactions.
Build APIs that go beyond search and booking—Create full-stack
travel experiences across channels.

30. #2. APIs Beyond booking
Inspiration to Booking Community & Reviews Influencer Commerce
Instagram Facebook TikTok
Design APIs that let social platforms embed real-time travel
content—pricing, availability, loyalty, and booking.

31. 31
Tomorrow’s digital agents
will anticipate, negotiate,
and book —before we
even ask.

32. #3. APIs Beyond RQ/RS
initiate actions based on
context..
Deliver intelligent
workflows
Enable agents to
negotiate
Passive to
Proactive APIs
orchestration
layers
A2A
communication
Don’t just build APIs that respond—build APIs that decide, act,
and adapt.

33. Whether it’s distribution, personalization or autonomous
orchestration—APIs are the foundation of seamless travel.

34. Sushant Mathur
Thanks,
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sushantmathur1/